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Cultra Manor, which was built in 1902-1904, was the family home of Sir Robert Kennedy, his wife, the Hon Lady Bertha Ward, daughter of Viscount Bangor, and their four daughters.
Sir Robert and Lady Bertha built the house when Sir Robert retired from the Diplomatic Service. The Kennedy family had strong connections with the Cultra area since 1671 when Dr Hugh Kennedy, a successful physician in Belfast, purchased the townland of Ballycultra (much of the land between the Museum and Holywood) and built himself a mansion. The Kennedys were of Scottish origin, being a cadet branch of the Kennedy family, the Earls of Cassilis.
Cultra Manor is one of the last 'big' houses of the landed gentry to be built in Ireland, even though, as a 'big' house it is very modest indeed.
Sir Robert, a career diplomat, was first posted to Madrid in 1875 and later served in Constantinople (Istanbul), St Petersburg, Sofia, Bucharest and Tehran, before being appointed Minister Resident and Consul-General at Montevideo.
He and Lady Bertha had four daughters, only one of who married. The other three daughters lived at Cultra until 1952 when they built a smaller residence on the eastern edge of the estate and sold the Manor and 136 acres of demesne. The estate was purchased as the permanent home of the Ulster Folk Museum in 1961 and opened to the public in 1964.
The exterior of the house is of Co. Down shale and Scottish sandstone; the interior has been altered at various times to accommodate exhibition galleries, research offices and other museum services. The Manor is now the Museum's Education and Conference Centre and is not normally open to the public except for special events, functions and occasional temporary exhibitions.
