Monument, Tollymore Park, Newcastle, Co Down

A tall granite obelisk monument erected around 1815 by the 2nd Earl of Roden in memory of his second son, James Bligh Jocelyn, who died in 1812 in consequence of an attack of asthma whilst on naval service. The monument stands on a gentle grassy rise within Tollymore Park, a short distance to the east of the site of the former Tollymore House.

The obelisk itself is constructed in ashlar granite and rises from a battered granite pedestal, which in turn rests on a stepped granite base. The pedestal has a cornice with a tympanum to each face, and each face carries an inscribed slate panel. The western panel bears an English inscription recording the facts of James Bligh Jocelyn's death. The eastern panel carries a short verse in English and is now cracked. The southern panel bears a couplet in Italian and is badly cracked. The northern panel carries a Latin eulogy.

The monument does not appear on the Ordnance Survey map of 1834 but is marked on the revised map of 1859, where it is noted simply as "Monument", and on all subsequent Ordnance Survey maps.

The monument forms part of a much wider designed landscape with a long and distinguished history. In the late medieval period, Tollymore and the surrounding townlands were held by the Magennis family of Upper Iveagh. In 1611, Brian MacHugh Magennis received a royal grant of seven and a half townlands in the area from King James I. The estate remained in the Magennis male line until around 1685, when Bernard Magennis died childless and the property passed to his sister Ellen, who was married to William Hamilton. On Ellen's death, the estate passed to their son James. His son, also named James, who inherited in 1701, was created Viscount Limerick in 1719 and Earl of Clanbrassil (of the second creation) in 1728.

This James, popularly remembered by his earlier title of Lord Limerick, began transforming Tollymore into a naturalistic landscape demesne around 1720. He enclosed much of the land to form a deer park, commenced large-scale tree planting, and built a hunting lodge and the Old Bridge. He also rebuilt the parish church at Bryansford, the small estate village to the north of the park, which takes its name from his ancestor Brian Magennis. Around 1750 he began construction of a larger house, probably with design advice from his friend, the English architect Thomas Wright, who visited Ireland in 1746 to 1747 and stayed at Tollymore Park in September 1746. Dr Pococke, writing in his Tour of Ireland of 1752, noted that Lord Limerick had completed two rooms of his new "pretty lodge" by that date and had also built "a thatch'd open place to dine in" on the south side of the Shimna River. Just to the north of the house, the Clanbrassil Barn was added in 1757, and the Horn Bridge was built to the south at around the same time.

Lord Limerick died in 1758 and was succeeded by his son, also named James, who extended the new house and continued his father's programme of tree planting. During the 1780s he erected the Barbican Gate at the eastern entrance to the park, the Gothic gate at the Bryansford entrance, the hermitage, the Gothic follies and steward's lodge on the Hilltown Road, and a number of bridges within the park, including Ivy Bridge, Parnell's Bridge, and Foley's Bridge, the last named after his wife, Grace Foley. These additions, which also appear to have been influenced by Thomas Wright, together with the planting, made Tollymore one of the most attractive estates in Ireland. Bernard Scalé's map of 1777 gives a clear impression of the park's picturesque character during this period, showing a rolling landscape with extensive planting, meadows, rivers, streams, and woodland walks. An advertisement in the Belfast News-Letter of 26 April 1785 offering lodgings in Bryansford village made much of the "most pleasing prospect of the Right Hon. Earl of Clanbrassil's much admired demesne, which is beautiful to the sight and extensive to the bounds," and praised its wholesome air and the herbage on which the goats fed, noting that the area was "much frequented by ladies and gentlemen for the recovery of lost health."

James, 2nd Viscount Limerick and 2nd Earl of Clanbrassil, died without issue in 1798, and the park passed to his sister Anne, wife of Robert Jocelyn, 1st Earl of Roden. Their son Robert, 2nd Earl of Roden, inherited the estate in 1802. He built the Bryansford and Barbican gate lodges, the latter of which has since been demolished, and erected the obelisk monument to the east of the house in memory of his son James.

The 2nd Earl and his successor, Robert, 3rd Earl of Roden, further developed Bryansford, making it what was described as "a pleasing place of residence for those persons that like a quiet retreat." A Roman Catholic church was built at the eastern edge of the village in 1820, school houses in 1823 and 1826, and labourers' dwellings and the large dower house known as The Nest were added at around the same time. The 3rd Earl also constructed a water-powered saw mill within the demesne and in 1865 added another small lodge to the east. He enlarged Tollymore House itself by adding an additional storey to the wings and a tall French château-style roof to the original central block, the latter considered somewhat incongruous in character.

Tollymore Park remained in Roden family ownership until 1930, when the 8th Earl sold two thirds of the land to the Ministry of Agriculture for afforestation. The remaining third was purchased by the Ministry in 1940, and during the Second World War Tollymore House and part of the grounds were used by the Army. After the war the house fell into disrepair and was demolished by Lord Roden in 1952. In 1955 Tollymore became the first state forest in Northern Ireland to be designated a Forest Park and was opened to the public. Although the house itself has gone, most of the park's 18th and early 19th century gates, bridges and lodges have survived and the park continues to be managed for timber production, recreation, conservation and education.