Inverbrena 2001

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2001

cM'emoriesJiom the Q7jtrangford Area

A note on lt5lnverbrena I: The name first appears in the Annals cif the Four Masters as "Inver Brena}) the mouth of the Bren river and identifies the narrow neck cif water through which the tide rushes into Loch Cuan.

cYhairmatrs ~te.

Once again I invite you into the pages of our magazine of2001 which I hope you will find interesting.

Spanning a period of a couple of generations oflocal history, it recalls many memories of personalities and events which relate to people you may have known.

"Turn a stone here" the editor tells me, "and you'll find a poet musing". Poems and ballads old and new, celebrating people, places and happenings in the area feature largely in this issue.

PJ. Lennon writing in the 50s laments the disappearance of bards in Ireland. They appear to be alive and well and living in Lecale.

Your continued interest, support and information is very encouraging to the members, and many an article has been born by a few minutes gossip in the street. If you could venture a visit to any of our monthly meetings I know you would enjoy the "craic" and you don't have to start offby writing an article.

Good reading.

WCrea.

((For the olden l11.emories fast are flying from us Oh! that some kind hand would come And bind them in a garland eJre the present hardens And the past grows cold and dumb JJ. Anon

@nverbrencr fi20ccrl OCiS!orp c9roup Ronnie Buchanan Willie Crea (Chairman) Peig Denvir (Secretary) Leslie McKibben (Treasurer) Sheila Campbell (Editor) and members of the Strangford community Front Cover: by Mona Ottaw~) Canada.

Ballyculter School photograph. George McKibben's handwriting.

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cYontents Page No. Mrs Blaney & Other Miscellany - Joe Cull .......... .. ....... .. .. ... ....... ........... ............. ... .. .............. 3 Bernie Taggart - Pat Fitzsimons .. .. ........ . .... ......... .. .... .... .. .. . ... ... .. .... ... ... . .. .. .. ...... .... ........ 6 All Kinds of Everything - Bill McStay .... .. .................. ........................ ... ........ ...... .. ........ 7 Dinner Party - Pat Fitz simons ..... .. ... . ................. .. ... .. ... ............. ..... '" ... .. . ..... ... .... ......... 8 Like the Lilt of a Song - Bill McStay . .... .. ............ .. .... ...... .. .... . ................ . ....... . ...... ........ 9 Townlands of Kilclief.......... .............. .............. ... .. .... .. .... .... ..... .................. ..... ...... ...... .. ..... .. 10 Owed to Dick - Raymond Denvir . .... . ................. .. .... ... .. .. ... .... .. .. ........ .. ... ....... ... ........ . 11 The Mouse in Winter - Pat Fitzsimons .. .. ......... ... .. .. .. ....... ... ...... .... . ........... ....... ... . .... .. . 14 Mills of Ballyculter - George Jackson .......... .......... .. .... ... ... ..... ...... .... .. ............. ... ... .. ... ... 15 The Millwheel - Anon .. . .. .. .... ... . ........ ... ......... ........... .. .. . ............ . ......... .. ..... .... ...... ... 16 The Degeneration of the Bards - PJ Lennon .................................. .... ...... ..... ... ....... .. ... 17 It's Not Easy & Golf at Ardglass - Pat Fitzsimons ....... .. ..... .... ...... ...... ............................. 18 Building Inverbrena Community Centre - Peig Denvir .. .. ... .. ..................... .. .................. 19 The Warrior has Fallen - Brian Denvir ..... . .... .. .. .... .. .. ..... ... . .. .. ... . .............. .. ... ..... .......... 20 Songs from Strangford - T he Wee House By T he Sea - WE. Kennedy . ... ... .. ... ...... .. ... ...... 2 1 T he Angus Rock Lighthouse - WE. Ken nedy ............................ 22 Why?- WE . Kennedy .... . ....... ... ...... .... ........ ................. .. ..... ... 23 The Farmer on Holiday - WE. Kennedy .... .. ..... .. ................. .. .. . 24 1950s Ballynagarrick - Joe Cull ............. .. ....................... . ....... .. .................. . ....... . .. ... .. 25 The Frankies - Pat Fitz simons .. .. ... ... ...... .. . .. ... .. .. .. .. .... .. .. . ... ... ...... ....... ... ... .. . .... ...... .. ... 26 Tales from Sheeplands - Ronald Buchanan .. ..... ... ............ ......... ...................... .. ...... ...... . 27 The Pub on Friday In Ballyhornan - Pat Fitzsimons ....... .. .. ...... ........ .... . .... ...... ..... .. ....... 29 Ballyhornan - Joe Fitzsimons ......... ........................................................ ...... ......... ..... ... .. .... 30 A Walk Alone the Shoreline - PJ Lennon & Mingo 's Child - Pat Fitzsimons .... .. ... ... ........... 33 The Stockdales of Ballynarry, T he Murder Bog - W Crea .......... ............ .............. .. ......... 34 Strangford in the Sixties - Paddy Corrigan .................................................................... 37 The Burning of Old Court (May 1922) - Eamon McMullan ...... .................... .................. 40 Dinner for the Landlord - PJ Lennon ............................... ............... .. . ..................... ... 42 Cuan Golf Club - Strangford - Godfrey Quayle ............... .. ... .... ................ ...... .. .... .. .... .. 44 Nuisance at Strangford - Down Recorder 1893 ..... .... .. ... ................ ... ........ .................... 47 Across the "Pads" to School - George Conway . ............. ........ .. ........ .. ......... ... .. . .... .. ... ..... 48 Mountain Quarter on the Hill - Lily Richie ................. ...... ....... ...... .... .... ..................... 50 The Viscount Bangor National School - Ballyculter - George McKibben .. ...... .......... ....... .. . 51 Reports from Inspector of Schools ................................................................................ ..... 52 Register of Pupils from 1877 - 1914 ............................. ............................... .......... ............. 58 Loughinisland - Pat Fitzsimons .............. ............ .... ... .. .. .... ..... .... .. .... ..... .... ...... .. ... . ..... 64

Acknowledgments. , The editor wishes to thank: Down County Council - Community Relations Department Lesley Simpson of Down Museum T he Down Recorder Rev. W E. Kennedy Pat and Eilis Fitzsimons Alan Johnston Edie Hynds for permission to reprint material of the late P.]. Lennon Ronnie Buchanan and Peig Denvir Damian & Colin Mc Kee, Geraldine, Nicola and the staff of Flixx Graphics.

The people of the Strangford area who trusted us with their memories and their precious photographs and records.

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cUrs ~!anep &' 速ther cUzsce!!anp ji-om c:;$Zilc!iif S!2rimarp CffJchoo/ Joe Cull.

-------------------------------------------------------------------On my first visit to school, sometime in 1952, I do not remember meeting Mrs Blaney, the Infants teacher, but I suppose I must have. I do remember sitting with my brother Pat in the senior's class, spilling my bottle of milk and being absolutely terrified of the Headmaster Mr McCavera. It was a relief to get home that day believing, as no doubt generations of children before me had, that that was school over and done with and I did not have to go back.

The next six years I spent there were mostly enjoyable. The School in those days was largely as it is now I imagine, although I have not seen the inside for many many years .

There were three classrooms. Although there was a partition in Mrs Blaneys room, which could be pulled across to make a fourth, I don't remember it being used.

The school roll in my time, in Master Ritchie's room, was 101 pupils as was evidenced by the small blackboard hanging behind his desk. Every day the total number of pupils in attendance was marked up on the board.

The School had, some time before I started, been converted to electric light but there was still a huge pile of carbide used for gas lighting stacked against the wall of the boys outside toilets. This over the years provided a source of entertainment.

I'm sure many old boys will remember the Lyles Golden Syrup tins and carbide. We made a nail hole in the bottom of the tin, put some carbide and a few drops of water in the tin and closed the lid tight. A lit match put to the hole in the bottom would cause the gas inside to ignite with explosive force and blow the lid high in the air. I do not recall any mishaps but there must have been.

The toilets themselves were far removed from the minimum we would expect today.

The boys urinal offered no protection from the elements and on wet days there were fewer calls of "please Miss may I leave the room?" . The lavatories, although sheltered, were not much better. There were five or six cubicles and I seem to remember that the one in the corner was reserved for teachers. They were a daunting prospect being about 6 feet deep and I was always afraid of falling in. A seagull was found in one of them one day and I seem to remember that James Denvir had to fish it out using the giant ladle, which was always around.

The girl's toilet and playground was separated from the boys by a high wall but few of us dared to climb it. The penalty for being found in the girl's playground was too high. As we got older and braver we could talk to the girls through the fence if we climbed over into Johnny Fitzsimon's field next to the playgrounds.

Mrs Blaney was my first teacher and nearly fifty years later I remember her with delight. She set the standard to which the many other teachers involved in my life had to measure up to. Although, my first encounter with her ended in tears she did teach me a valuable lesson that day. Seated at our desks in awe, fear and wonderment the .first lesson I remember was building a jigsaw. The jigsaw was fairly simple consisting of 5 or 6 large wooden pieces. "Put your hands up if you cannot do it" exhorted Mrs Blaney. put my hand up straight away and was rewarded with a clout on the ear. "You haven't even tried it yet" accompanied the clout. I tried it by myself and was amazed when I

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completed it. I was rewarded with a sweet from one of the cavernous pockets on the long black dress she always wore. A lesson learned.

Mrs Blaney seemed to teach everything. Apart from the usual reading writing and arithmetic she taught cooking and sewing to the older children. The upper end of the classroom had stoves and cooking gear and, although I never did cooking, I can remember other children coming into the class to do so. It seems archaic now but we started with slates and chalk and somewhere along the way graduated to paper and thick black pencils.

She was thorough and kept on at you until you knew the alphabet and could write it dovv:n. In those days it was quite easy to earn a swift clout on the ear or even worse a slap with her stick. The stick was a lump of wood: no canes here: which to me seemed enormous and it hurt. Mrs Blaney was for ever forgetting where she put things and frequently the whole room would have to get down on our knees to pray to St.Anthony, the patron saint of lost causes for the speedy recovery of an article. But the most preposterous time was when a few of us were lined up for some slaps and her stick was missing. There we were on our knees praying to St. Anthony for the recovery of our instrument of punishment. I am sure that day St.Anthony had the most heartfelt prayers to not bother this time. Anyway he let us down, the stick was found and our punishment duly meted out. I still have my suspicions as to who had hidden the stick in the first place.

She was no softie and more than once I witnessed pupils wet themselves either because they were afraid to ask to leave the room or were refused permission.

She did have a soft side though and anyone who looked sickly had to report to her first thing every morning for their dose of cod-liver oil or orange juice followed by the reward of a sweet. My brother Hugh was one of her regulars for this treatment.

Mr"Coot" McCarthy who lodged with Mrs McConvey in Ballywooden introduced us to pen and ink. No biros in those days,just wooden pens with nibs to be dipped in the inkwells on every desk. Clotted ink, tailor- made for blots, made up from Stephens Ink Powder. Double lined paper for copperplate writing. The smell of ink, even today, can transport me back over the years .

A coal fire in each classroom provided heating in the school. The fires were cleaned and re-laid every evening by Mrs Clelland of Cargagh. On more than one occasion I was sent by Mrs Blaney to "borrow" a match from the Master to light the fire. It was a privilege to get a seat near the fire and at times it was very welcome. Mrs Blaney, on the coldest days, was known to hitch up the back of her skirts and warm her bum at the fire.

Teachers today have a difficult job coping with upwards of thirty children in the one class. It must have been a much more difficult job for Mrs Blaney and her fellow teachers because each classroom contained pupils from three separate years. Yet they always seemed to keep everyone busy on different topics and be aware of the numerous hands up for assistance.

Every morning started with prayers held in the corridor with pupils lined up along each wall. In the winter it was often a very cold place to stand. The front door of the school was locked during prayers and more than once I waited with trepidation for the door to be opened when I was late. The severe countenance of "The Master" Ritchie on these occasions made the blood run cold and slaps were soon dished to the defaulters.

On one occasion we were saved by Fr. Donnelly who insisted that he should be slapped

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as well. The Master let us off that day.

There were no school dinners in those days and for most of us it was bread and jam sandwiches with a bottle of milk for lunch. The leavings were tossed in a heap on the windowsill at the end of the corridor. On sunny days in season these attracted a lot of wasps and we considered it a dangerous place to be. The crusts were scooped into a bucket and taken to "Big Wullies" for pig food.

The steps outside the front door to the hall were a favourite place for playing marbles and as I remember was the only truly flat surface around. The playgrounds too were the birthplace of mapy a nickname which was given for life. The hall was usually locked but on the rare occasions when we found it open it was exciting to explore under the stage and all around. It was used on rare occasions for PE and Safety First Films and for the annual school concert. I seem to recall that we put on a full programme in those days and not just a Nativity play, which seems much in vogue nowadays.

Not many of us were chauffeured to and from school in those days. For most, "shanks mare" was the norm and it was often more fun travelling to and from school than actually being there. The only regular car travellers I remember were Joe & Mary Magee who were driven by their father Frank each day. The car registration number SZ1212 remains with me. Sometimes he would give us a lift up the road with as many crammed in as possible, sometimes even in the boot.

Occasionally it was possible to catch an unofficial ride on a tractor and more than once skinned knees and ripped trousers were earned for not being fast enough. On very rare occasions, Bill Curran would be walking his horse down from the home farm to McIlmurrays and once or twice I was hoisted up on the horses back for a lift. It was a grand experience sitting so high on the big broad back. I felt like the king of the world.

Currans featured a lot in our school journeys. Bill used to supply a small can of milk to Cissie & Annie McIlmurray and we used to pick up the full can on the way to school and leave it for Cissie & Annie. On the way home the empty can was picked up and returned. There was no wage for this service but the odd threepenny bit came our way and was most welcome. It was often rewarding to call in and see Mrs Curran on the way home on cold wet winter days. She always boiled a huge copper of spuds to feed the pigs and these would be ready just about home time. We would call in to the boilerhouse for a quick warm and a big hot spud each and, juggling the spud from hand to hand, head off home well contented.

