The house was the home of the McKinney family, who came to Ireland from Scotland in the early 1700s. Remarkably the contents of the house have survived almost intact. This is largely due to William Fee McKinney, who was born in 1832 and lived at Sentry Hill for most of his life. William built up a remarkable collection of diaries, family letters, books and also souvenirs from family travels all round the world.
McKinney was also an enthusiastic photographer. He used this camera to take pictures of the people living in the Carnmoney area of Newtownabbey. Not just the great and the good but also working people he came into contact with. His photographs offer us a valuable insight into life at this time - they are a wonderful piece of social history. McKinney was also friends with the famous Irish photographer Robert Welch.
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