About

Recorded settlement in Holyrood began in the late 1700s; however “Holyrode” appeared on a map of Newfoundland published in 1675. Some of our earliest settlers hailed from the Channel Islands of Jersey & Gurnesey & today we have names like Besso, Devereaux, Hawco, LaCour, Lewis, Veitch to remind us of this heritage.

However, by far the biggest impact was the “Irish Invasion” that took place from 1790 to 1820 when some twenty to thirty thousand Irish fisherman & farmers settled in and around the bays of Newfoundland. Holyrood was largely populated by this invasion, and one James Kelly settled a piece of property on the south shore of Holyrood where the Tea Garden sits. The legacy of James Kelly has passed down through Doyle, O’Brien, Carroll, LaCour, and now Hunt.

The grandson and great-grandson of Kelly, James & John Carroll operated a substantial fishing supply business from the waterside area of the property, outfitting schooners with supplies, bait and ice for both Labrador & Grand Bank fisheries. Carrolls are credited with creating the first mechanical cold storage plant in Newfoundland.

In conjunction with the fish supply business, Jack Carroll enjoyed a lucrative rum running business during the Prohibition era of the 1920’s. However one of his caches of run, which was buried under the front Tea Garden lawn, was discovered by the Customs people and spelled the end of his rum-running career.

He told many tales of his rum-running escapades, but he summed it all up when he explained “it was the Depression & there was not much for people to do. We ran rum, which gave us a job; then there were the men who tried to catch us, & that gave them a job too.”

Jack Carroll sold this piece of property to his friend Olaf Olsen, a Norwegian whaling captain, who had this house built by John & Theo LaCour in 1931 as his country retreat and reminesent of his Norway home. In 1934 Olsen had the rock wall built erected from stones around the property. From one of his whaling stations he shipped in a pair of lower jaw bones from a right(baleen) whale that still forms an arch over the driveway.

Brendan (descendent of James Kelly) & Marie Hunt acquired the property in 1991 as a home for their investment firm. In 2003, Marie opened the Tea Garden restaurant overlooking what James Kelly had settled 200 years ago. Since then thousands of people have been able to enjoy the sun dancing over the waters of Holyrood harbour.