Crilly House

Crilly House appears to be up for sale. Perhaps this is your chance to bring it back into your family?s ownership? In any event you may be able to visit it easily enough.

http://www.rodneyrobinson.co.uk/PDF/The%20Crilly%20House%201.3.pdf

Hello Cousin! Whoever is related to the Pettigrews, so am I. My Great Grandmother was Rebecca Jane Pettigrew, father Moses, and on upward to the 2 Janes Pettigrews (Martha Moore and Mary Cochran).

Sorry I am so late in responding to this post. I just signed up today and was very excited to read that someone is interested in the Crilly House. Yes, Ahoghill Antrim was right about the Crilly House being on sale. I think it still could be. Back in 2013, my husband and I ventured to the UK and spent some time in the Aughnacloy region. I reserved a few nights at The Grange Lodge and Country House in Dungannon. The owner there was so sweet and got us in contact with the real estate agent that was selling the Crilly House. The agent got permission from the owner of the Crilly House to show it to us. I have alot of pictures and a few videos of that showing I could share with you on OneDrive. There would have been more but I was deathly sick that day and wasn't in charge of the camera!

However, the house was pretty impressive. Looking out the windows that our ancestors looked out of was surreal. Walking the halls, climbing the stairs and holding onto the railing that was as old as the house itself made me wonder how many of 'my people' did the same thing. Many births and many deaths in that home. The overall smell of the house was moldy, and at the time, the house was being sold for 1.3 million. My husband joked that it would have taken a fortune to buy it and a fortune to renovate it. It was pretty derelict. The old man that last lived in it didn't keep it up and when he died there, his wife who was living in Dublin just wanted to sell it. He had an affinity to the house but anytime anyone of the Pettigrew lineage came by the house, he would scream obscentities at them and tell them to leave! So, I felt very fortunate to have been able to tour the house when I did.

If you or anyone would like a file of the pictures I took, just let me know. I'd be happy to send them to you. I am wondering, Drmorris, did you end up going to the house? If so, I would love to have you and your wife's take on it.

Also wanted to add, that I tried to find out about Mary Cochran and didn't have much luck. We visited a house that our B&B owner thought might have been her house, but when we met them, it didn't match their history of the house. I think we would have had to visit the churches in the area to get more on her. Maybe next time!!

Anie

Thank you for your response. When we went in 2013, I tried to contact the real estate estate agant and got no response so we weren't able to see the house. My wife and daughter got out but we afraid to go to far. I had read stories about the man who would drive people away and didn't know if that view extended to others.
My wife is your relative and is descended from the Pettigrews and Mary Cochran and Martha Moore. My wife does have Mary Cochran as being the daughter of George Cochran and Rachel Higginbotham.with a birth year of 1686.
We would be very interested in seeing any pictures or information that you have.
I'm not sure if there is a way to PM you my e-mail address on this site.

Brian Morris

Hi Brian,

Yes, I tried to reach Rodney, the real estate agent, and he didn't respond to me either. I had to talk to the owner of the B&B who knew him and realized that was the only way to go. I was really lucky to have had the chance to tour it. It was taking his time not showing it to a potential buyer, but he seemed keen showing it nonetheless. I have not looked up to see the status of it today, but I imagine it's still for sale. It would take a gut job to get it beyond the damage it's taken over the years. Sad, but true.

I'm on ancestry.com so I have gone back as far as George Cochran as well. In fact, I followed his line all the way back to Robert Cochran 1390-1482. His son was Alan the Ilk Cochran 1432-1484 and his son, Robert the Ilk Cochran 1472-1530 who married Marion Stuart...which is, I believe, Henry the 8th's daughter or sister, I'm not sure and because I'm not signed up with Ancestry.com right now, I can't go in and check! But I remember being quite surprised. I'm sure you can find him in Wiki or in someone else's tree if you are in ancestry too. I find it all very much like chasing ghosts!

I'm sorry, my husband the techie, tried to put the folder in a compressed zipper file but it didn't upload. Which just means we need your email address OR, if you are on ancestry.com, look me up under Anie64. My tree is private, but if you PM me, I can send you a onedrive folder from there. I'm not sure if you know anything about Onedrive, but the folder is accesible for 2 weeks and you'd have to download the pics onto your computer before it disappears. Here is just a snippet I wrote about visiting the house.

