Barnageeha, St Patrick's College, 619 Antrim Road, Belfast, Co. Antrim, BT15 4DZ

Barnageeha is a two-storey former merchant's villa built around 1868 in random-coursed buff sandstone with Classical Greek detailing, designed in the style of Alexander 'Greek' Thomson of Glasgow. It is most likely the work of James Hamilton (c.1826–1894), a Glaswegian architect and follower of Thomson who carried out several commissions in Ireland between 1857 and the 1870s, including branches of the Ulster Bank in Belfast, Sligo and Meath. The Dictionary of Scottish Architects identifies Hamilton as the architect, noting that he emulated Thomson's style in other buildings such as the Allan Water Hydropathic building at Bridge of Allan, Stirlingshire. The building now serves as the administration building for St Patrick's College, a secondary school, and its original setting has been substantially altered by two large blocks of modern school buildings erected on the site between 1952 and 1955.

The house stands on land formerly part of the Fortwilliam Estate, which was broken up in the mid-19th century. Fortwilliam Park was laid out around 1864 between the Antrim and Shore Roads and quickly became one of Belfast's more prosperous residential streets. Barnageeha and the neighbouring Walton House were among the first villas to be built in the area. The building first appears in the Belfast Street Directories in 1868, when John McFerran — a partner in Richardson Brothers, linen flax, yarn and grain merchants on Donegall Place — was recorded as its occupant. Early valuation records from 1870 valued it at £100 and include a sketch showing that Barnageeha originally possessed a north-facing rear return and a range of outbuildings to the west, all now demolished and replaced with flat-roofed extensions. A single-storey three-bay gate lodge on the Antrim Road entrance, valued at £2 and 10 shillings, was built around 1873 and has since been demolished and replaced by tarmacked parking bays.

The building has a rectangular plan facing east, with large flat-roofed single- and two-storey extensions to the rear. The roof is a gabled replacement natural slate with a shallow pitch and terracotta clay roll-top ridge tiles. A squat rectangular-section chimney, originally taller, is topped by a tall buff clay hexagonal chimney pot to the south. Replacement timber bargeboard, fascia boards and moulded soffit sit beneath heavy projecting eaves, with rafters forming plain timber block modillions. Replacement plastic ogee-style guttering discharges to plastic circular-section downpipes.

The east elevation is the principal facade and survives almost intact. It has three bays: an off-centre gabled porch with pediment and square-headed doorway with fanlight; a rectangular slightly projecting single-storey tripartite bay window to the right; and paired windows to the left-hand bay. The facade is constructed from buff sandstone with punched horizontal dressings to the main face and smooth-faced dressings to window and door surrounds. Ground floor windows are generally original one-over-one double-hung sliding sash windows with horns and a smaller upper sash. First floor windows are replacement timber three-pane windows with top-hung opening lights. Upper windows have moulded architraves with egg-and-dart detailing to the crest, surmounted by anthemion detail. The right-hand projecting bay window has three windows divided by pilasters with moulded lotus flower and anthemion capitals and a dentilated cornice above. A geometrical Greek key decoration runs along the ground floor frieze, with a plain stringcourse at window-head level. A plain banded cill course and stringcourse run along the first floor. The original central lantern has been reduced to roof level, with the base of its window mullions still visible.

The main door is housed in the gabled projecting porch, reached via a flight of four sandstone steps flanked by dwarf stone walling. The door surround has beading and an anthemion crest, with a rectangular fanlight above fitted with replacement safety glazing. The door itself is a wide timber four-panelled design with square upper panels featuring moulded rosette detailing.

The south elevation is dominated by a large projecting circular bay with five windows divided by engaged circular columns with moulded Greek Corinthian-style capitals and a dentilated cornice. The circular bay has a flat leaded roof set behind a low parapet. Above the circular bay at first floor level is a double window with moulded architrave and anthemion crest. Two single square-headed windows sit to the east at first floor level. Ground floor bay windows retain double-hung timber sliding sash windows; first floor windows are replacement timber three-pane with top opening lights.

The building extends to the west, where a modern mainly single-storey flat-roofed school building in brown brick is attached to the villa by a recessed glazed entrance at one bay of the original west elevation. The west elevation is otherwise obscured by modern school buildings abutting the original structure: a two-storey block houses a modern staircase, and a single-storey section houses additional school rooms.

The north elevation is composed of three main sections: the original villa, a two-storey single-bay flat-roofed stair block extension, and a six-bay single-storey extension. The extension is of Flemish bond brown brick with an asphalt flat roof. The first bay to the east of the original building retains exposed stonework, one double-hung sash window and a sandstone cill at ground floor level; the remainder of the original building has cement render and concrete cills. The facade is further disrupted by rainwater goods and modern cast iron soil pipes.

Despite the loss of the original staircase and some other interior elements, the ground floor plan and detailing survive to a good standard and contribute significantly to the building's interest.

Notable former occupants include Major General Joshua Kearney Millner (1847–1931), a distinguished soldier and marksman who resided at Barnageeha while serving with the King's Royal Rifle Corps. At the age of 61, Millner won a gold medal in the 1,000-yard free rifle event at the 1908 London Olympics, achieving what remains the record for the oldest Briton to win an Olympic gold medal. The 1901 Census of Ireland recorded him living at Barnageeha with his wife and step-daughter in a first-class dwelling of 14 rooms, with a stable, coach house and barn among its outbuildings. Millner retired to Dublin following the disbandment of his unit in 1908 and died there in 1931.

After a Mrs Geraldine Lepper occupied the house from around 1908 to around 1920, Walter Francis Clokey (1870–1930) took up residence. Clokey was a local magistrate and prominent stained glass artist who had established the Clokey Stained Glass Studios in 1904. His firm gained widespread respect and was famed throughout Ireland for its church windows, which were so highly valued that they were removed from Belfast and stored in the country for safekeeping during the Second World War. Remarkably few original designs survive today. Barnageeha passed to his widow Margaret following Clokey's death in 1929.

The Holy Family Parish acquired Barnageeha around 1948 and, following the Education Act (Northern Ireland) 1947, converted the site into a boys' intermediate school. The surrounding modern school blocks were designed by McLean & Forte and constructed between 1952 and 1955 at a cost of £250,000, built by Orlit (N.I.) Ltd. using a system of precast concrete blocks. The school was designed to accommodate 800 pupils, partly drawn from the former Holy Family Boys and Earl Street Boys schools. The conversion of Barnageeha involved the demolition of the north-facing rear return and original outbuildings and the construction of the flat-roofed extension to the west. Following construction, the combined value of the site rose to £3,600.