There was always something of interest going on at Currans and I do not remember ever getting a cold welcome even after someone turned on the tap of their diesel tank and many gallons of oil drained down the hill. I was not there when this happened but the culprit was soon found and dealt with.

Jimmy Magee's was another regular stop on the way home - always for a drink of water. We did not then appreciate the patience Jimmy must have had in standing at the door dishing out seven or eight cups of water and us only five minutes from home. But again I do not recall him ever refusing.

At Kerr's Corner the bulk of the children turned right and headed off to Kilclief proper whilst our motley crew turned left and headed up past the Chapel. If there was going to be a fight it usually happened at Kerr's, but fights were rare. More often there would be a queue to sned a turnip, pinched from Dan Magee's field opposite, on Charlie Kerr's wall. The best place to do it was on the corner of the garden wall because there was a huge bush to give us cover. Eventually there was a huge pile of turnip roots and leaves in the corner of Charlie's garden. Turnips rubbed over the ripe black berries were

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a treat. In due season Charlie would invite us into his garden to feast on the windfall apples. Many trees were "accidentally" bumped by us to ensure there were enough apples to go round.

Charlie had a selection of gnomes in his front garden and it was customary for small stones to be thrown at them until one day the nose of a gnome got broken off. The matter was reported to the school and the culprit identified. He claimed in his defence that he had only thrown a leaf at it.

We always passed the Chapel and the parochial house with due reverence just in case but one day my brother Bob was persuaded to go in and ring the bell. How we expected not to get caught I don't know because the bell could be heard from one end of the Parish to the other. Bob took his punishment alone.

I believe Mrs Blaney lived in Downpatrick and travelled back and forwards to Kilclief every day. At one time she used to get a lift in and out but for most of my time at the school she rode a little NSU Quickly scooter. She travelled the same route as we did on the way home and our ears were always peeled for the sound of the scooter. We had to be on our best behaviour when she passed or there would be a reckoning the next day.

It was customary for her to lob a handful of sweets at us as she passed and there would be a mad scramble to get as many as you could. Some wag suggested that she only did that so that we would not knock her off the scooter. The thought never entered my mind. One of Bill Curran's hens did however succeed in doing so and she was off school for some time after.

I can still see her chugging along, looking out of proportion to the scooter with her long black garb blowing in the wind.

Mr McCarthy by contrast travelled by pushbike and on his passing we had to sing out a greeting in Irish but this was not always accurately delivered.

In my time at Kilclief, I was taught by Mrs Blaney, Mr McCarthy and Master Ritchie.

I, and many others, owe a deep debt of gratitude to the teachers who in spite of sometimes difficult conditions managed to give us an education that we and they could be proud of.

~ernle

CCcr55crrt

Pat Fitzsimons He knows everything from labouring On Barney Magee's farm.

The truth of animal and dung And people caught in the chain of life.

The animal's tail and elder And the pennies gathered from watching both.

Reared a family to be brought To the altar on Sunday To pay their price of life In an unearthly game called respectability.

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All GRinds

Ž/ ~verpthlit§

Bill McStay The Parliamentary Government of Ireland Vol. I 1845.

I wasn't quite sure what a Gazeteer was, but the dictionary was quite emphatic. "A geographical index", it said firmly. Nevertheless, favouring the schoolboy theory that Geography is all about maps, and History all about chaps, I somehow felt that my dictionary didn't quite do justice to the bulky volume picked up in a second hand bookshop. For here were both maps and chaps in rich abundance. The Gazeteer turns our kitchen scales at over 3 lbs, and runs to 853 pages of dense print. It is in truth a voice from the past,for"The Parliamentary Gazeteer ofIreland:Volume I",published in 1845,relies for its sources on all relevant published information up to and including the Census of 1841. It contains all kinds of everything, laid out in the most excruciating detail.

The bulk of the pages in this first volume is devoted to alphabetical entries on every town, village, parish, river, lake, and headland of Ireland, petering out with the entry on Dundalk. Belfast gets 13 pages. Dublin, as befitted the capital and seat of government, grabs the lion's share of 44 pages. I was humbly pleased to see that the learned authors even included my own small seaside village. "The coast in the neighbourhood ofArdglass" , they say, "is bold and rocky, dangerous to navigators, but replete with interest to the lovers oflandscape". And so on, and so on, for two crammed pages.

But for my money, the really riveting stuff comes in the Gazeteer's General Introduction, taking up 144 pages. Here, Ireland is most intimately described under 48 subject headings, ranging from Agriculture through to Vital Statistics. Browsing through the thickets of detail, my eye lighted on some melancholy facts about that far-off world of our past. In County Down, one in four children between 5 and 15 couldn't read or write. In Mayo, the percentage shot up to 8 out of 10. And in an unintentionally prophetic report, the authors observe that: "As long as the potato lasts, the cottier and his family have abundance. They thrive under it, and with plenty of ventilation, enjoy good health and have the clearest skins in the world. But if the crop fail, or the season should prove unfavourable for preserving it, then they are driven to subsist upon weeds; fevers spread, and the utmost distress prevails".

In less depressing vein, the Gazeteer's authors become briskly matter-of-fact as they turn their attention to Ireland's surrounding seas. "The sound or strait of Rathlin" , they pronounce, "between Fair Head and Rathlin Island is 3 miles wide, has so rapid a current as to be called the Race of Rathlin, and sometimes exhibits the phenomenon of the mirage, similar to the fata morgana". This fata morgana, my dictionary tells me, is a mirage which appears off the coast of Sicily. And what reader of the Gazeteer could fail to be bowled over by this masterful display of maritime knowledge: "At 20 miles southeast of Carnsore Point, the stream sets at north-north-east half east, and spring and neap tides rise respectively 17 and 9 feet"?

I was fascinated, I tell you, like a rabbit in front of a snake. So let us raise our glasses

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to the imperishable memory of these long dead gazeteerists, their commanding voices of authority ringing down the decades . In the Parliamentary Gazeteer they have left an enduring monument. And let them have the last word, which I'm sure they would consider no more than their rightful due: "Black Bull, north o~icklow, is in the latitude of Kamchatka in Siberia" . Now I'll bet you never knew that!

Printed by kind permission of the author from a script originally broadcast in RTE's "Sunday Miscellany" series.

cBlflner f2artp Pat Fitzsimons Who can laugh and frolic in the face of Bone handled Sheffield and stainless steel And piece plates adorned by someone's frilly mind Remembering a status denied by some freak of birth T hat demands embroidered pictures on the wall Of silly girls in garish colours that could never be real.

As the cold potato salad preempts The ultimate in colourlessness That is Pavlova, and biscuits of endless shapes Demand an answer What kind of cheese will enhance me?

Because tastes are unsatisfied unless confined like the mind To a certain singular train of thought and the mind buds Become as numb as the rustic people Who sit in designer chairs Holding glasses of superb note Like the tinkling chat about nothing That the ambience echoes to the core ...

What happened to peoples' freedom To drink a bottle of stout From a receptacle which is familiar, friendly and nice And not destroyed by plausible stories Of how it was obtained?

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Bill McStay.

"Drumbo, Dungannon, Annalong, Barony, townland, we cannot go wrong".

So said the distinguished poet John Hewitt in his poem "Ulster N ames", a loving evocation of th~ landscape of his native province.

I'm not all that sure that many Irish people could immediately tell you w hat barony they live in, but townlands are a different story. T hey were here before baronies , and even before counties were created. They are the oldest, smallest, and most widely used administrative unit in Ireland. They have kept an abiding grip on the affection of Irish people. Maybe because their names, as Hewitt says, move on the tongue like the lilt of a song. Maybe also because at an average size of250 acres, the townland is small enough to be comprehensible. Writing about the townland in his 1947 study called Rural Life in Northern Ireland, the geographer John Mogy said "Its inhabitants know every tree, every rock, every field and house, and most of the tales and legends associated with them" . It seems more than mere coincidence that the Irish word "Baile" means both "townland" and "home".

Their names mainly Gaelic in derivation, but leavened by a small number of Norse, Norman and English names, our townlands were identified, mapped and recorded by the Ordnance Survey ofIreland. It was set up in 1824 to provide accurate maps for the valuation of land and property to support the local taxation system. Colonel Thomas Colby, his Royal Engineer officers and three companies of sappers and miners, approached their formidable task with military precision. By the time of the Census of 1901, it was possible to list well over 60,000 townlands in the whole country.

The oft-repeated cadences oftownland names have embedded themselves in a people's consciousness. I must say I have a soft spot for time-honoured legal usages like "situate in the townland of Ringfad, Barony ofLecale, County of Down" . I've always liked the sibilant sound of nearby Rossglass, which to this day is indeed a green headland. And Strangford was well named by the Norse invaders, for still the rushing daily tides surge through the narrow entrance to the Lough. Other Down placenames are shrouded in the mystery of a bygone past, for there's not a trace of a hospital in Spiddal Ballee, and there are no miners now in Minerstown. But there must have been at one time, for there were lead mines in this very place in the 18th century, and it's not unlikely that skilled miners were brought in from Cornwall or Wales. Maybe that explains why Minerstown's neighbouring townland is called Ballynagalliagh, "the townland of the foreigners" .

Some years ago, the Post Office brought in small red mail vans to replace the last of the local post carriers who had long traversed their little worlds on leisurely bicycles. It introduced as well a new system of postal addresses, giving each house an individual number and a precise postal code. So now the district postman in his mailvan, with no intimate knowledge of the rural area, unlike his cycling predecessor, doesn't need to 9

know where one townland ends and another begins. Many country people at the time saw this modernisation as an attack on a priceless heritage. All they can now do however, as a gesture of support for an ancient tradition, is stubbornly to retain the townland name in their official address, and hope in that way to keep it fixed in people's conSCIOusness.

"I take my stand by the Ulster names" ,John Hewitt declared, "each clean hard name like a weathered stone. The names I mean are the Moy, Malone, Strabane, Slievegullion and Portglenone". The poet's choices do indeed roll sweetly off the tongue, but there's many a one in County Down would fondly strike a claim for the likes of Magheramayo or Lisnastrean or Drumballyroney.

Printed by kind permission of the author from a script originally broadcast in RTE's "Sunday Miscellany" series.

rcownlands of GKllcbif Name

Irish

Meaning

Kilclief

Cillcleithe

Church of the Wattles

Ballyculter

Baile Ui Cholta

Raincoltran's Town

Ballynarry

Baile An Fharaidh

Town of the Forth

Ballynagarrick

Baile Na Gcarraig

Town of the Rocks

Carracanish

Ceathru Mhanuis

Manus's Quarter

Carriff (Freagh)

Ceathru Fraoich

Heather Quarter

Drumroe

DromRua

Red Ridge

Spidyel quarter)

(Ceathru an ospuideil)

(Hospital quarter)

Carnashoke

Ceathru Na Seabhac

Hawks ' Quarter

Carrinteggart

Ceathru An tSagairt

The Priest's Quarter

Cloghy

Cloigheach

Stony

Cargagh

Carraigeach

Rocky

Leggnagopeck

Leachach No gCopog

Flat Stony Place of Dockens

Loughkeelan

Loch Caoilin

Caelan's Lough

Tullyfoyle

Tullach An Phoill

The Height of theHollow

Ballylenagh

Ballyorgan

(Once known as

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速wed to oaJlck 速n the occasion ofhis retirement Raymond Denvir - Inverbrena Hall Nov 19 2000 I firs t m et Dick in 54 My first day at school, h e was at the front door O n an NSU Quickly Mrs Blaney appeared And D ick did run when her voice he heared Lighting the fire was poor D ick's chore T hank God it was only for one year more.

You think that's bad, well in primary three He did the same for 'Coot McCarthee' In primary 5 John J was the new head By primary 7 he'd surely be dead.

O n to Corr's Academy after Kilclief In the bus he got up to lots of mischief.

After school I stood outside the shop Watching and waiting for the bus to stop Out of the windows 3 heads did appear I saw their faces as the bus drew near.

Dick and Mullery and the Gunner as well Spitting and swearing and giving me hell.

At least I knew he was still my mate While on a penny chew I did 'ate' A few years later I started working for Jip Now there's a man you gave no lip If not for Dick and Seamus McCann I'd never have become a time-served man.

We hated the work but needed the cash And at the weekends we'd have a big bash.

The weekends were spent in Raholp and Saul Sitting in the car or up at the hall, Badminton, ceilis and the odd barn dance Wondering which girl would give us a chance!

On the badminton court Maeve put up a fight But it wasn't the same later on that night.

They fell in love and soon would be wed With Dick driving the old milk float instead I went to Canada and lost touch for a while But on my return was met with a smile Two pints he left at our front door 11

Just leave me a note if you need any more.

12 months later I bought the VG Needless to say Dick supplied me.

There's one story I feel I have to tell And Dick remembers it just as well Every morning Cory would sit at the door While Dick set the crates down on the floor "Hi ya Cl" Dick patted his bald head But when he answered, I wished I was dead I looked at Stella, wondering what to say But in an instant she turned away I was left to face Dick instead What C.] said was , "Hi ya Dickhead"!

Now Benny Hill once wrote a song And everybody did sing along About a milkman who had no luck Just like Dick in his old truck.

One day while on Blackcauseway Rd The van broke down while carrying a load, The snow was deep, the air was cool With no clutch, Dick felt a fool.

He thought of Ernie in Benny's song Just at that Big Terry came along From the Land Rover he pulled out a rope And this gave Dick a ray of hope.

Terry towed him down to Hinds and Shields Dick said "Raymond I need some wheels" The crates of milk on the tow truck were set Their daily pinta my customers must get.

That's typical Dick Cull, letting nobody down To them he did more than a mere milk round He brought their papers and cigarettes too Even lit their fires to make up a brew.

If you lived down a lane he took out your bin And the very next morning brought it back in.

He was our neighbourhood watch, agony aunt as well Their worries and problems to Dick they would tell They knew what they told him he'd never repeat A more decent fella you never will meet.