"Last September (2013), my fiance and I went to see the Crilly House. The house was on sale for about 1.5 mil in dollars, 22 acres. I reached out to the realtor, but he didn't get back to me until I went through a local channel...the owner of the B & B we stayed at close to the village. The owner's husband had died in the house the year or two before (I hear he did not like visitors of any kind, especially 'drop by' visitors from the Pettigrew's American descendants!) and she has been trying to sell it since. Since I am a direct descendant of James Pettigrew (he is my 8th, 9th 10th?? times Great Grandfather and builder of the estate), she gave the green light for the realtor to show it to us...and what a treat!

Just driving up to the house, you are in awe of not only the size of the house but of the stately-ness of it. A gate, that is probably the original gate, must be opened to drive up. Once you start, it's a nice stretch of road up to the circular drive way. You could imagine carriages coming up the drive, it was absolutely breathtaking. There is a small moat around the house with an arched brick stoop to the front door. Walking in, right away you could smell the mildew. Sadly, the house has not been kept up properly. The carpet didn't match or make any sense with the wallpaper and the sparse furniture added to the rather squandor-like feel of the whole decor. But the wood and the architecture more than made up for all that. The railing of the staircase alone can take you back centuries. The top attic was where the servants and school teacher lived with their children. Apparently the importance of education filtered down to Miss Rebecca Jane Pettigrew (one of the first school teacher in South Dakota) from her ancestors. Since I was incredibly sick on this trip to the house, I wasn't completely alert! But I remember much of it through the pictures I took. There was a large backyard where the farm equipment and livestock were stored and taken care of, a small house for where they kept their grain and pantry. I was surprised that the property was so large, but most of it is a 'bog', so, much of the land was too marshy to utilitze, however, they did have a garden and farmed in the higher regions of the property. I heard there was over 100 acres they owned and leased out parcels of land to nearby neighbors."

Thank you. What you wrote is fascinating. I am on ancestry as morris810 if you rejoin or can invite me that way  but my e-mail is drmorris@ancestry.com. I'll send you a message but you might be able to invite me either with the e-mail address or my login name. 

Thanks, again,

Brian

Hi cousins,  I’m also a Pettigrew descendant. Mary Cochran and James Pettigrew were my 7th great grandparents. The first to come to America on my line was James Pettigrew Jr (1738-1784?)and I believe his wife Elizabeth Long was already here. They had a son named James Pettigrew (1772-1850).  You are so lucky to have visited the Crilly house. I can’t imagine what that would have felt like to know it was a family home.

Greetings to my Pettigrew cousins, 

I am also a direct Pettigrew descendant of James L. Pettigrew and Mary Ann Cochran (6th great grandparents)--through the line of:

• James H. Pettigrew (1738-1789) and Elizabeth Long (1746-1772),
• James Montgomery Pettigrew (1772-1850) and Anna Craig (1785-1821),
• Isaiah Wilson Pettigrew (1810-1838) and Mary Polly Dillard (1815-1846),
• James Montgomery Pettigrew (1837-1926) and Docas Isabella Shields (1838-1895),
• Isaiah Wilson Pettigrew (1856-1946) and Rebecca Jane Small (1861-1945),
• and my grandmother was Blanche Pettigrew (1889-1974).  

I am planning to visit Northern Ireland in July 2019, and I am trying to make arrangements to visit the Crilly House.  Any additional advice on how to go about visiting the house and property would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

Karen Hunter

Hello all! I am also a descendent of James Pettigrew & Mary Cochran, they were my 7th great grandparents. Their daughter Mary married John Verner Sr & had a son named John Verner Jr, which i'm sure most of you know if you've made it this far. My United States Lineage began with John Verner Jr and his wife Rebecca Dickey (North/South Carolina) had a son >  Charles Julius Verner + Mary Thompson (relocated to Monroe, Mississippi) > Green Verner + Martha J Larkin > Cora Kate Verner + Tom Aron Beeks ( relocated to Rosenberg, Tx) > Earl Augusta Beeks + Carrie McConnico ( Houston, Tx) > Freddie Beeks + Lovie Mae Goss > Freda Beeks > Jordan & Jade Beeks. I included these other family names and arrows just incase anyone from my direct line stumbles across this, I want to leave as much information as possible for the next person that decides to start the journey of finding themselves. I visited Ireland at the age of 11 and had no clue my ancestors were from there. It is amazing to find things like this and if anyone ever comes back to this, specifically drmorris, feel free to contact me because I would love to speak with your wife since our lineage is pretty close. Also, ARoth, I would love to see the pictures you have! Anyone can find me on Facebook Jade Dior (Beeks) Houston, Texas. Looking forward to hearing from any of you & I am also looking forward to revisiting Ireland now that I have good reason. Hopefully COVID-19 will be kind enough to allow it in the near future.

