Heritage
The old church (or Baile-aileach) is situated on the corner of the Ballinderry Road and Horse Park in the parish of Maghergall. It has a long and colourful history.
1000 BC
Steeped in history
Brookhall is a unique and quirky wedding venue located just 3 miles from Lisburn.
The old church (or Baile-aileach) is situated on the corner of the Ballinderry Road and Horse Park in the parish of Maghergall. It has a long and colourful history.
The old church at Brookhall was a place of Christian worship that was occupied around 1000 BC. It is incredible to think that when David ruled over Israel there were people worshipping their pagan deities at Ballyellough until the Christian faith would be brought to them centuries later.
Many artefacts have been dug up around the old church (now in the Ulster Museum). There is even a ‘holy well’ that still exists and is situated among the trees a short distance from the church.
In the 1600s the Plantation of Ulster brought settlers from Scotland, England and Wales. They took over large tracts of land for development and agriculture. At the time of the plantation, the little church had fallen into a state of neglect so in 1622 the bishop reported it as a ruin. This was probably a result of troubled times in the reign of Elizabeth and James 1 when civil unrest was commonplace and many churches suffered.
The church was restored by planter people and remained until its final sad destruction in 1641. In that year there was a general uprising on the part of the native Irish against the English, in the course of which the countryside was laid to waste. The little church at Ballyellough fell victim to their depredations and was not restored.
In 1676 a replacement church was erected on the site of the present Magheragall Parish Church. It is possible that the ancient bell and baptismal font were transferred from the old ruins to be used to this day.
Pauline and Sam Johnston own Brookhall Estate, their house is beside the site of the little church. Their home, which dates back to Elizabeth I was probably used as a residence for the clergy. They have lovingly restored the house to its former glory. It is not surprising that within those stone walls there is a strong feeling of history together with an atmosphere of peace and calm.
The Brookhall Story
Timeline
For the last three decades, Brookhall has been owned by Pauline and Sam Johnston. But during this time, there have been numerous changes to transform it from a working farm to a beautiful rural wedding venue with four self-catering cottages. So let’s take a closer look at the main highlights in the Brookhall story.
1988 Getting started at Brookhall
Pauline and Sam Johnston bought Brookhall Farm as a working farm, including outbuildings, a derelict cottage, a gate lodge with tenants and 30 acres of farmland.
1989 Brookhall’s very own “George and Mildred”
The Open Farm was born and welcomed visitors to see the cattle, sheep, chickens, ducks, Vietnamese potbellied pigs, a donkey, rabbits and ponies. The star attractions were of course Brookhall’s “George and Mildred”, a goose and gander and not forgetting Heather, the Highland Cow.
1993 Tea Shop and Tours
This was a very busy year for Pauline and Sam as the Tea House, Garden Centre, Antiques Shop and Farm Museum opened their doors to visitors. Sam was a keen historian and he conducted farm tours for groups and members of the public while Pauline ran the Tea House which was always well-stocked with her gorgeous homemade cakes, scones and traybakes. The vast collection of old farm implements and machinery started to increase in size too.
1996 Beautiful Ulster countryside
The dream of Brookhall Cottages began as customers often remarked on the beautiful surroundings and how it would make a perfect setting for a holiday home.
1999 Building work starts
The dream started to become a reality when the long-term tenants of Brookhall Gate Lodge moved out. Pauline then started to plan and build a second gate lodge beside the original one and it was appropriately named Brookhall Lodge View.
2000 Farm Woman of the Year
This was the year when Pauline was awarded “Farm Woman of the Year for Northern Ireland” in the prestigious Bank of Ireland awards. She travelled to Dublin for the glittering awards ceremony at the bank’s head office.
2000 Let’s go fishing
A fishing lake was created which was fed by a natural spring. A trout farm occupied this site until recently and today it is a privately run carp fishery.
2001 Brookhall’s first overnight guests
After months of hard work, the two cottages were finished and Pauline welcomed her first overnight guests to Brookhall Cottages.
2002 Restoring the Brookhall Church
One of the largest buildings at Brookhall was originally a place of Christian worship dating back to 1210. Having been used for agricultural purposes for hundreds of years, the Johnstons were keen to return the church to its former glory. This year work started on the church and this involved numerous tradespeople from carpenters, roofers, electricians, decorators and even stonemasons from Brazil!
2003 The first Brookhall wedding
After a year’s hard work, Brookhall Church was finished and ready to open its doors. Pauline and Sam were delighted to welcome the daughter of long-standing family friends as their first bride and even constructed a temporary helicopter landing pad in the front paddock for the happy couple.
Today this beautiful historical building is certified for both Christian weddings and civil ceremonies, with an adjoining banqueting room and kitchen for catering. Link to ‘Weddings’ page.
2005 Honeysuckle Cottage opens
As the self-catering accommodation side of the business was blossoming, Pauline decided it was time to hang up her apron and close the popular Brookhall Tea House but transforming it into the third place to stay at Brookhall, Honeysuckle Cottage.
2007 Pear Tree Cottage is ready for guests
It was time to draw up the shutters on the Antique Shop but this led to the creation of the fourth cottage, Pear Tree Cottage to complete the portfolio of country cottages at Brookhall.
2012 Best Self-Catering Cottages Award
All the hard work on the cottages was rewarded with the coveted Tourism NI’s award for the “Best Self-Catering Cottages in Northern Ireland”. Pauline and Sam were absolutely delighted to receive this accolade from their peers in the tourism industry.
If you would like to find out more about holding your wedding at Brookhall or staying at one of the Brookhall Cottages, then please get in touch.