Fath er Stafford looked like Dick's twin brother They could easily have passed off for each other The priest rode a bike while visiting the sick More reliable than the Morris Minor, but not as quick He never wore his collar while riding his bike

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And the lady he visited had poor eyesight As he parked his bike she thought it was Dick "Did your van break down" she said right quick He had a laugh and then turned back As Dick's milk float rattled down the track.

When Dick bought over another milk run Maeve saic:t-"This won't be much fun!"

"Your working day will be twice as long From early mor~ till dark you'll be gone" But a decent daughter and son he had And they both offered to help out their dad.

I know in my heart they filled him with pride Their love for their dad they could not hide.

Maeve and Gary drove off one road While Dick and Jenny took another load.

They worked as a unit as any family should That day Dick knew they'd both do him good.

Now even milkmen need a break So every year a holiday he'd take Either to England or down South they'd go No matter where, one thing he did know With friends like Pete and Gerard and Dee On every doorstep the milk would be.

I know that Dick appreciated Pete A more reliable friend he'll never meet.

When Stella and I moved into the town We really missed Dick calling around When I need milk now I have to stop On my way home from work at the Esso shop, But now he's retired you're all like me So if you need some milk - call at the VG. Shortly after we moved to the town One night Dick and Pete called round.

Every visitor we had brought something old Now I don't mean antiques or something gold.

What Dick brought me sits on the kitchen shelf I couldn't have picked any better myself An old gramophone, needles and an LP That's the friend Dick is to me.

His day now starts with an early morning walk Hoping someone will stop to smile and talk.

He's the treasurer of the committee that built this great hall And he's on the committee of St Vincent de Paul 路 He's on the committee of the G.A.A. too.

So in retirement he has plenty to do.

He's also a granddad of a baby called Jack, So he need not sit alone and look back.

13

But look to the future with his loving wife, Children and grandchildren and a very long life.

Ladies and gents thanks for your time While I talked in rhyme of this friend of mine.

As I sit down, could I ask you to stand And give Dick Cull a really big hand.

Dhe cM'ouse lit CWzitter Pat Fitzsimons A Shakespearean Play Winter's chill brings reason to its knees .

Angry adult men become N apoleons In the face of this small strategist Whose inscrutable face and miserable demeanour Defies all their power in its quest for life And shelter from the hovel of the ditch and field.

For procreation and a place to build a world Free from the snap of trap and stalk of predator.

'Just give me a few more days, I'll be gone when the spring sun heats the earth.

Not again to bother you until the sun goes away again.

But my grandchildren will return to hear that snap of trap And hear the angry talk of people preoccupied With fixing their partitions in a people's world Infested with their definition of place Which even a mouse knows is a worthless chase.'

14

cMills if ~a!lpcu!ter George Jackson talks to Leslie McKibben.

The corn, and flax mills in Ballyculter were owned and operated by the Keaghey Family. Robert , operated the com mill assisted by another miller. Through the years many of those millers' names come to mind. Bob Rogan, Frank Curran, Arthur Smith, John McClemont.

John, forby being a miller was also a gifted stone cutter engraving head stones in Killinchy where he came from. His engraved name is still visible on a flag stone near where the Corn Kilen & Milldam mill wheel was.

The mill was operated by water from a river held in a catchment area known as a dam, falling down approximately fifteen feet on to a circular steel wheel surrounded by still buckets which with the thrust of the water forced the wheel to revolve and thus provide power for the machinery in the mill to operate.

Robert Keaghey had a right to obtain water power from a header dam at Tullyratty, a mile above his mill. He occasionally when going to operate his mill would walk up to Tullyratty, lift a sluice gate and enable more water to come down the river through Ballyculter and in to a smaller dam some 150 yards above the mill, this dam was also operated by a slucer gate. • Adjacent to this slucer gate was the kiln where the grain was dried. The kiln was fired by coke brought from the gas works in Downpatrick by horse and cart. The grain was numbered and hoisted on to perforated iron plates in the loft where it was dried for two days, then it was trucked down to the mill to be ground. The oats were hoisted in to a loft hopper then put through the shilling stones, and came down as groats, then was taken up again, and through a grinding wheel which made it in to oaten meal. Wheat went through the same system but bran was taken off the wheat thus providing wheaten meal. If it was put up again it would come down as fine flour.

The miller was paid by "muter" - so much meal being retained for his work.

The mill stones consisted of three stones: the little stone for wheat, the oat meal stone, the shilling stone to take hull off grain.

Picks for dressing stones were called "bills". Dressing stones was an art.

Robert Alexander Birch from Bishopmills Portaferry was a miller in Ballyculter living here from 1886 till 1893. His son Frank and daughter Margaret then attended Ballyculter School.

The flax mill was in operation in the eighteen hundreds, and was situated two hundred yards below the corn mill. It was operated by steam.

Flax in those years was grown on many farms. It was harvested by hand - pulling and 15

I'

tied in sheaves called "buts".

The buts were then put in to a water filled dam known as a lint hole which could have been thirty to forty feet long twenty or more feet wide, and perhaps five feet deep, they were mostly situated close by a river. The flax was left to steep in the lint hole for two to three weeks for retting to take place.

The process of retting allowed the flax to decay until the fibres could easily be separated from the woody parts of the stalks.

Flaxmill Chimney, Ballyculter The flax was then taken out of the flax hole and spread on a surrounding field to dry. The seed lead was taken offby rifflers with a tool with teeth called a "riffle" .

The Scutchers' houses and the mill are no more. Still standing as a memorial to those bye-gone days is the fifty foot high brick chimney.

rche C;Wi!!whee!

Anon Beneath the mill's deep shadow I sat one summer's day I watched the millwheel turning And heard the waters play That place to me was ringing With sounds of joy and mirth The waters ever singing T'was surely heaven on earth Alas those joys have fleeted The millar is no more No happy voices greet us For they have fled our shore Now while I hear the millwheel Ne'er happy shall I be I would the grave would hide me For there in peace I'd be.

16

CChe cRYeg-eneratl6n l'the ~ards PJLennon It was Saturday night, the bar was packed and everyone appeared to be having a good time. It was one of those catch-as-catch-can occasions. If they could catch your eye at all you were up on the stage to perform. Fortunately the audience wasn't too critical and as a consequence all sense of backwardness soon disappeared . • However one old man regarded respectfully as the local poet preferred to stand in the corner of the room and declaim his tale about the local football team. Instead of his poem being a paean of praise it was a vitriolic attack on the performance of the team during the past season.

It could be said, I'm sure, with a certain degree of truth that the poets and rhymsters of today are the natural successors to the ancient Bardic School of Ireland. And true also to state that our present day poets although admired and condemned by turns do not have the authority or the position of yesterday's bards. They were for a time a class apart; certainly a privileged class responsible, amongst other things for the genealogies and histories which when reduced to poetic form were much easier to understand and remember.

Each kingdom, or for that matter each clan had a bard to sing their praises and who not only occupied an official status but was also in receipt of an official allowance.

Proud of course they were, for in order that they might not be confused with other mortals they sported a white robe. But they were also men of courage for very often with the assistance of musicians they would accompany their chief to battle.

War of course was grist to the poetic mill; not only did bards write about it but while it raged they, were an inspiration to the chief. They urged the timid warrior to greater deeds, steadied the hesitating soldier and where valour was displayed they made sure that the news went abroad.

In peace time the bard occupied an honoured position as guest at the chief's banquets.

There is no doubt that the bard and the musician were looked upon as individuals possessing outstanding persuasive powers. So much so that the Statute of Kilkenny decreed that the English would not mix with the piper or the bard, nor would they fraternise in any way.

Time passed and the corps of bards multiplied, spread in every direction and became most arrogant in their attitude. They often perverted their privileges, wandering the countryside in idleness and in fact became a public nuisance.

The cry went up that the Bardic School should be abolished. But from strong sources there came support. King Conor McNessa, King of Ulster on one occasion saved them from total expulsion. Saint Colcumcille; also a poet and naturally having a fellow feeling for the bards, intervened on their behalf at an assembly at Drumceat in 573; he requested that they should be dealt with charitably.

The era of the bard and his school have long ago disappeared. Today the poet rarely if ever bothers to attack or lampoon persons or bodies. Even rural rhymsters have put the pen aside. Satire nowadays is left to the cartoonist.

17

@ts not easp!

For Pat Fitzsimon 5 60th Birthday, his wife Eilis, had published as a suprise present a booklet of his poems which she called

'It's not easy!' -

In this edition we reprint several from the collection

c2;ofat Ardg-lass A game of people, but not quite real.

Somewhere between the bogey and the ball Is a man, fearful.

Fresh grass or cold grey rocks .

Gulls call. Winter, and beside the ball A plover picks at the divot.

Spring expected but the handicap of birth tells all.

Improvement is the point, which never happens .

The mind endures all the expectations Of the other fellow.

Summer sees the white gull down Converging with the ball And the green fairway.

Use a yellow ball!

The dream of winning something Calls everyone to the tee of life, Starts again and again. Next week?

The Competition Secretary stands aloof From the poverty of poor golfers.

Pat Fitz simons - Mill Quarter, Kilcliif

The unskilled watch across the ledge And wonder what those fools with stick and ball Expect before they die.,

18 ------------------------------------------------------------------------

~uildin§

@nverbrencr cYommunilp cYentre

Peig Denvir.

For sometime it was obvious that there was a great need for a Community Centre for the people of this area but it was not until Noel and Mary Kearney approached Brian Denvir to seek his support and encouragement that the initiative was taken to call a public meeting .on 3rd October 1988 and things began to develop.

The response was very encouraging and a committee was formed called " The Hall Development Fund Raising Committee". Siting for the centre was a very big problem as the Cuan Hall which once served the whole community was no longer existent.

After much exploration and discussion it was decided that Strangford village was the best location. Fr. Park was then approached about the old Stella Maris site; so with Diocesan and N . I. Office approval the site was given to be used by all denominations. A fifty year lease without imposition was a great boost to this brave committee on their courageous undertaking.

The centre was in need of an appropriate name which would embrace the whole area. It was Fr. Park with his great interest in things historical who searched through the centuries and from "The Four Masters" learned that "Inverbrena", the mouth of the Bren River was a very ancient name for Strangford. The word "Bren" is still preserved in local lore such as "Bren Country" being roughly that stretch of land from Cloghy to Killard through which the river Bren flowed. (See E.J. McMullan's article in our Millennium issue).

No grants were available at this time, so to finance our dream a weekly draw was launched and proved a great success. Functions were organised; vanishing tea parties, duck derbies on Regatta week, ballots, cake Sales, cabarets etc. and a lot of hard work realised £20,000 in the first year.

We sought charity status which enabled us to apply to charitable trusts . Here we are very grateful to Bill McStay of N .I.C.VA. who gave of his professional advice and guidance voluntarily. This status resulted in many donations in money and equipment, also VA. T. exemption. Later on hearing that European money might be available the Committee followed this line. After many months persistence with form filling, projects, constitutions etc. Community Relations Unit awarded us £112,000 and Lord Belstead officially opened the Centre on 25th February 1992. The Down Council and the Ireland Fund gave £12,500 and £8.000 respectively. Our brave Trustees could now give a collective sigh of relief that their own homes were safe again!

These Trustees are worthy of mention: Brian Denvir,John Hanna, Noel and Mary Kearney, Peig Denvir, Philip Fitzsimons, Peter Hynds, Paul Kinsella, Greta McMordie, Brendan McPolin, Kathleen Price, Mary Rooney, Raymond Shields, John Steenson, Leslie Sullivan and Fr. Parks.

First Floor .1

There is a saying that "fortune favours the brave" so encouraged by or past successes we then put our minds to the completion of the first floor. The demand for facilities for the many groups and functions was such that this was essential.

The area was divided into office, toilets and three rooms. Lady Luck was still with us

19

when Brian Thomas offered us carpet from the Motor Show if we went there and lifted it. So with a mini bus Johnny, Dick, John and Leslie brought the carpet home and eventually it was laid on the first floor and stairs.

Now bingo, whist drives, craft and navigation classes are facilitated while youth clubs, badminton, aerobics, bowls and entertainments carry on downstairs. Calligraphy and painting afternoon classes are enjoyed by the retired section of our Community.

ACE workers.

To help with the volume of work in running the Centre, Interchurch provided 3 ACE workers. To date we have had P. Kearney, M. Steenson, J. Hanna, Mary Kearney, Jackie Bright and M. Carville.

Exterior.

The exterior of our Centre was not being neglected so plans were put in motion for tarmacing and landscaping. Shell Oil, one of the charity trusts gave us a donation for this work and we thank them sincerely.

T hese random jottings are my personal observations during my time as secretary till 1994, I hope that they may encapsulate the generosity, good-will, energy, our hopes and fears and the many happy hours of craic, argument and decision-making that went into our project over those early years.

The great spirit of community relations that our efforts have engendered in the area is ample reward.

Dhe CWarrldr haspllen Ode to Brian Denvir H is painstaking approach to problems was sublime, He didn't lift the problem into the realm of insolubility, He mused ... and then said something - ordinary.

Pat Fitzsimons with the late Brian Denvir 20

Dhe (Wee aJeouse c5ap Dhe ~ea WE. Kennedy If only this wee house could speak, T his wee house by the sea, It would a truthful story tell, O f days that use ~to be.

It would not tell of pleasant things, And leave the rest untold, How poverty lurked close at hand, How Death let few grow old.

It must have seen down all the years, Man's fleeting lot appear, In all the folk who 'neath this roof, Were born, grew up, died here.

It must have heard within its walls, The whispering voice repeat, The awful deeds vile men had done, 'Gainst foes they chanced to meet.

It must have seen dark forms slip out With lamp and muffled boot To lure the passing ship to doom, To plunder, kill, and loot.

Its oaken rafters must have rung With new-born infant's cry, It must have sensed the stillness strange As friends watched loved ones die.

