The Lecky and Macky Families
The Lecky Family
The whole area of Belmont is now part of the city but years ago it would have been surrounded by green fields and woods with a wonderful view of the city.
We can trace the history of Belmont House back to 1696. The Lecky family from Scotland leased the land from the Irish Society in 1614. They cleared the waste ground and boggy areas and in 1696 built a mansion on a hill at Belmont on the site where Belmont House is today.
The Leckys were very important people in Londonderry and in 1692 Alderman Lecky was the city mayor. The Leckys lived in Belmont until at least 1820 when Thomas Lecky lost all of his money and may have sold the estate. Lecky Road is named after the family.
| The Macky Family |
| The Macky Family The original mansion is no longer standing. We know that in 1833 Mr. William Millar built the house as it is today. He was an important doctor and was later Mayor . It was then owned by the Macky family and they are listed in Burke's Landed Gentry of Ireland in 1837 as the "Macky family of Belmont". In 1860 Mr. Macky was an Agent for the Bank of Ireland The Mackys owned the house until the 1940s. They were very wealthy people and owned hundreds of acres in the area. One of our teachers who is now retired told us that her grandfather was the butler to the Macky family. A lady who used to work in our school was the granddaughter of the coachman and he was later the chauffeur of the Macky family's first car. Captain Ross Macky who grew up in Belmont House as a child visited the school in the 1970s and told stories of how his grandfather had tried to dig up St.Columb's Stone in the garden to look for treasure. 1920-30
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