Virtual Visit Northern Ireland

The Drum is a unique and pretty two storey gatelodge. The Gothic windows and the doorway are set in harled walls surmounted by a castellated parapet. Over the front door a tiny bull's eye window lights the landing, to which the stairs wind up from beside the fireplace. The Drum is situated on a quiet country road - and its rustic setting makes it an ideal romantic retreat.

The Drum was built at the end of a long avenue of beech trees at the western edge of the Ballylough Estate in 1800, by Archdeacon Traill two years after he bought the estate. His family are still in residence. No records are yet available for the occupants of The Drum before 1898, when one Lizzie Taggart and her husband came to live there. Both of the Taggarts were employed on the estate, he as a farm labourer, and she as the 'hen girl' looking after the geese, ducks and hens. The Taggart family lived there until 1962, after which it remained vacant.