It must have braved the Big Wind's blast And felt its roof beams shake, It must have sighed when Famine struck, And joy gave place to wake.

It must have seen the lingering look Of those who left its door, Who said farewell to all they loved, And who came back no more.

But never will this wee house speak, This wee house by the sea, Like empty nest whose brood has flown Its life has ceased to be.

21

rche Angus

~{jck ~fยงhth{juse

WE. Kennedy For years I've stood, like silent ghost, Upon the Angus Rock, I've braved the storms, the angry seas, I've heard the sailors mock.

"What right have you," must they not say, "To call yourself a light?"

"When fog abounds and dark comes down, You vanish in the night."

I know I am a fraud, a sham, No use to man or beast, Of all the guide-lights in the world, I surely must be least.

But, what is this? Good news I hear, That after all these years A light will flash from out my head, An end to all my tears .

No more shall passing sailors sneer Or lightless lighthouse mock, For red-hued light will guide them home, The flash of Angus Rock.

Note: In 1983 the Angus Rock Lighthouse flashed for the first time in its 133 years' history.

Angus Rock

22

CWhp? w. E. Kennedy From human lips, from birth to death, The same cry utters forth, From every thinking mind it comes, The searching, se,king - Why? Why are the things man wants so much So oft beyond his grasp?

Why is the flower he seeks to pluck So oft beyond his reach?

Why do the good so often have A heavy cross to bear, While those who live apart from God Seem free from every care?

Why do some people die so young, Their life's course scarce begun, While others'lives are full of years, With little ache or pain?

If lightning strike a place but once, Why then not so with man?

Why do life's blows so often strike And shatter one poor soul?

I send my plea beyond the sky And, anxious, wait reply, But nothing comes save echo faint My own voice asking, "Why?" If no word comes to tell me why, Can I some comfort glean.

That from the dying lips of Christ Came question, "Father, Why?" Like Him, I may not answer find In this life's dark-lit scene, But still have faith that God who knows Will one day, tell me why.

23

Dhe c:Jfarmer 速n aJeobdap w E. Kennedy I'm sittin' here in Bangor town, The missus by my side, We're watchin' all the crowds pass by, The goin' an' comin' tide.

"It's nice to do the gentleman, If only for a while, "Forget the farm," the missus said, "Do no thin' , only smile."

So here I sit an' nod an' smile Dressed in my Sunday suit, If this be the life of the gentlenun, I'd sooner go bare-foot.

This life of ease is not for me, For I'm no man for rest, I'd die than sit here all my life, Dressed in my Sunday best.

The people here are nice enough, An' chat away at tea, They talk of plays an' trips abroad, But these don't interest me.

I long to talk of fields an' crops, An' prices guaranteed, To find out here the price of lan' , What kind of stock they breed.

I miss the yard, the cattle too, The callers an' the crack, An' I hope to God it won't be long Afore I'm safely back.

I've had my fill of Bangor town, Its golden sand an' sea, An' I'm goin' back when tomorrow dawns To where I'll happy be.

The wife, I know, will not be pleased, But I'm the boss she'll see, An' I'll spend my time as a farmer should On my lan' in Ballyvee.

24

Sos ~allpna!farrlck (rche rcown ifthe ~ocks)

i2!f6 in

J 5)

Joe Cull.

-------------------------------------------------------------------I was born in 1948 in Ballynagarrick House, the fifth of nine children. Like all my brothers and sisteFs. It was a home birth as was the norm then. I imagine that my coming was the same as those who arrived after me. I can certainly remember the birth of my youngest brother Step hen in 1953. The arrival of the nurse, doctor and Nellie Hynds who lived nearby heralded something important happening, but what, we were not told. We were chased outside where we played in the outhouses. Mysterious goings on in the house and a wary eye keeping us well away.

Baby screams would announce the new arrival, all unexpected to us. We would be introduced to the new baby and were told where he had been found. There were various fertile places around the house and garden where babies might be found. I myself had been found in the goat house, which explained why I was so fond of goat's milk. What we could not understand was how a baby could be found, say under the gooseberry bush when we, minutes earlier had been playing there. It was a mystery which took some years to resolve as parents were not great on sex education in those days. My elder brother Willie John died at the age of three months. My parents had to rear eight children.

The House Ballynagarrick House was to me a large imposing stone built farmhouse but in reality it was small enough for a family of ten. At one time it must have been a successful, prosperous farm to judge by the number of outbuildings and derelict stack platforms in the haggard. My mother and father moved into the house when they were married in 1939 and lived there until 1958.

Although we were not farmers, quite a few of the outbuildings came with the house.

One of the outhouses sported at the top of the gable a wooden aeroplane carved by my father. This had a propeller, which spun in the wind. We had a house for goats, a house for hens, a toolhouse/workshop and at least two other houses. These were a boon to us young ones as we had plenty of places to play on wet days. Not that we restricted ourselves to those areas to which we had rightful access.

Rents were pretty low at about one or two shillings a week and I'm pretty sure my parents could not afford much more. I expect it was a struggle at times to meet even this modest charge. Rents were paid initially to Eileen Fitzsimons and later to Fays of Ballyorgan who generally were benevolent landlords. Pat remembers cycling to Strangford to pay the rent to Eileen. It was three shillings (15p) a month then.

The house had no electricity or gas and the only running water was the stream that flowed through the garden.

For some strange reason there were two telephone poles two fields in front of the house. These were in the middle of nowhere with no wires and ran parallel to the Ben Loney and seemed to be heading towards the house. The nearest other poles to these were about a mile away. There were certainly no signs of any telephone connections in the house.

A Tilley lamp in the living room and smaller oil lamps or candles provided lighting 25

elsewhere. It was a bit of a performance to light the lamp. Tweezers were kept in a Brylcream jar of meths on the mantelpiece. These were clipped on to the vaporiser below the mantle and lit. When the vaporiser was judged warm enough the lamp was pumped up and switched on. If you were lucky enough, and there was no dirt in the paraffin, the lamp lit. The light was pretty good but it did leave shadowy areas in the room, which would sometimes take on strange shapes when the telling of ghost stories started. The lamp had to be carefully positioned out of draughts to protect the mantle and care exercised that the wrong combination of doors was not opened. There was no shop just around the corner to get replacement mantles or a supply of oil and there certainly wasn't the money available to hold spares, so the Tilley was always treated with great respect. There were many times when we had to retire early because we did not have any light. With eight boisterous children charging around the place I'm surprised that there were so few accidents and that the house did not burn down.

There were two rooms upstairs and two downstairs with a small pantry. Our parents slept in one of the downstairs rooms and the eight children shared the upstairs rooms, my two sisters having the smaller room all to themselves except when occasionally shared with the baby.

We boys slept two to a bed but on very cold nights we were as likely to all pile into one for warmth, sleeping top to toe with as many coa~ piled on top as we could find.

We did not have spring mattresses . The beds were iron framed with tick mattresses stuffed with chaff or horsehair but they were comfortable enough.

There was a small entrance hallway which must have been added after the house was built because, looking back, it was the best room in the house. The living room was floored with large irregular natural stone flags . Although cold underfoot, there were one or two which provided ideal marbles arenas. Some of the stones, when lifted occasionally would yield a treasure trove of pennies and other lost items that had slipped through the cracks. By contrast the hall had a tiled floor. The slabs were kept well scrubbed.

These are my memories of times that were hard for parents, but we children were happy.

Dhe ~rankleS Pat Fitzsimons The beauty of these people makes me sad And happy at the same time.

Their innocence and strength Describe the refugee to me, Of Bosnia and Lebanon and Ballymurphy.

Ballyhornan, the place of their ancestors On holiday, and Nazareth Lodge and Mrs Keown.

They know the meaning of this phenomenon Of finding peace in this backwater Of vain and angry farmers and milking cows And cow shite tolerated happily.

26

rcalesjiom OfJheeplands Ronald Buchanan.

I remember one day when I ~as a student, poking through the shelves of books on local history in the Linenhall Library in Belfast, I found a little bound volume with the title Tales & Legends ofLeeale, Co. Down. It was a collection of stories abou~ Sheeplands, the two townland~ that lie inland down the coast between Ballyhornan & Ardglass . The author was T.M. Tate, M .D., one-time medical superintendent of the Downe Hospital, who built a summer house here in the 1920's. His love for this little neighbourhood and its people is evident from his writings, and it encouraged me to come here too, to walk its laD;es and talk to the descendants of his neighbours. ~urgeon Tate had been fascinated by the tales of fairies and ghosts, told in a very matter- of-fact way by the older men and women. Some of these, and several more, were still b~ing told in the 1950's, and-I r~call that many relat~d to one place, the Piping Rock, a prominent whin-capped outcrop of grey rock which stands not far from the old water- mill at Sheeplands Harbour. Fairies were seen there from time to time, and not just by local people: I was always amazed that the name of a Belfast bank-manager was mentioned as an impartial observer if anyone was sceptical about their existence! Some of the descriptions are quite vivid and specific. For example, a neighbour walking home "ni the heel of the evenin"', saw: " .. .. .. a wheen of them dancin': They were about a foot and a h alf high - the height of the standin' corn - dressed in slatey-coloured dresses and with wee red caps on their heads".

Fairy winds were also felt near the same spot.

"John C was scared on the road to McAleastown - an' it must hev been the only time he iver was - on a quiet mornin' one summer. There was a terrible wund sprung up out 0' nowhere, an' it was fit to tare the thorns out 0 ' the ditch. An' he threw himself down in the sheugh, for he knowed it be to be a fairy wund" .

By the 1950's fairies seem to have largely disappeared, but the "Loughry Man", our equivalent of the Leprechaun, made occasional appearances, and some of the descriptions were very specific.

"It was the night that Jane B was married to John C; some of the boys was comin' home in the wee hours of the mornin' when this wee man walked across the road in front 0' them. 0' coorse some 0' them thought it was Joe G, who was a wee lad. B'-:lt anyway they follows him down the loney to Harry's Well, but the wee man dodged in an' out 0' the bushes at the side of the loney, an' in the end he disappeared over the hedge, although mind ye, there was no drop on the other side, nor no cover neither".

"John C was comin' home from a wake one night when he seen a wee man walkin' along the hedges near the Ross's Bogs. 0' coorse there was no fear inJohn, an' he made to catch the wee man an' just as h e was reachin' for him didn't his foot catch in somethin' an' he nearly kilt himself when he fell. An' he said that that was him an' the wee Loughry Man finished" .

"There was another day when two of the Ks were buildin' a stack in McAleastown when they sees this wee man dodgin' roun' the stack. He was dressed just like a wee boy in knee drawers, an' he went on down the yard and disappeared just fornenst the big stone there".

27

There were many ghost stories too, told in Sheeplands, told not in any sense of fear, but of acceptance that the dead could sometimes return to places they had known in life.

Usually individuals were recognised: ''I'd been late at Barney's, an' I was goin' down to milk the wee goat where she was tethered at Lignaslate; I deem it must have bin near one 0' clock. I was just goin' forward to thon bank when I seen a man comin' towards me. We passed each other, but neither the two of us spoke. When he went by I turned on me heel to watch where he wud go, an' he sat down on the rock where the oul' men watched the French boat go down. I knew well then who it was, for many's the time the same man sat at that rock and toul' me all about the wreck,just as his father had toul' him. He was dead a brave wheen 0' years then, I wud say upwards on twenty.

"Of coorse that wasn't the first time I seen him. I remember one night I was comin' across the hills just beyond Benboy; there was a raw east wund blowin' and a fretful sort 0' moon, an' as I came down to the gap below the Sailor's Grave he was standin' there, but he niver spoke, nor me to him".

Stories are also told of the dead returning to the houses in which they had lived and being seen by the children.

"I can remember me sister an' meself sittin' on two creepies in front of the open fire; there was a hen with a flock of birds in the hole at the side 0' the brace. There was nobody in the house but wer two selves. Ye know where the room dour was yonder on the left han' side? Well I looks up an' there was a man standin' at it with a long-tartled coat an' a baird an' a hard hat on him. He was a big man,just the full 0' the dour; an' he was a sort 0' bent over, standin' lanin' on two sticks. He looked at the pair 0' us, an' turned on his heel an' walked into the room agin.

"Well me mother was out in the yard, an' I called her an' she came runnin' in an' we toul' her what we'd seen. An' she went and got me aunt an' they both went down the room together, but they cud see nothin'. When me father came home that night he tacked me with what I seen, so I toul' him what the oul' man looked like, an' he just shook his head. 'It was yer gran'father,' says he, an' mind ye, he was dead afore I was born".

The dead have been known to return to fulfil a promise made during life. The story is told of one woman who promised her son that if she could return after death he would see her at a certain place. " .... .. An' I seen her on the very knowe she said, an' I knowed her though I niver spoke, nor she til me".

In many places in Ireland stories similar to these of Sheeplands were once told, but one notable absentee was the Banshee, the omen of death acknowledged widely in popular tradition. The only story I heard related to Kilclief "My father heard it one night when he was on the road with ja'tnes Henry. They were going to the wake of a niece of his, an' they were restin' in the sheugh near til the Castle. It began to wail somethin' terrible, though they say no thin' . Aye, she was a lovely girl, an' she died young".

More common as omens of death were supernatural lights which were seen both at the moment of death and shortly beforehand. One man told of seeing three white lights hovering motionless above a ditch near McAleastown on successive nights before his mother died, and these were accepted as omens of death. Another story concerned the same place: "Me father had a friend - he was a cattle-dealer - an' they took him intil the Big

28

I

--,

I

House in Down. I was a wee lad at the time, an' I mind one night I cudn't sleep. I woke up an'I seen three lights on the dresser; there wer two that wer crame, an' the other was green. It fair gave me a fright, an' me a wee lad, an' I gave out a quare bauk an' me father came but he cud see no thin' . So me mother she lit the lamp, an' it was about half after two. The next mornin' the oul' man's son came to the house and said the father was dead. He be to die at the time I seen the lights".

Many stories are also told of lights seen in the old houses which are now deserted.

