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Roger Hall was born in 1929 in Northern Ireland, the 4th child and elder son of Roger Hall; he was the brother of Bill Hall (B52), and the uncle of Patrick Hall (C89). His father Roger was in the Battle of the Somme in 1916, receiving the MC from George V - he suffered from war wounds and he died in 1939 when Roger was aged 10. Two years later Roger came to Ampleforth, and he was in St Aidan's House under Fr Terence Wright from 1941 to 1945. Afterwards he studied at Greenmount Agricultural College.
In January 1950, when he was aged 21, Roger Hall inherited the family house and estate of Narrow Water Castle as tenant for life of Narrow Water Castle. Roger lived at Narrow Water Castle or on the estate for the rest of his life. Narrow Water Castle is a tower house near Warrenpoint, on the County Down bank of the Clanrye River, which enters Carlingford Lough a mile to the South, bulit originally in 1212. Narrow Water Castle was given into state care in 1956 and has been described as one of the finest 16th century buildings in Ireland. There has been a keep on this site since 1212 - the original was destroyed in 1641 Rebellion. the present building was built in the 1670s.
The Narrow Water Castle and Estate has been the property of the Hall family since 1670, the first home being the Old Narrow Water Castle, an old Norman Castle built on the shoreline of Carlingford Lough, now a national monument. The family then built Mount Hall, an Irish long house, on nearby rising ground in about 1690 and lived there until the early 19 century when Roger Hall built the present castle-an extravagant Elizabethan revival mansion all in local granite.The Republic of Ireland is just yards away across the river, and the castle gateway was the scene of one of the worst atrocities of Northern Ireland's troubles with 18 British soldiers killed there in July 1979. Narrow Water Castle is now much used for weddings.
Roger Hall was essentially a farmer. He had an enormous love of the land. As The Irish Times quoted a long-time friend [22 September 2007], Roger "saw himself not as the owner but as the caretaker of the estate". He would rise early to feed the cattle, to fix fences, to work on the estate. An SDLP Assembly member, PJ Bradley, is quoted by the Irish Times [22 September 2007]: "He treated everyone he met as equals, no matter what their politics or religious beliefs"
Roger married in 1952 Maeve Price, but this marriage was dissolved in the mid-1990s. He married again in 1999 Estelle Cushan, a widow whose family came from Northern Ireland and had lived for many years in Columbia. Roger and Estelle often travelled to Columbia - in 2006, following the Columbia Three controversy, Roger found himself under suspicion when he used an Irish passport and he was nearly deported.
There are three children of the marriage of Maeve and Roger: Toby, Marcus and Lasarra [now in New Zealand]. Marcus has inherited Narrow Water Castle.
Roger Hall died on 8 September 2007. At his own requiest, his last request to Estelle, his coffin was carried to the local Catholic cemetery ny the men who had worked with him on the land.
OA Deaths 2007
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