Blessings to you all! 

Thank you for this message. I will give it to my wife.

She is descended from Samuel Verner who married Malinda Crawford. Their son was Hugh Verner whose son was John Verner who was my wife's grandfather. Hugh was born in SC and died in GA and my wife is from GA.

Brian Morris

Greetings from California. James Pedigru is my 10th great grandfather. I'll be there next month and will take a look at the house.

Greetings to all of my Pettigrew/Pettigru connections!

We were able to visit Aughnacloy and the Crilly House in July 2019.  The house is no longer inhabited.  It is my understanding that the new owners, Mr. & Mrs. Norman Wylie, bought the property for the land but do not live on the property. The property is completely fenced off, and it isn't visible from any public road.  The access road is padlocked.  So, if you go to that area and intend to see the house, do some advance planning to get access to the house!  

We were FINALLY able to get access to the road into the property and had the opportunity to view all of the grounds around the house and the outbuildings.  Unfortunately, the owners indicated that it is not safe to go inside. That was disappointing, but I realize the house had major renovations along the way, and it wouldn't look the way it did 300 years ago anyway!

It was very special (and kind of emotional) to see the home built by my 7th great grandparents James William Pettigrew (1659-1753) and Martha Moore (1656-1752).  

Karen Hunter

Northern California

Hi!

I am a descendant of James Pettigrew and Martha Moore...Through their son
James Pettigrew who married Mary Cochran.  Their daughter,
Martha Pettigrew married John Witherspoon.  Their son,
Thomas Witherspoon married Sarah Howard.
Sarah Howard married Matthew D Harbison, they lived in Tennessee. Their son
Joshua Hull Harbison married Araminta Oliphant, and their son, 
John Dixon Harbison married Mary Bobbitt. Their son,
Joshua Reese Harbison married a sweet lady named Jessie Rhodes Irvin. They lived mostly in Dallas TX. Thier son
Jesse Rhodes Harbison born in 1915 Dallas TX - was my grandfather. 

I'm on Ancestry and my member name is cate_biggs56

cate_biggs56
I'll tell my wife. I can't find anyone with that member name on ancestry although I've had other issues with the member name search. Have you done DNA?

@drmorris

just do a member search for cate biggs 

you should see it

Well hello there cousins, I too am descendant of James III, his son John, his son George, and his daughter Sarah, who married Robert Oliver and settled south of Dallas, Tx. I'm hoping y'all can help me sort something out, I'm finding conflicting records for the lineage between James Louis Pettigru to James Pettigrew III. One publication claims James Pettigru, James Pettigru-Pettigrew II, and James Pettigrew III were all father and son, direct line. Another publications states James II son was William, and William named his son James III? Also, Did James II, the one who married a Scottish women, was he married twice? Again I see conflicts, some state he was James III father therefore his wife was Martha Moore, others say his wife was Dame. Ancestry.com has James II live 1630-1661 yet a publication states he was at the Battle of Boyne, which I believe to have actually been William? 
I was hoping one of you who have visited the area may be of more help than the stuff I have found online. Have any of you visited graves and seen the date of birth and death first hand? 

I showed your questions to my wife. Unfortunately she has no further information. Best of luck.

Hello, 

I realize this response is many years later, but here goes anyway.

James Pettigrew II is my husband’s 7th ggf. See below.  Sorry I can’t reduce the size.  If you are still researching my tree is public.  SCowen76 is my user name.

Sarah Cowen

Hello everyone,

I know this is an older post, but I am hoping that someone may still reply. I am planning to travel to Ireland in the coming year and planning to stay near Monaghan for a few nights, which appears to be rather close to the Crilly house. From it looked like on Google maps, this house may not be visible from the road and seems to have a gate blocking access. Does anyone know if it is possible to get a closer look at the home or if there is anyway to get in touch with the owner? I did some extensive research on my family history and discovered that this home was built by one of my ancestors. I would love to just be able to take look at it even from jus the outside. Any information would be greatly appreciated.

Ron Pettigrew

Ron, This just showed recently. We visited in 2013. I stayed in the car but my wife and daughter got out.  They went up to the gate but there was a long driveway and they couldn't see anything.
At the time, the house was for sale. The owner was either very ill or had died. When he had been in better health, he welcomed people.
I don't know what the status is now.

Brian Morris