"After me father died I left the house in McAleastown, but I kept it tight an' locked, for whiles I thought I might go back. Now one night I was comin' along the Crunglass • road when I seen a light in the house. It was in the room me mother slept, an' it was a cramey light, as nice as iver ye've seen. It was about half-way up the windey, an' when I walked toward it, it faded an' went down, but if I walked away it rose up an' got bright agin. But I wasn't feared, for it was a good light. An' mind ye, the locks hadn't been opened, an' there was nothin' in the house to make a light. I've seen it often since" .

Stories like these were common place to an older generation, where neighbours and their ancestors were well known to each other, the ties of family and kin close and intimate, and chat around the time the fire the main entertainment when outside chores .were finished for the night. Televisions and radio have taken their place and neighbourhood ties slacken as the car provides transport to places further afield. But for most of us, community is still important, as is the sense of belonging to a place we can call our own. Tales like these I have mentioned, are part of the history of small places.

Each gives us insights to a way of life that has gone, but which exerted a powerful influence on the people whose descendants we know and the place in which we live today.

Dhe ?2ub On c:Jfrldap lit ~a!lphornan Pat Fitzsimons Grinding life pervades all hope And yet on Friday the shoulders slump, They talk oflove and family and possibilities.

Merging into Saturday and horses That might have won.

But Sunday threatens and demands Our God of rules and Canon Law. Then Monday, the edge of earth And endless trying, pre-empts Those other days which trumpet - Friday!

29

~allph(Jrnan Joe Fitzsimons (((Back

of the Wall")

Close to Ballyhornan, We may call it just the same, Are large flat sandy banks, Which bear Killard's name.

Times past on a Whit Monday, On them varied sports were seen, Hurling, dancing, running, With the pipes and bands between.

In this quiet sandy region, The rabbit made his home, And many a local poacher On their banks at morn did roam, The Ballyhornan coastguards Set many a well-made snare, But many of these were stolen, After all their skill and care.

Strange stories are still told, About these banks once so lTlerry, In the times of long ago, They were the home of fairies.

But on that noted stormy night, The night of that "Big Wind," They cleared away, where none can say, And never since were found.

Not far from here, close to the road, Was a famous pit of sand, And many a stately house was built With its mortar throughout the land.

Although so very near the shore, It had not that salty smell The owner who built a house with it, Had no damp on his walls to tell.

This pit was on the farm Of old Dennis Breen, Who all day could spin a yarn, Until the moon was seen.

These all related to many things, Before he called a halt.

But this one not told by him Can be taken without that" grain of salt."

30

,

[

This day he went out fishing, The boat was good and sound, For rowing he took a pal to help, And safely reached the fishing ground.

Then they cast the anchor out, Chatting while thus alone, And after the day's fishing, They started to row for home .

•

After much hard rowing, The boat refused to go, And they started praying very hard, When they thought where they might go.

Then they held a council, Studying all the known facts, And came to the conclusion They were sitting on a whale's back.

Now a whale is a strange creature, And this did not ease their fears, Indeed as they sat thinking, They were almost both in tears.

At last some clearer vision, Into their minds awoke, As they started blaming each other, For not pulling in the anchor rope.

On the sands at Ballyhornan, Horse races were once the thing, The bank head made a natural stand, To view this sport of kings, Some races at the finishing post, The winner was hard to tell, Some scenes may then have arisen; But these finished up very well.

Farmers too, could be angry When lifting sea-weed from these sands; It was once a very precious thing, As a manure for any land.

Each had a certain limit, Marked out like rigs in corn, And, like the early bird, You had to be there at early morn.

On the bank above lived Dan Crangle, The anvil you could hear him tap;

31

Amongst his other children, Here was born the well known Pat. Early the sporting spirit, In Pat's life came to the fore, He would stop blowing the smiddy fire To see two cocks fight outside the door.

Another sporting lover Was the thatcher Jemrnie Fee, Who could spot the hare's hidden den, No matter where she would be.

And all the local huntsmen Knew this a proven fact, And even the dogs knew Jemmie, Who could call them from the pack.

Bob Gill was a noted boatman Who knew Old Neptune's tricks, He would take you out for sailing, That is if you so wished.

Perhaps if you went with him, He would take you out so far, You might want dry land again Once you sighted Strangford Bar. Lastly, there was old Richard Keown , Who kept the public house, Some nights all was not as quiet As the saying about the mouse.

No need to call in police, Or for him to worry his head, For McCarey with crutch in hand, Would soon clear the house instead.

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32

A CWa& along- the (Jtyhoreane P.] Lennon.

On a number of occasions in my young life I walked the shoreline from Strangford to Ballyhornan and around to Sheep land. ' Now I didn't do it all on one journey. I started walking from various points but got to know the areas and the people living there very well . • The moments I can recall without much difficulty are no doubt similar to those remembered by others.

The labourer's cottage, with its half- closed door, the lovely smell of home baked bread, that always aroused hunger in the pit of my stomach, a cat basking on a sunny roof or a man moulding potatoes in the garden with a 'long tailed shovel'.

Nearer to the shore, fish out drying on a clothes line or a roof, a man sitting on a stool by the gable of the house making feathers for a fishing rod or perhaps mending a lobster creel.

An upturned boat or boats pulled up on the grass bank in front of the house to b e repaired or painted or maybe beyond repair or just pulled up until the worst of the winter would pass .

Always a break at Millquarter not only to look at the mill for the umpteenth time but to give a thought to that author from the spot - Arthur Mason, which always prompted a thought about Surgeon Tate and his Tales of Lecale.

The old order no longer exists. Many of the wee homes have disappeared altogether, others have just fallen into decay and are only heaps of stones now.

A few have survived and have been repaired or extended and become the summer residences of others.

W!ng-o S 6'hlld Pat Fitzsimons Born 26.9.93 Before a pint of mine he stands supreme And talks of minutes (2.22 a.m .)

When the girl-child appeared like a vision for all To make her case in this three score and ten.

And Edna talked of wind and water I'm not quite ready yet to deliver What is mine - and yours But somehow all of hers.

'A name' he cries.

After ten it's not easy to decide What names are left.

'Call it Life' I sez 'and start again' 33

Dhe C1rJtockda/es of ~a/lpnarrp Dhe clfurder ~oยง WCrea I have to go back to the 17 th century to tell you about the Stockdale family of Ballynarry. Their farm was up the lane near to where Peig Denvir now lives.

The last family to live here was the Teggarts. Their youngest daughter Teresa now uses it as a holiday home.

What I am now going to relate happened during the Penal Law period when no public worship was allowed other than the established Church, which was the Church of Ireland.

This law was harshly enforced by the military and constituted a major problem for the many Roman Catholic families living in the district and I should add that it also applied to the Presbyterian worshippers.

But Penal Laws or no Penal Laws the Roman Catholic families of the district held their services in spite of the 'Redcoats'. This meant that they could not go near any buildings for they would surely be caught. They held their masses in open country and Cargagh readily lent itself to these events for the whins and knowes provided plenty of cover and masses were held in loneys, at "mass rocks" and in clusters of trees.

Lookouts were posted at all vantage points so that plenty of warning could be given when the dreaded Redcoats were approaching; when they did approach the service stopped and everyone fled.

On one such occasion the officiating priest, Father Magee, knowing he would be their main target fled across the fields and up the Ben loney obviously intending going on down the lane across what is now Crew road onto the Coolban lane which would take him across to the Moors where there was plenty of cover and then, if need be, on to Raholp and Saul.

But in his haste up the Benn loney he sprained his ankle, could go no further and hobbled into Stockdale's farmyard.

It is possible that this mass was being observed at night when there would be less chance of being seen.

Stockdale heard the commotion and came out into his yard to investigate.

Something like this must have happened before for he lost no time in asking questions, and there was no time to lose. He beckoned the priest over to the stable, bundled him into the manger in front of the horses and covered him with hay. , He went into his house again and waited.

He hadn't long to wait until the Redcoats arrived. Very surprised, he went out into his yard again and wanted to know why they were there.

Of course he hadn't seen anything but they were suspicious and searched the yard.

Surely it was a strange thing that the horses were not alarmed or frightened at this strange man in their manger? No, they played perfect hosts and munched away at their hay as if there was nothing unusual. The Redcoats came into the stable, considered everything normal and went their way.

One must conclude that this was not the horses' first exercise in concealment!

Father Magee stayed at the farm a week until his ankle healed and then slipped 34

quietly away.

It would seem that ecumenism was being practised a long time before it appeared in our everyday language!

We have to wait a couple of hundred years b efore we once again hear about the Stockdale family.

On a headstone in St. Mary's parish Dunsford there is the following inscription.

Stockdale Farm

Erected in memory ofJohn Crea, Ringawoody, who died 23 rd March 1853 aged 67 years . Also his beloved wife Anne Crea, who died 1st February 1862 aged 71 years, also his son William Crea who departed this life on 17 th M arch 1877 aged 77 years.

James Cairns Crea, mother Elizabeth Stockdale, Ballynarry, son ofHugh Crea, Maxwell Court, Comber, aged 17 years.

James Cairns Crea was holidaying with his uncle and aunt at Ballynarry. He went down to the Murder Bog to shoot ducks. This must have been in autumn or winter, when ducks and widgeon would flight inland to bogs and stubble fields whenever there would be a full tide in the lough coinciding with dusk, and ideally a full moon.

Now James had shot a duck coming in to feed in the lint hole in the bog and was waiting for more to come. No more flighted in that night and as he was retrieving his duck out of the linthole with his still loaded gun, it went off, killing him instantly.

35

What a pity that this little story of the Stockdales ofBarrynarry should have ended so tragically!

That gun is still in existence and hangs above the fireplace on a farm somewhere in Lecale.

The Murder Bog Now someone is sure to ask "Where is the Murder Bog"? and that same person or maybe somebody else will also ask "Where is Boals corner"?

Well, the Murder Bog is alongside the road on your right as you leave the townland ofBallynarry and approach Corbally before you come to Boals Corner, and Boals Corner is where the road on the left is now called Bishopscourt Road.

How the Murder Bog got it's name is very well explained in Senan Sharvin's little book called 'A Vision of Lecale'. This is how he describes the scene from Ballyorgan Hill, on which then stood a disused windmill.

"Foul Deed".

"Looking down the road side of the hill, the county road skirts a marshy swamp known as the Murder Bog. A hare has just hopped from a tuft of long grass and is scurrying across the adjoining field, startling the grazing sheep and inspiring the playing lambs to renewed antics by it's flight.

Wild fowl hover overhead and some rest on the inky waters of the flax holes dug in the marsh. What looks like a headstone stands near the gap leading onto the road and probably marks the last resting place of the two men cruelly murdered there in 1641.

Most country folk erroneously associate the name with the murder of Father Roger Magee of Ballyorgan in 1799, but the deposition of one Philomy, of Ballyculter, sworn in 1643 and preserved in Trinity College Dublin, states that he was a soldier serving in the King's Army under Captain Valentine Payne, then stationed at Strangford; that he was present when Thomas Dixon, of Bishopscourt, a fellow soldier, murdered an old man, Redmond Fitzsimons, taking away his money and leaving him to die at Mullaghbane, near Ballynarry; also, that the said Thomas Dixon, with Jordy Worke, a companion, murdered one Owen Starkey, a fisher, at the same place; both bodies being found the following morning and buried where they lay" .

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36

Gf,trangford lit the s/$tles Paddy Corrigan talks to Willie Crea.

We are here looking at Strangford at full tide and the items of interest which Paddy now points out.

Beginning at the bottom right hand corner we have the sixteen foot punt ofTommy Dougherty. Now ~ the Dougherty family played a big part in the commercial life of Strangford. Dickie had the grocer's and hardware shop in the square and a furniture shop in Castle Street next door to his sister's paper and confectionery shop where she also sold her famous ice cream.

The younger member of the family, Tommy, who owned the red punt in our picture, delivered the daily supply of milk to most of the houses in Strangford in his pony and cart. The milk was supplied by father John who kept his cows up John's Lane; these cows also supplied Gertie for her ice cream. Brother Paddy had a farm at the top of the Doctor's Hill.

Tommy in his spare time used the little boat for rod fishing around the rocks and inlets of the lough in summer and autumn.

Next we have the ferry boat, the May Queen, owned by Johnny McDonald, who never failed, summer or winter, whatever the weather, to be at the slipway at 7.30 every morning to transport workers to their employment in Portaferry and the Ards peninsula.

This was a very busy and very necessary boat during wartime when they were building the aerodromes at Ballyhalbert and Kirkistown. The May Queen was also available for hire at any time, day or night, for special occasions such as dances, weddings etc.

When I first started work I was based alternatively at Castlereagh and at Kiltona at the foot ofScrabo brae. I was obliged to travel via Portaferry and Newtownards rather than by Downpatrick which was completely unsuitable due to bad connections.

For four years Johnny made sure that I always caught the 7.45 bus leaving Portaferry.

Johnny McDonnell was a very capable and trustworthy ferryman with his great knowledge and skill of the tricky currents and winds which made the lough so hazardous. Johnny became famous for his reliability.

He was also a very skilful self taught engineer doing all his own work on the boat which, every year, was closely scrutineered by the Board ofTrade for it's certificate of sea worthiness. The May Queen was hauled out of the water every spring, cleaned, painted, engine dismantled, decarbonised, tuned up to his high standard and assembled again.

The bottom of the boat was soaked in hot tar which he heated on the slipway.

When the May Queen was being overhauled the service across the lough was continued, uninterrupted, by his younger brother George in his second boat, the Swan, which too had originally been a ferryboat owned by Portaferrry man Sam Orr. Next in our picture we have the "Green" where we see two people standing beside a car and dog. This "Green" was created when the Down Council built a retaining wall from the slipway to Quay Road, Then the local people of Strangford filled in behind the wall with their household ashes until it was filled up to road level. The council then soiled it over and sowed grass and thereafter their employee, Mick Beattie, maintained very tidily.

