Stone chair, Tollymore Park, Newcastle, Co Down

A large, roughly hewn granite garden seat, probably dating from the mid-19th century, set on the south side of the drive leading from the eastern entrance to Tollymore Park, County Down.

The piece is carved in the form of a chair, with a low seat and a broad back. It is made from granite. The back is inscribed with a verse, though the lettering is now badly worn and largely indistinct. The inscription is said to have read: "Here, in full light, the russet plains extend, / There, wrapped in clouds, the bluish hills ascend, / Even the wild heath displays her purple dyes / And, 'midst the desert, fruitful fields arise."

The chair is marked on the revised Ordnance Survey map of 1859 and on all subsequent maps. It is one of the "rustic seats" mentioned by McComb in his 1861 guide to Belfast and the surrounding districts, and was probably placed here by the 3rd Earl of Roden, who was also responsible for carved inscriptions on the rocks along the "River Drive" elsewhere in the park.

Tollymore Park has a long and layered history. In the late medieval period, the land was under the lordship of 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, and the estate remained in the Magennis male line until around 1685, when Bernard Magennis died without children. The estate then passed to his sister Ellen, who was married to William Hamilton. Their son James inherited it, and his own 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, widely remembered by his earlier title of Lord Limerick, began transforming Tollymore into a naturalistic landscape demesne around 1720. He enclosed much of the land as a deer park, undertook large-scale tree planting, built a hunting lodge and the "Old Bridge", and rebuilt the parish church at Bryansford — the small estate village to the north of the park, named after his ancestor Brian Magennis. Around 1750 he began constructing a larger house, probably taking design advice from his friend, the English architect Thomas Wright, who visited Ireland in 1746–47 and stayed at Tollymore Park in September 1746. Dr Pococke, writing in his Tour of Ireland in 1752, noted that Lord Limerick had by then completed two rooms of his new "pretty lodge" and had also built "a thatch'd open place to dine in" on the south side of the Shimna River. The Clanbrassil Barn was added just to the north of the house in 1757, with the Horn Bridge 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 the planting programme. During the 1780s he erected the Barbican gate at the eastern entrance to the park, the gothick gate at the Bryansford entrance, a hermitage, gothick follies, a 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, along with the extensive planting, were also thought to reflect the influence of Thomas Wright, and made Tollymore one of the most admired estates in Ireland. Bernard Scalé's map of the park from 1777 gives a sense of its picturesque character at this period, showing a rolling landscape with planting, meadows, rivers, streams, and woodland walks. An advertisement in the Belfast News-Letter of 26 April 1785 offered lodgings in Bryansford village, drawing attention to their "most pleasing prospect" of the demesne, and noting that the wholesome air and herbage on which the goats fed made the place "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 and built the Bryansford and Barbican gate lodges, the latter of which has since been demolished. He also erected an obelisk monument to the east of the house in memory of his second son James, who died unexpectedly in 1812. Both the 2nd Earl and his successor, Robert the 3rd Earl, further developed the village of Bryansford, making it "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 around the same time. The 3rd Earl constructed a water-powered sawmill within the demesne and in 1865 added a further small lodge to the east. He also enlarged Tollymore House by adding an additional storey to the wings and a tall, somewhat incongruous, French château-style roof to the original central block.

Tollymore Park remained solely in the hands of the Roden family 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 to be designated a Forest Park and was opened to the public. It has continued to be developed for timber production, recreation, conservation, and education. Although the house itself has gone, the majority of the park's 18th- and early 19th-century gates, bridges, and lodges have survived.