Northern Ireland 2013 & Famous Faces

It's no secret that I love to read and create stories. I also get fed-up with the negative press this little corner of the world gets. There's no denying we've had more than our fair share of bad news but there's just as much, if not more, good about Northern Ireland.

For both of those reasons it always pleases me to see positive stories and the recent surge we seems to be having as a film location is no exception. I've blogged before about some of our beauty spots and the tv/film crew they've attracted; Your Highness, Game of Thrones and Blandings have all been mentioned here.

Last week Liam Neeson returned to Northern Ireland to receive the freedom of his home, Ballymena.

Lian Neeson receives Freedom of Ballymena


This week starts with the news that Sir Ian McKellen has also visited Northern Ireland and, like James Nesbitt and Liam Neeson, it turns out he has roots in Ballymena. He was here to receive an honorary degree from the University of Ulster. It was presented at the Magee Campus, in Derry-Londonderry, the 2013 City of Culture.

UTV: Ian McKellen
City of Culture 2013

Maybe, someone out there might even take a chance on a little story set in Northern Ireland by an unknown Northern Irish writer! One that has some reference to the residue of our past but focuses on family, the Northern Ireland setting and how first impressions can taint how we view people. Fingers crossed The Glass House finds an audience.

The Other Side of Crom

I had to record the BBC programme, Keeping the Castle, and watched it tonight.

I've mentioned in several posts how Crom has become one of my favourite spots in Northern Ireland and there is so much for the visitor to the estate to enjoy; the photos I've already posted show the beauty of the landscape and the waterways. Despite all of that, curiosity lingered about the interior of the castle, which is private.

The West Wing is a commercial concern and the South Wing a private residence but both are owned by the Crichton family and cannot be accessed with your National Trust entry fee. So, we had to cycle and walk around the edges of private land, stealing what glimpses we could.

Blandings was filmed at Crom and Sunday nights currently provide Wodehouse humour and a chance to glimpse the inside of Crom Castle. Keeping the Castle takes you into both wings, settling my curiosity a little further.

I noticed some lovely cottages when we cycled around the estate, one in particular on the island - where the walled garden can be found - had stunning views over to the boathouse, castle and summer house. Its garden caught my attention, as did the terrier dog who came out to say hello when we cycled past. He made us wish we'd been able to bring our own dogs with us but it's not easy appeasing a Red Setter during a car journey or taking her along on a bike ride. I realise now that cottage is the residence of a Crichton family member, who maintains a beautiful cottage garden, and Jack Russell's appear to be a family favourite.

So, if you haven't seen any of my other blog posts about Crom, have yet to visit it or are curious about the interior of the Castle I hope you'll take a look round this blog (you can use the Crom tag on the right) and follow some of the links to find out more.

At the end of Keeping the Castle it was suggested by Earl Erne and Viscount Crichton that Fermanagh was the best County. Well, it's a wonderful spot and another one of our gems but as a native of County Down I'll have to argue that our mountains and coastline are hard to beat.

I spotted the boathouse

I'm watching the new BBC series, The Blandings. Whilst enjoying Timothy Spall's panic over The Empress I spotted a familiar boathouse in the background. It seems the series filmed at the beautiful Crom Estate. The boathouse featured in the photos I posted after visiting the estate in summer 2012.

Crom Estate Blog Post