The house appearing behind the mast of the May Queen belonged to George Wallis a perfect gentleman. It incorporated the Post Office. Next we have Dougherty's general 37

store which seemed to supply everyone's needs and then comes the house on the slip side of the square which belonged to the Misses Quail, Kitty and Rosie, daughters of the former ferry operator James Quail.

Kitty Quail kept a shoe shop on the premises now occupied by the Credit Union.

T he larger two storied house at the top of the slip belonged to ferry operatorTommy Q uail who was responsible for ferrying the Royal Mail over to Portaferry every morning where it was sorted and delivered to lower Ards by the postmen.

Next we have the modernised house with the dormer windows which was the home of the McDonnell family who were ferrymen in the early days of the century.

What is now the garage was once a separate hut and was the store for the Royal mail when it was brought out from Downpatrick for Tommy Q uail to ferry across the lough .

Next we have the public toilets which were transferred to the new terminal building.

The bogey which the small yellow boat is resting on was used by the ferrym en to run their boats out of the water to dry out for repairs and painting every spring.

The small white boat at the water's edge was a former racing boat built by the famous boatbuilder at Cloghy,James Murnin, and owned by Frank McCausland ofIsle O'Valla. Frank was a very enthusiastic competitor in the lough racing but because of his size and weight was too much of a handicap for the little craft and he had to forgo his pleasure and local ferryman, Frank Quail successfully deputised. Frank had the pleasure of supplying the boat and Q uail had the pleasure of many wins!

Frank McCausland's brother,John was the kingpin of racing on the Portaferrry side and John's boat was also a Murnin built boat. It was called Ninrum, which was Murnin spelled backwards.

T he competition between Strangford and Portaferry boats was very keen and there was a crowd of spectators on each quay watching the races in the summer evenings.

Among the competitors on the Portaferry side was Ephraim Brown, a leading business man whose family are still deeply committed to sailing on the lough. His son designed and built the "Ruffian " class yachts in Portaferry and they are still much sought after.

The little red hut standing on it's own belonged to the McDonnell family and was used as a store for items connected with the boats. T his hut was in their garden which became th e site of the ferryboat terminal.

T he w hite gabled house behind the little red hut is the residence ofWillie Kerr and family. High up in our picture we see the Star of the Sea chapel, built in 1932 by Messsrs Flynn and McNeill from Dundrum. It replaced the old C hurch or Chapel as it was then called which had been burned down in that year. The fire was considered to have been caused by the altar boys not having extinguished properly the burning charcoal which had been used during that evening's service.

Local man Leonard Curran raised the alarm but although all the local men formed a chain of water buckets they were unable to save the building.

T he old Parochial house is the last two storied house on the left of our picture.

On the very left of our picture can be seen a portion of the old Stella Maris hall with it's red roof and white wall just visible.

This hall was built by Henry Gilmore of Kircubbin in 1928 then beginning his career in the building industry. It was his first job as a joiner and he cycled from Kircubbin to Portaferry with his tools tied to the handlebars, then across to Strangford to start work.

This was his first job and the beginning of a very successful and rewarding career in the building trade.

38

The present gateway into the Inverbrena Centre was erected on the site of the former "shack" as it was locally called, the home ofJack and Jimmy McCartan and their aged mother in the nineteen twenties and thirties. By profession the McCartan brothers were the local roadsweepers.

Now some people play the violin and some people play the fiddle and it was with their fiddles that Jack and Jimmy exploited their talents . There was no television and very few radios in those days and the music of the two brothers provided entertainment, dancing and singing on many an evening and night both inside but mainly outside as the "shack" was not p~ovided with a ballroom!

The main event of the year was reserved for 17 th of March when all celebrants came to the "shack". They were never disappointed for the two fiddlers entertained until midnight when exhausted fiddlers and a depleted repertoire called a halt to the celebrations.

The concert may have been primitive by Waterfront standards, but for the discerning Strangford fans it was voted tops and was as much enjoyed by them as if they had been to the Slane festival; and if the Patron Saint had been there in "spirit" he, too, would have enjoyed it.

When the McCartans moved on to their just rewards the "shack" was demolished and the Grotto which now stands on that site was built voluntarily by the local men in the clear evenings after their day's work .

. ,.~.

Strangford in 1964

39

rche ~urniJ1!f of速1d cYourt (cUap J 3 22) Eamon McMullan

.

The aftermath of the first World ( War was an e ra of poverty, unemployment and the 'flu epidemic added ill health to the list of vicissitudes that was the order of the day in the Strangford area in the early 1920's. Further misfortune was brought on by the political instability of the area. The 1916 Rising, and in particular the rivalry between Collins and DeValera resulting in the Civil War, lead to further political violence.

In the North rivalry between Old Court bifore the burning Catholic and Protestant grew, not so much because of religion but because of the difference in politics. Scanning the newspapers of the time, one notes accounts of numerous attacks on police barracks. "B" Specials shot a cyclist on a country road. Those at the upper end of the social scale found themselves to be the focus for the attentions of the local IRA units. A man called Hugh Kelly, from the Scrabo area, was intimidated from his farm and, in the Ballyhornan area a female visitor was shot in the ankle and a man shot in the leg for breaking the street curfew imposed by Sir James Craig. Any movement was forbidden between 11 pm and 5 am. All those suspected of being in the IRA were rounded up and interned on board the "Argenta" in Larne lough or at Ballykinler Camp. A local doctor, who had stood for Sinn Fein in the local elections in May 1921 was one of those interned.

So things were unstable and combustible in Lecale area and nearby. A Lieutenant in the Sussex Regiment, then stationed at Ballykinler, on his way home from a dance was ambushed and in trying to escape, rode his motorbike into a tree which had been felled to block the road. His wife, a pillion passenger was killed; Castlewellan Barracks was under fire on that same night 18th May 1922 as was Ardglass barracks. This attitude of unrest and tit for tat prevailed throughout the north and Strangford and its immediate , hinterland were no exception.

I Elements of the local IRA unit gathered at Ringawoody Corner, and having fortified themselves with Paris buns and lemonade in Campbell's wee shop, set out for Strangford village. R aids on the "big houses" were a part of the destabilisation tactics used by the IRA to unsettle the "Northern Statelet" . Shane's Castle, Garron Tower and Lady Una de Crebilly House all in Antrim were burned out and locally Ros with PJ Glebe house in Kilclief was to suffer the same fate later in McMullan the week. An attempt was made on Myra Castle which 40

failed but that was not to be for Old Court, the seat of the De Ros family and the home at that time of Lady Una Ross.

On the night of the 18th May 1922 six masked and armed m en entered the house via the French windows in the library and made their way to the bedrooms of Lady Una and of her visitor, a Miss Plunkett from England, and ordered them out. Lady Una is reported in the lo cal paper as saying "What's the meaning of this intrusion?" to which one of the men answered "Sorry ma'am we're just obeying orders - you have 20 minutes to clear out and if you have anything of value you may take it". The two maids and Lady Una and Miss Plunkett were escorted to the lawn w here they had to remain for some • hours . Some valuables and the maids personal belongings were removed from the house and eventually Dr Pooler the local C hurch of Ireland rector prevailed on the IRA gang to allow Lady Una and her friend to stay in his house while the maids were taken in by other neighbours. Meanwhile petrol was commandeered from Sharvin's petrol pump, witnessed by a publican across the Square, the local doctor being one of the men recognised, and O ld Court was set ablaze, its old furniture, paintings and priceless treasures went up in smoke. A " bucket brigade" passed water up from the sea at Catherine Quay and helped to save the west wing and some odds and ends did survive.

Lady Una was devastated by the loss, her husband, Captain A.J. Ross had been killed in the 1914- 18 war and h er father, who had greeted King Edward on Catherine Quay in 1903 had just died a few years before, so the early years of the 20th Century had not been kind to her Ladyship. She had the gatehouse done up and lived there until her death in the 1940's.

In 1953 I had gone to America and met one of the men. He told me that some time after the burning of Old Court he was at a dance in the Assembly Rooms (above No. 17 & 19 Castle Street) and one of the maids recognised his voice - h e left for America next day. He also told me of a card game in Ballyhornan after the event. A new pack of cards was produced - and as the deal went on it was discovered that Ace of Spades had the De Ros coat-of-arms imprinted on it.

A further detail is significant. My father told m e that a Crossley tender full of "B" Specials was ambush ed by the Saul IRA unit on the same night as the burning. It was on the Downpatrick /S tran gford road heading towards Strangford - after shots were exchanged th e lorry returned to Downpatrick. Its interesting to speculate what would have happened if it had continued Old Court after the burning on to the village - would O ld Court have been saved?

Since that time a new house, a new generation of people and, please God, a new atmosphere has grown in the area I'm glad to say and things are more pleasant "in the town I love so well".

41

~

cVlitnerfir the i2andhrd P.] Lennon During the devastating years of the early nineteenth century the people of this island had very little cause to be grateful to their landlords. Yet every now and then you will come across an instance where it was clear that a few of these men of property were less grasping, less unjust and in fact possessed a deep understanding of the plight of those unfortunates around him.

One of this minority was a Major A.W Beauclerk, who owned at this time extensive acreage around the Bright, Rossglass and Rathmullan area of Lecale. And as a mark of their esteem, on Tuesday the 23 rd of September, 1844, upwards to sixty of his tenants gathered at Denvir's Hotel in Downpatrick to entertain this humanitarian member of East Surrey. Amongst those present were MrJohn Carson, Dr. Harrison, the Rev. Father Denvir, and Father John McKenna, PP, Bright, who was in the chair.

When the usual round of toasts were honoured as was the custom, Father McKenna remarked that he had now come to the toast of the evening and he pointed out that Major Beauclerk was a modest and distinguished person to whom much praise was indeed due. "Flattery was not necessary" said he, "for there was on hand evidence that was abundant to warrant such praise. Our honoured guest was distinguished for his mental ability and sound judgement. But who could speak of good"ess of heart in which flowed so much of the blood of the Geraldines. That family whose illustrious deeds have been inscribed on the page of history in letters of ink, but which deserved letters of gold. Of whom it was said that they were Hibernicis ipsis Hiberniores, more Irish than the Irish themselves". In conclusion Father McKenna said, "as a landlord, Major Beauclerk was kind to his tenantry and anxious to promote their welfare and he was indeed the poor man's friend."

At Ardglass he was busily engaged in improving the harbour, at Rossglass he was about to build a port. He was impartial in administering justice uninfluenced by religious or political bias. A magnificent benefactor to both Presbyterian and Catholic communities.

Lately he had offered twenty pounds towards the renewal of Bright Catholic Church.

After the Major was heartily applauded, he spoke, "I feel I do not deserve this, though none had more heart in the welfare and prosperity of Ireland, whether in public or private. I love this country. I would not be doing my duty were I to live away from those who supplied my wants and be careless as to how they fared. If a landlord was not acquainted with his tenantry he may well act unjustly. Misfortune may come upon a tenant without any fault of his own and it would not be just to cut him adrift who was unfortunate, notwithstanding his industry and good conduct. I only wish I could persuade the Irish absentee gentry to return home and reside on their estates" . . . . . . and his toast . . .... "the honest peasant whom it is our duty to endeavour to raise the scale of comfort and independence".

Speeches were then made by Captains Saunders and followed by Father Denvir, who stated ...... "a resident landlord could do much good, yet we do not expect a landlord to be home all the time; he could gain much from visiting other climes. But what might an Irish landlord not accomplish if he only did his duty. Look at the materials he has to operate with, a good faithful people endowed with sterling virtues and intellect. Ireland 42

claimed the first Captain of the age as one of her sons. These were the materials the Irish landlord had to work upon and with such they might raise many a forlorn heart and encourage the distressed to walk with firmer steps along the journey of life. A bad landlord might be feared by some. It was generally their lot to be despised. We are blessed with a good landlord and there are few here who have not experienced Major Beauclerk's kindness".

Perhaps this little soiree in the county town almost one hundred and twenty years ago did not cause world-wide attention. However it does at least signify that in one of the nation's darkest periods there were some landlords not entirely without human decency and comprehension.

I'm sure there are few cases on record where the landlord was wined and dined by an appreciative tenantry.

43

Qf5trangford

cYuan cSJOff<Ylub Goclfrey Quayle It would appear that

.

,

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Cuan was formed around ~- ( ~. ~ ~!' . 1921122.

The Irish GolfingYear Book of 1922 lists the club for the first time and it continued to be shown until 1947.

The name Cuan was derived from the ancient name for the Lough. The Danish invasion changed it to Strang-Fjord, namely because of the strong tides experienced there. These tides vary from eight to ten knots, depending on wind and other features.

Among the visionaries who were responsible for the idea of a golf club was Senan Sharvin, Hedley Quayle, Paddy McMullan andJ.W MacMurray.

A possible site was the land lying between the Ardglass and Downpatrick 11 , / Roads. Riparian owners ~l "' , . / " were Lady Una Ross (de "V:.",.""""'~""-~~~ Ros Estates) of Old Court Cuan Golf Course and Major Head from Ferry Quarter. Both were very receptive to the idea and the legal work was quickly completed. The way was now clear to proceed with course building and the provision of a club house. The necessary machinery was purchased and a groundsman, Jimmy Taggart, appointed. Another requirement was the formation of a management committee, and Cuan's application to the Golfing Union ofIreland for recognition. This also was achieved quickly and the club first made its appearance in the Golfing Unions in 1922.

The land acquired amounted to approximately thirty acres, running from the rectory on the Ardglass Road to the Clay Hollows; then along McCausland's land until it reached the Presbyterian Church on the Downpatrick Road.

The club was now in a position to proceed. Fairways and greens had to be constructed for the nine-hole course together with the building of a club-house.

Local interest was great and all sections of the community participated with enthusiasm.

I

44

I

1

There were around fifty-six club members and, in order to assist and ( '1/ ~ I,) EXifl Slil ON tvf1TC'I !r' . encourage them, the committ ee 4 (1;;,.;,,:': N"~. ~¥tt.&/l:::;t:Z:STRAN~~~2.~ "'1-,4. {I \ appointedJohnnie Irvine. He carried ~ out numerous duties which included instruction lessons in the art of the game and his services proved to be in great demand : T h e original grasscutting machine was horse-drawn but, • in time, the unit was mechanised. This greatly speeded up the maintenance work and improved the overall condition of the course.

