Altmore House

Situated on Church Road in Drummullagh, Omeath, this house was build circa 1841 (pre-famine) by the McGarry family. Locals have a saying, “Bad and all as things are, we didn’t have to go to McGarry’s pot”. This is a reference to the local famine pot which was sponsored by Mr. Mc Garry. This was used to make a gruel for the local peasants who were starving during the famine. It is still in the locality today. By 1871 the resident is Mr. George Mc Cracken, and there was a memorial to a young daughter who died while in residence in Altmore, now in Bush Church, it was originally in the Church of St. Andrew in Drummullagh, Omeath. In the 1911 Census, Retired Lieutenant Colonel John Alexander McCracken who was born in Co. Down is the listed inhabitant. A native of Co. Down, he was a retired soldier, who was living with two of his four children: Nora Constance Mary was born in the East Indies, and Nina Janie Marguerita was born in Barbados, West Indies indicating a number of military campaigns overseas. Mr. Patrick Carroll, a wholesaler of shell-fish especially oysters bought the house in 1941. The road on which Altmore sits, Church Road, is locally known as Carroll’s Hill. Frances Carroll, the daughter of this house married Mr. Joe Molloy and this family are still in residence today.