SNIPPET: "My memories of LORD KILBRACKEN go back to my youth and coming home from Drumeela NS via Killegar. Jimmy McGARVEY was an employee on the estate; he lived with his wife and family in the gate lodge at Killegar Church. Mrs. McGARVEY was a dressmaker and made clothes for us and this meant many visits to her house and then home through the fields across the estate-mearing to our own farm. I was too young to appreciate lilies, orchids and rhododendrons, but the sweet red apples and fat yellow gooseberries still taste good in my mouth. On our journey up the back avenue and through the big house yard we would most likely meet LORD KILBRACKEN out walking. He always talked with us but we never understood his accent, only awaited his generosity as we approached the orchard gates overflowing with fruits, flowers and vegetables. This was Hugh John GODLEY, 2nd BARON KILBRACKEN and father of John Raymond 3rd BARON whom we buried opposite his own gates in Killegar Churchyard on August 18th last. The religious difference and social class divided us at the time but we were good neighbours. Thankfully, the only permanence in life is change and this change was very evident at the ecumenical funeral service held in Killegar Church, built by John GODLEY in 1813. Reading through Burke's Peerage the GODLEY lineage is rich and colorful, full of academic and military achievement. The late LORD KILBRACHEN's grandfather was John Arthur GODLEY, 1st BARON KILBRACKEN, private secretary to British Prime Minister, GLADSTONE 1872-74 and 1880-82 and permanent Under-Secretary of State of India 1883-1909 raised to the peerage as BARON KILBRACKEN of Killegar, Co. Leitrim, December 1909. A legend in his own time and champion of many causes with particular regard to Northern Ireland, the late John Raymond GODLEY was born in Belgravia, London in October, 1920. He was the eldest of three children of Hugh John, and Elizabeth Helen Monteith HAMILTON. The children were educated in England, and spent school holidays in Killegar. John Raymond moved permanently to Killegar when he inherited the peerage and the property on the death of his father in 1950. For us, Killegar was the place to go on a Sunday afternoon for although private property the estate was used by the local community. My father had rented Drumergoul - a portion of the estate - and we travelled under the Big House to the back of Kilnamar lake to count cattle nearly every day, often swimming there. I remember sitting on the black bridge watching the red squirrel, a spot to which I returned recently with Drumeela Art Group ..." -- Excerpts posted with written permission, editors "Leitrim Guardian 2007" issue w/photos.

LORD JOHN KILBRACKEN There have been many landed gentry, In this country down the years, Many who controlled their patch, Through dominance and fear. That was Ireland's history, One hopes those days are gone, That never was the way of life, For the man they called Lord John. I'll tell you that landed man, Who lived not far away, John Godley, Lord Kilbracken, Was unique in many ways. His door was always open, To the great and to the small, A learned man, a journalist, Who fought in the second world war. He lived in the big house, Himself and Lady Sue. In that tranquil place called Killegar, Where those majestic broad leaf grew. Over looking lakes and rivers, And the black bridge in the view, He was well respected, By everyone he knew. Lord John's love for trees and nature, Inspired his pen in hand, He was from grand old English stock, But a proud, brave Irish man. God rest you Lord Kilbracken, Your memory will live on, May Kilbracken house be stately once again, Filled with story, fun and song. We wish the new Lord great good luck, And may his reign be long, He'll have a hard act to follow, In the footsteps of Lord John. -- Excerpt, 2007 issue of "Leitrim Guardian," posted with written permission of editorial staff. --- "My memories of LORD KILBRACKEN go back to my youth and coming home from Drumeela NS via Killegar. <snip> .... Mossie Whelan.