An official opening of the course took place in early 1922 and soon, competitions b ecame the order of the day. T he Golfing Unions handicapping system enabled both ladies and gents to participate. T h e difference in their abilities· was reflected in the provision of handicaps.

Apart from regular monthly competitions, members could compete for donated trophies such as the Hamill C up, the Angus Cup, the C uan Cup and the Tom Jones C up. The big day of the year was Captain's Day when not only was the Captain's Prize contested, but minor prizes could be won.

T he day usually ended with a dance in the C uan Hall in the village. This was the property ofMr Senan Sharvin who kindly provided the use of the hall on many occasions over the years.

Finance was always a pressure point. Obviously the club required more money than that raised by members' fees, so other fund-raising efforts were n ecessary; for example, dances, sales of work, ballots and concerts. At one stage, a flock of sheep was purchased and worked well until they decided to use th e greens as toilets .

Eventually, the income increased, mainly due to visitors' green fees of one shilling and sixpence per day and two shillings on Sundays.

Regarding Sunday golf, the committee did not permit play on the course until the congregation of the Presbyterian Church had completed their service, usually around 11.30 am.

15

S IX

INCH6S

WIDE

COOOlpthllCJl .••. ,,,... . .. .. ...... ... . .... . ... . .. . .... .... ......

Jl(lJl:di<6p ... .

.... , ...... .• ,. ......

Strc /,u ....•. . , ....

Laying odds on Captains Day

45

The course was 'tight', measuring 2128 yards with a par of 34 and wayward shots were heavily penalised.

During the period 1925-1939, the club made steady progress with an increase of visitors, especially at weekends. The bulk of the membership came from the village with others from Portaferry, Kilclief, Downpatrick and Ballywooden. Some of the early stalwarts were Hector McLean and his family from Portaferry. The teaching profession was very prominent. Keen golfing schoolmasters were N oonan, MacMurray, Watson and McMullan; the lady teachers were Misses Mooney, O'Hare and O'Driscoll. All had handicaps of between 12 and 16. The men's section was quite strong; probably the best player of this period was Phil Boyle. He was British Isles Police champion. Other players of 10 or below were Mick McCormick, Gerry Curran, my brother Herbert,Jim McBride, Harry Burnett, Robbie Curran, Paddy Corrigan, Ivan Burke and myself.

Paddy and Ivan were renowned for play- acting on Captain's Day. They set up as a bookie and his clerk, opened a book and laid odds. Whether they made money or lost, I don't know but, like most bookies, they may have made a shilling or two. The fun was good and much appreciated.

During 1938 there was talk of war, so much so that many Belfast families moved to the country. Some of these people joined the club and very welcome they were. Some names to remember - Tom Jones, T he Gees (Ted and Annie) , the Montgomeries, the Rolands, the Lathams, Mrs Deane and the Hoeys. Most of these families had obtained houses in Kilclief and Killard, and they contributed a great deal both to the club and the village.

InJune 1944, the club captain,TomJones, had a number of guests spending the week-end at his home. Amongst those was Fred Daly, the Ulster Professional Champion. An exhibition match was arranged when I partnered Fred. Quite a gallery followed us around the eighteen holes (par 68). Fred took 31 and 33 while I had scores of32 and 34.

In 1941, there is another abiding memory - the Easter Tuesday dance in the Cuan Hall. At around ten o'clock, someone ran into the hall with the news Godfrey Quayle - as that a number of aircrafts were passing over the ((bookie" on Captains village.

The hall almost emptied. Outside, the drone Day of German bombers (Dorniers) could be heard; they were following Strangford Lough to Newtownards and ahead lay B elfast, the target.

Some thirty or so of the dancers made their way to the coast at Old Court from where they could both hear and see the exploding bombs in the capital. Over seven hundred people were killed that night and extensive damage wrecked in Belfast.

After 1941, I had little or no contact with Cuan as my work based me in Belfast and later in Enniskillen. I understand that two substantial increases in the rent precipitated the closure of the club in either 1946 or 1947.

I only know that after closure the clubhouse was sold to a Miss Rankin. Various club artefacts disappeared; for example, the various minute books and the Captain's Board.

The closure of the club was a great loss to the village and those enthusiastic members.

46

~

CKuisance at 0fJtran!Jford ReportJrom Down Recorder 1893 - Spotted by Eamon McMullan Dr. MacLaughlin reported that a very bad nuisance existed at the new slip at Strangford, in the shape of a sort oflatrine, which is in a very filthy condition, and very injurious to the health of the people living in the neighbouring houses. He suggested that the latrine should be reconstructed and improved on. The following letter supplemented the report: Strangford 29th December 1892.

Gentlemen, with reference to my report, I wish to explain more fully the nature of the nuisance complained of. Situated on a rock close to the new slip at Strangford and in a very prominent position, is a piece of masonry - a circular wall about five feet high and six in diameter. This was built many years ago as a convenience for sailors, ferrymen, and others using the slip. It is perfectly unsuitable for the purpose intended. It is filthy in the entrance, and the approach to it is in the same condition. It is absolutely necessary, for the sake of decency, and to prevent nuisances arising, that a properly constructed latrine should be erected near the slip, which is so much used by the public, and where at times there are half-a-dozen boats waiting for passengers. This could be done at small expense, as the stones of the present building could be utilised, and would be nearly sufficient for the purpose. Having regard to the circular of the Local Government Board as to the probable visitation of cholera next year. I feel it my duty to bring this matter at once under your notice - Your obedient servant. P MacLaughlin, M.OH .

The Board of Guardians.

Lord De Ros spoke in support of the suggestion to have the place reconstructed.

The latrine, he said, had been erected at the instance of his father twenty-five years ago.

The Chairman - I think the matter should be referred to the dispensary committee, and we could then get a report from them.

Mr Hunter - Whose property is this thing on?

Lord De Ros - I suppose it is my place at low water mark.

Mr Hunter - Mr Mulholland had to claim a place of the kind at the Quoile not more than six months ago.

Lord De Ros - It is strictly a public place.

Mr Hunter - But you must claim it.

Lord De Ros - I have nothing whatever to do with it.

Mr Hunter - The public have nothing to do with it.

Lord De Ros - I say they have.

The Chairman - We will refer the matter to the dispensary committee. ~

47

Across rche II9!2ads 11 to Qfychoo! the late George Conway The start of our journey to school was down the loney which led to what was then, the last field on our farm. At the far corner of this field we crossed over the river by a stone built foot bridge. The river itself in official circles is called the Legnegoppack Drain, but as it is too wide to jump across and too deep to wade across, I think it deserves to be called a river! The single arch bridge is about 4 feet wide and about 10ft above the river, it was originally built by local landlords to facilitate those people who attended Ballyculter Church, and later it was used by children who attended Ballyculter School.

A few yards north of the Bridge, the mill race from Ballyculter mill entered the river on its way to the sea at Blackcauseway, and we followed the course of the mill race practically the whole way to school. Its waters flowed along the edge of the first field trickling merrily among the stones, but sometimes it was a raging muddy torrent and we knew that Robert Keaghey was grinding meal that day. Near the top of the field our path entered "Bud's" Loney, the river was culverted with flag-stones under the entrance to this loney and we would often lie on our stomachs on the flagstones, trying to catch "the sprickly-backs" in the water below. "Sprickly-backs" were the only fish we knew of in the river, except on one occasion on our way to school when we found a fish about 12" long lying in the field about 4 ft away from the river with a wound in its neck. Bob McDowell kept it for us until we came home from school and the Conway cats had a pleasant meal that evening.

A thorn hedge separated us now from the river at the start of Bud's Loney, but when its course turned towards the walls which were over by mill-workers' houses it was on the side of the loney again. "Bud Orr" lived in one of these houses when they were inhabited in earlier times. She was a noted character who used to castigate all and sundry from the rocky knowe in front of"Millars Row", alas Bud's loney is no more so her name will sadly be forgotten also.

The natural course of the mill race appears to have been diverted, when it was constructed - first to provide water for livestock in the adjoining fields, but also by making the water flow along an embankment, presumable, to provide a sufficient "head" to operate whatever machine;y was installed in the now tumbledown walls,just below Armstrong's farmyard and opposite the high brick chimney which is all that remains of the scutch mill. At the end of the embankment a massive flag stone made a useful bridge to Mrs Stockdales garden, and then there was a watering place with access from the farm lane, and also a stone covered well which was used for drinking water by the local residents.

At the end of Bud's loney was the corn mill, which, when it was grinding meal, was the most exciting part of our journey. We would watch the water turning the massive water wheel and the noise of the gear wheels and grindstones would be deafening. But Robert Keaghey, did not look too kindly on inquisitive children, and he would chase us on our way concerned as much for our safety as anything else. We were now out on the road which led to school.

Sometimes we would not use Bud's loney at all, but would go up through the farmyard, which in our earlier days was owned by Adam Porter, later it was owned by Robert Bailie and then by James McKibben. Bill McKeating worked for Adam Porter, and liked 48

to gather the children around him and tell us stories. On one occasion, he was making "staples" which involved drawing the long strands of straw which were then fastened together at one end and tied in bundles, in preparation for thatching corn stacks, the waste straw for this process (called "brock") made a lovely snug place to lie, and we listened to his stories, some of which were quite "scary" until he had to leave us over the stone bridge on our way home.

In the nex t house along the farm lived Mrs Stockdale, who was a sister of Robert Keaghey. At the top of the hill Billy and Kitty Magee and their family and opposite the end of the lane alQng the roadside lived Bob McDowell and his mother. Their door was always open, and we called in most evenings on our way home. Bob had a "wooden" leg and on one particular evening he was outside gouging a hollow in the end of a tree branch. He said he was making a new leg, which looked like a major operation even to us children, and Father MacGowen the local parish priest must have had the same opinion when he stopped the next day, for he made arrangements to bring Bob to Belfast where he was fitted with a new artificial leg. He took great delight in displaying his new acquisition, particular the locking device, which enabled him to bend his knee when he was seated.

Alongside the road just before the entrance to Keaghey's mill, in the tiny house which is still there, lived Johnny McIlheron, stonemason, thatcher and sometimes wellsinker. Further up the road was the mill dam, there was a path along the top of the embankment, at the end nearest the road was the overflow which allowed the water to run to the river when the dam was full. N ear the far end was the sluice which was opened manually for the water to flow along the channel, which led to the big mill wheel. Above the dam was the kiln house with its conical ridge ventilator, where the grain was dried in preparation for grinding.

The dam was a great place for skimming stones, especially when it was full, as the water was nearly level with the road, we also had fun watching the waterhens building their nests in the reeds just above water-level, and hoping we would think they were hidden, when only their heads were out of sight (silly coots!).

Opposite the dam lived the Cl eland family - the one most of you will remember is Dorothy - who was later Mrs Lunn and who died last year. She told George McKibben that Bud Orr was a sister of Mrs Portland (Pendleton) whom I remember lived at the Alms Houses, Ballyculter.

From the upper end of the dam the river flowed a field 's width from the road, then past the back of the church graveyard, through John Orr's farmyard, through the middle ofJohn Orr's lawn and under the road at the schoolhouse. This was journeys-end for us.

The river carried on to its source at Tullyratty Dam where there was another sluice gate which Robert Keaghey had to open to replenish the water in the small dam at his mill.

49

clfountcrin @ucrrter on the cYezlZ Lily Ritchie. Collected by Peig Denvir.

I have travelled many places and many sights I've seen There's none so fair as can compare with this little isle of green.

It is the place I love the best; I think I see it still That sweet wee place in Co. Down, Mountain Quarter on the hill.

It's ancient and it's beautiful, 'tis a lovely site Its proudly situated all on that well known height The scenery it is beautiful and the chapel down below From_ the sweet wee place in Co. Down Mountain Quarter on its own.

Lily Ritchie

Its banks are decked with emerald green and there the wild flowers grow, The house it stands upon the hill, the walls are white as snow.

When the sun it shines it looks so fine; its in

my memory still That sweet wee place Mountain Quarter and St. Patrick on the hill.

While I was in Mountain Quarter it was my happy home And for good friends I had many and there's always an open door I always worked in and around the farm and watched all nature grow I'm 86 years of age and still I'm on the go.

Lily Ritchie is my name and Ireland is my nation Mountain Quarter is my dwelling place and Heaven my expectation So when I'm dead and in my grave and all my bones are rotten This little note will tell my name when I am quite forgotten.

Lily Ritchie, Mountain Quarter, Saul, Downpatrick, N. Ireland. 2001 Note: Lily composed this poem one night when she couldn't get over to sleep. I don't think she ever wrote it down but was able to memorise it the next day and recite it - many times since.

50

'Che Wiscount c5Ban!for &rational OfJchool ~tf!lpcu!ter.

Researched and written by George McKibbin.

A freestone block which is set into the front wall of the old schoolhouse denotes, "erected 1823." ~ Like many people who speak about their days at Ballyculter school I was always of. the opinion that 1823 was the year in which the school was founded, but in the records ofBallyculter Parish Church it states that at a meeting dated 20th June 1814 a Mr John Williamson was appointed as Schoolmaster to the parish. It is also recorded in an expenses account dated 28th March 1815 that the Schoolmaster's salary be levied at £6Os-Od per year, this being raised to £9-0s-0d in the year 1821. The foregoing note proves the existence of a school in the year 1814 but there is no record as to where the former school was sited or whether it was demolished or remodelled to the layout of the new building of 1823 which cost £200, this sum being funded by Lord Bangor of Castleward.

It was a fine building with its much admired yellow flared chimney pots. From its beginning it was a mixed school where Roman Catholic and Protestant children studied and played together from an early age. Ann Ellis remembers how the Master used to seat "a Protestant between two Catholics to keep them from talking." Children starting school would normally be taught firstly by the Schoolmistress from infants class up to first or second class; or, as some text books termed a class i.e. sixth class as 'sixth standard'.

