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The Argory, County ArmaghThe decorative scheme of the staircase hall with its marbled walls is continued upstairs in the organ gallery - a broad landing extending through the width of the house with tripartite 'Wyatt windows' at each end. Wilkie prints in ornate gilded frames hang at the staircase end, while at the other stands the very large cabinet barrel organ which is generally accepted as the most important of its kind in existence. This recently restored instrument was commissioned in 1822 from the London organ builder James Bishop; it originally had six barrels, Samuel Wesley being consulted in their selection, but now only three survive.Perhaps the most attractive of the reception rooms at the Argory is the drawing-room, which lay shrouded in dust-sheets from 1939 until 1979. It was remodelled in the l89Os when the windows were lengthened and a small anteroom and cupboard were run into the room making it larger and brighter. The Carrara marble chimney-piece with baseless Doric columns is original, but most of the furnishing of this comfortable room is late nineteenth century. There are rich curtains and upholstery, copies of oId masters in gilt frames on the walls, a Steinway rosewood grand piano bought in 1898 and a workbox nearby ready for use. Other items include two pietro duro round tables which came from Drumsill in 1916, one of which is inlaid with butterflies and the other with the quartered coat of arms of MacGeough and Bond. The ormolu colza-lamp was converted to gas in 1906 when an acetylene gas plant was installed in the yard for £257 17s. 6d. - a sum which included all the fittings, such as the wall brackets each side of the overmantel mirror. The Argory has never been lit by electricity, though the National Trust installed carefully concealed power points when they took over the house in 1979. On the other side of the staircase hall is the dining room. Much of its furniture was acquired from the Glasgow firm of cabinetmakers and upholsterers James Whyte and Son in 1827, notably the chairs around the long table - which is set with family china and silver for tea. Family portraits line the walls as is so often the case in Irish country house dining-rooms, while some of the accessories in the room include two round-topped tables in mahogany adjusted by a system of internal pulleys and two side-tables, beneath which stand plate buckets and a tea caddy; a warming cabinet sits to the left of the fireplace. Across the central corridor from the dining-room lies the billiard room - a familiar feature of nineteenth century country houses, though it is rare to see one so well preserved as this. The room retains its original early nineteenth-century table by Burroughes & Watts as well as its early accessories, such as its scoreboard, level, cue stand and rests. The masculine feel of the room is emphasised by the warm appearance of the dado, which has been painted to resemble panelling, while the shutters have been grained to imitate walnut veneer. The other major reception room, the study, contains more family portraits, including a striking one of Walter McGeough by Sir Frederick Grant. This room, which continued to be regularly used by W. A. N. MacGeough Bond until his recent death, reveals a cluttered and reposeful scene crammed with an assortment of family acquisitions spanning four generations. The Argory and most of its contents were given to the National Trust by the late W. A. N. MacGeough Bond in April 1979. Two years later the house was opened to the public following a major restoration, which included work to the stable block, designed in 1820 and surmounted by a cupola with an eight-day striking clock and a handsome weather-vane. The 300 acre demesne park has many pleasant walks.
Located 4 miles from Moy on the Derrycaw Road. NGR: H 872580. From the Appletree Press title: Irish Country Houses.
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