The Love Story
Col. Deane Mann and his wife Anna Jeffcock who lived in Dunmoyle Lodge had only one daughter, Katherine. The locals described Katherine as being as beautiful and arrogant as her mother, Anna. While Katherine lived in Derry/Londonderry, her father spent a great deal of time in Dunmoyle, tending to his estate. Katherine met a rising young barrister, John Ross at a society function in Dublin. The young couple fell in love to the disapproval of the upper-class society of that time, because John Ross was only a lawyer whose father, Rev Robert Ross was Presbyterian minister in Derry/Londonderry. Despite the feelings of her parents, Katherine went ahead and married John Ross without her parents’consent, On her wedding day the young Katherine walked from Dunmoyle Lodge to Sixmilecross, from where she went by train to Dublin where she married John Ross in St. Michan's Church. For their honeymoon the couple travelled from Dublin to Donegal on a tandem bicycle.
During the early years of their marriage John & Katherine Ross lived in Dublin. This was a great sacrifice for her as the standard of living on a lawyer's salary did not compare with the luxurious lifestyle to which Katherine had been accustomed. However, Katherine stood by her talented husband and in time he became a judge of the Supreme Courts. During all this time there was no contact between the newly-married Rosses and Katherine's family. Then John Ross took charge of a case being tried in the court house in Omagh. Although the occupants of the castle claimed outwardly to have little interest in the court case, curiosity overcame the stubborn pride of the ageing Deane Mann who was driven by coach to Omagh courthouse on the last day of the trail. He was so impressed with the intelligence and flair of John Ross, that after the trail he invited Katherine and her husband back to the castle. before long the 'commoner' was tolerated and John Ross became in time the heir to the castle and its grounds. Thus he became a large part of Dunmoyle's History.
During the early years of their marriage John & Katherine Ross lived in Dublin. This was a great sacrifice for her as the standard of living on a lawyer's salary did not compare with the luxurious lifestyle to which Katherine had been accustomed. However, Katherine stood by her talented husband and in time he became a judge of the Supreme Courts. During all this time there was no contact between the newly-married Rosses and Katherine's family. Then John Ross took charge of a case being tried in the court house in Omagh. Although the occupants of the castle claimed outwardly to have little interest in the court case, curiosity overcame the stubborn pride of the ageing Deane Mann who was driven by coach to Omagh courthouse on the last day of the trail. He was so impressed with the intelligence and flair of John Ross, that after the trail he invited Katherine and her husband back to the castle. before long the 'commoner' was tolerated and John Ross became in time the heir to the castle and its grounds. Thus he became a large part of Dunmoyle's History.