From the Mistress's room they would move on into the Master's room where they would be taught up to about seventh class by which time they would have attained school leaving age, and the boys still wearing short trousers!

In the year 1827 a Mr Lee of Castleward was appointed Schoolmaster.

There are no records available to determine who the teachers were after the appointment ofMr Lee until the year 1877 when a Mr and Mrs Ludgate were appointed Schoolmaster and Schoolmistress, respectively. They had two sons - Thomas aged 13 years and John aged 11 years who were enrolled as pupils in that year. Both teachers are in one of the old school photographs.

I remember one day as the master was writing up some work on the blackboard a girl called May McGuirk leant forward from her desk and dropped a piece of chalk into the master's cup ofBovril. In later years May married Albert Matthews, Lord Bangor's Chauffeur.

On another day Master Ludgate was asking around his class what was the meaning of different words and came to one of his sons and asked "what is molasses" ? His son was a bit hesitant in answering so a boy sitting next to him whispered "say spuds", no doubt I'm sure his son went to the top of the class!

I think I am right in saying that the house opposite Ballyculter Church was built for the Schoolmaster, as that is where the Ludgate family lived. It was in this house that Mrs Sarah Quayle had the Post Office in the years 1925 - 60.

After the retirement of Mr and Mrs Ludgate a Mr Thompson was Schoolmaster and Miss Doran was Schoolmistress. When Tommy Henderson came to Ballyculter School in 1920 Mr William J. McMurray was Master and Miss Sarah Mooney was Mistress. For 51

r

~

,; ~i

Thers has been

.'

, I ~ I. J

1;,. .1.

~" 'Il,

' I>

I -!i

,~ lb,:'

i!I':;!·l:"'J. ~~ j ,

!~

9.

falling_of'f' this year In the number of' pupUs

presented f'or examination. due. It would appear, to the existence of' epidemlcs.

!lumber.

The hlgher Classes, however. were well represented In A w1de fleld of'

inst~lction

was of' very fair" quality in gp.neral. seems to have been irregular,

was covered, and the work done The attendance in many instances

The explanat-i-on-·o 'f-the lsngnag e.....of' the

Reading' Books would deeeMe Increased attentlo"n, and the eonf'01ll1l11ng of 'cutlery' with 'China' and of an 'Observatory' with a '11nen-

1

1,,il\~j •• · ~1 t~t

JI 'I

There has been a falling_off thls year in the n'lIllber of ]lIIlp1la

•

I'

I

presented for examination, d!le, 1 t would appear, to the existence of

:~

:!1 ~ I. '",

In the Geographlcal lessons.

Grammar was poor In Slxtb Class and Wf!8

I

in Flrth (flrst stage) , Class,

The pupils were also backWard at lIental

Arithmetic. 'and Poetry was not recited wlth suffl:clent taste.

Drawing was taken 'Jp thls year with success, and very falr results were shown In Algebra and Geometry.

Needlework as usual shows t-hat

interest and 'skil1 have bep.n brought to bear On the teaching of thiS branch.

epidemics. n'Jmber.

The higher Classes. however, were well represented In A Wide field of

Inst~lCtion

~

wae of very fair qu",lity in "eneral.

\

seems to have been irregular.

'

,

,rL ~

N!I

hetory' shows that the expla...atlon might be purs!l,ed w1th advantage

•

i!\. l

\~

.was co.v ered. and the work done The attendance In many Insta·nces

the proneness of' the pupils to talk.

·~~::::"=-'A~ ""._

Tbe premlses are kept 'wltb

~~.:.rt*

~

~

Reading' Books wonld deseMe Increased attention. and the eonfo!lnd1ng of 'cutlery' with 'china' and of' an 'obsllrVatory' w1tb a '11'11en" hctory ' shows that the exp1a'1atlon mi"ht be purSU,ed wlth . advantage in the Geographlcal lessons.

Grammar was poor In Sixth Clas.1!I a):ld 1I.fl81i

in Firth (f'irst stage), Class,

The ptJpils were also backward at lletltal

Ari thmetic. ano. Poetry was not recited with sufficient taste. ·~ Drawing was taken "P th1s year with success, and very were shown in Algebra and Geometry.

J

fa1rresll~tl!l

Needlewo-rk as usual shOws that

interest and 'sk1ll have b"p.n brollght to bear On the teachfng of this

Conduct was very fa1r, and the discipline was somewhat marred the proneness of the pupils to talk.

'~ -,...,....~

.-

The pl'E'.m1ses are kept 'with

.~

Zr'!~,,,,,, ::':::<A .~ ...~~.~: -~... . :';'~~:-.r' .. .~L~ .· . ,,__ ~n.._~ ~~lii'[~

Reports from My. Skiffington - Inspector cif Schools, 1896 -97

J)

J

The explanation of-· the langnsg.e.....of tbe

~

Conduct was very fair. and the discipline was somewhat marred

.'

I

@

1)

about 15 to 20 minutes each morning the Roman Catholic pupils would go to Miss Mooney's room and the Protestant children to the Master's room for religious instruction, after which they would go to their proper rooms where the roll would be called. On one or two afternoons Miss Mooney would teach the girls cookery or sewing and knitting while the boys would go to the Master's room for mathematics or spellings etc.

Subjects taught in the school curriculum from 1877 were reading, spelling, writing, arithmetic, grammar, geography, geometry, French, Latin, algebra, agriculture and music.

Miss Mooney and Mr McMurray were renowned for their teaching capabilities as many former pupils , still speak today of their fortitude, remarking that Miss Mooney started, but Mr McMurray finished you.

Mr McMurray was a noted musician having been organist in Ballyculter Church for a number of years.

IfMr McMurray could detect that a pupil had that extra bit oflearning capability he would invite him along after school to his lodgings at Rosebank on the Quarry Hill in Strangford where he lodged with the Kallaway family and give them that extra bit of tuition to further their studies in whatever goal in life they wished to pursue on leaving school, or to prepare them to sit the scholarship exam which would give them three years free education at the 'Green High School' or 'St. Patrick's High School in Downpatrick, this being funded by Lord Bangor.

The scholarship was given in alternate years to Killough school and Ballyculter school until after the second World War. Mr McMurray had his 'pet pupils' too, those who could do no wrong, while on others he would come down with a heavy hand.

IfMr McMurray got enraged with any of his pupils he would stamp his foot heavily on the floor and exclaim, "You beastly child" or whatever, probably a few strokes of the cane were added too. One day he stamped once too often and his foot went through the floor board, the hole being repaired with a sheet of tin nailed over it.

A pupil in Mr McMurray's class was one James Curran (Jimmy) ofBallylenagh, well known for his joviality and quirks both in and out of school. One day in class he drew a sketch of a man whose Christian name was WilliamJohn from Tullyratty, a lover of the beer, alighting from the Downpatrick to Strangford bus on a Saturday night with a string of sausages trailing from his overcoat pocket as he staggered into the pathway leading to his cottage. Jimmy passed the sketch along the seat to one ofWilliam John's daughters who retorted with the words, ''lames Curran I'm going to tell my daddy on you".

John Coates formerly of Carrowcasey and now living in South Wales remembers one of his days at school when Master McMurray had given Jimmy a good telling off for some of his wrong doings in class and on his way to the playground muttering a little rhyme he had concocted about the Master, that rhyme not to be published!

One year, coming up on the time for the summer holidays, Master McMurray was asking around the classroom if any of the boys or girls had any brothers or sisters starting school after the holidays and one of the afore mentioned William John's daughters pu~ up her hand and said, "Please sir" and, named how many more of her family would be coming to school, Mr McMurray exclaimed "My goodness gracious is that unholy family never going to end"!!

In the autumn the first or second week of October would be taken as holidays.

These were commonly called the 'Potato' holidays. Mr McMurray would inquire of John Orr of Ballyculter, the local farmer as to when he was intending to take out his

53

potato crop and accordingly. Of course this was in John's favour as he had the chance of getting a good few extra gatherers, boys or girls wanting to earn a few extra shillings.

At Christmas the school would be decorated by the staff of Castleward gardens and a party given by Lord and Lady Bangor, at which prizes in the form of books would be A Class with Anne Ezlis the late 60s presented by Lady Bangor to those pupils who attained good marks in the pre-summer exams while the not so successful still received some small gift or token.

This would be followed by a 'Punch and Judy Show' etc.

Mr McMurray died in the early 1940's and I remember all the pupils following the funeral cortege along the then Killough Road, now the Churchtown road as far as Ballylenagh as it made its way to Killough Parish Churchyard for the funeral service there. Miss Mooney retired to her homeland ofDromara, Co. Down where she died on St. Patrick's Day 1964.

During the years ofWorld War 11 1939 - 45 many people in the country areas made their homes available to give refuge to the children of those families whose homes were vulnerable to air raid attacks in Belfast. These children were known as the' evacuees' .

The names of some of those children and with whom they were housed in the Strangford area are as follows : Sammy and Bobby Cinnamond who lived with Joe Orr at Carrowcarlin, Patricia (Patsy) Taylor with the McNutt family atTullyratty, Gusty Cardwell and his sister Kathleen with Joe and Mrs Kyle of the Square, Billy Armstrong with the McKeown family in Castle Street Strangford, also Irene Harbinson who lived with Mrs Graham at her Avenue cottage at Oldcourt.

At this point I will try to name some of the teachers who either assisted Miss Mooney or Mr McMurray. The Master's room was divided to accommodate a third or even a fourth teacher at that time, as the evacuees had swelled the number ~f pupils attending school.

I remember a Miss Young riding her bicycle daily from Killough, a distance of seven miles to teach at Ballyculter.

Other teachers were Miss Ann O'Hare, Miss Walls, Miss Morris, Mr Burns, Mr Watson, Mr Alien, Mr Milligan, Mr Daly, Miss Nan McFarlane.

Mr Roger Rickard and Mrs Ann Ellis. In former years senior pupils known as 'Monitors' were allowed to oversee a class of pupils if a teacher was absent.

Unfortunately, because of a new educational policy of centralisation, the Education authority were not prepared to spend enough money on the existing building to bring

54

it up to modern day standards so in 1969 the school was closed bringing to an end an era in education in this part of County Down - a sad day for Ballyculter.

As the school lay vacant it began to be vandalised and so in 1974 it was purchased by Ballyculter Parish and leased to Dean and Mrs Kilpatrick who converted it into a dwelling house. Although the school has been closed long since, I will try to give the reader an insight into the names of the families of pupils who attended the school, apart from those who Master Ludgate's House appear on the list of boys from Photo - Mona Cooper, Ottawa, Canada.

1877 to 1914.

First of all might I tell of some of the hardships some pupils had to endure as told to me by Patrick Marron who attended Ballyculter school about seventy five years ago, he remembers two Finlay boys, John and Francis who lived with their father in the house in the field on the opposite side of the road from the old Captain Rooney home near Ballyrennan crossroads. The boys' mother died when they were quite young and their father being a sick man had very little money to live on. During the winter months the two boys could wear their boots when walking to school but from the month of April onwards they had to walk the two miles or more bare-footed, the soles of their feet became so toughened that at harvest time they could walk through a stubble field on Pat Seed's farm at Carrinteggart on their way home from school. After grain has been reaped the straw stubble could be so sharp - as to cut a bare foot! Think too of what those boys and others of their time had to live on, very little food to eat, lucky if they had even a candle to give them light in their home. They certainly came from very humble beginnings.

Around 1890 members of the Meeklem family whose father was miller in the corn mill at the bottom of Raholp brae, drove four miles to school at Ballyculter by donkey and cart as one of the boys of the family had a' club foot' and so was unable to walk very far, otherwise the others would have had to walk.

There were those pupils who drove to school by pony and trap, like the Rourkes from Ringawoody, the Davidsons and Morrows from Bishopscourt. Those who travelled in this way would unyoke their ponies and stable them in what were known as 'The Church Stables' where the Ward family of Castleward House would have stabled their horses while attending Ballyculter Church two hundred years ago or later, i.e. before the advent of the motor car.

Those who cycled long distances to school were the Murphy family from Ballybranagh, Jim, Hugh, Lillian and Jack,Willie Crea and the Hamiltons, Robert, Majorie and Thomas, all from Ringawoody; Robin and Eric Gill from Chapeltown;Theresa, Ursula and Imelda

55

Curran who cycled the five and a half miles from Sheepland, and Jack Martin from Bishopscourt. Not forgetting all those pupils who from the year 1880 would have had to walk long distances by road and by taking to the pads along their way.

I will try to mention most of those names, some of whom attended school before and during my schooldays, they were Waiter, Adam, Norman, Kenneth, Olive, Rachel and Daphne Hughes - Carrownacaw;Tommy andAnnie Mulholland, Churchwall;Vincent and Patrick Marron from Orrs Hill; the Orrs and Jamisons, Ballyrenan; Lida,Johnston, Jimmy and Dolly Hughes and Winnie Galway, Loughkeelan; Bill, Jim, Pat, Alfie and Mary Hynds, Braniffs and Stockdales - Castlemahon; Maisie Andrew and Joe Savage, Castlemahon; Edward, John, Bernard, Annie, Desmond and Una Denvir; James, Sean, Mary and Clare Seed, Carrinteggart;John, Francis and Elizabeth Galbraith, Ballylenagh, their father was a tinsmith; the Kearney and Reid families ofBallynarry and Corbally; Madge, Lilian,James and John McMullan, Ballynarry; Bernard and John McIlmurry, and lsobel Watterson from Cargagh; Mary, Eileen, George, Margaret and Kathleen Conway, Legnegoppack; Una McGuigan from the Brow. Between 1880 and the early 1890's there were David,James and Alfred Johnston Tully; Henry and James McKibbin, Cloughey; and from 1930's to late 1960's Ronnie, Viola, John and Stewart Johnston, Cloughey; John and David Johnston,Tully; Daphne, Sylvia, Eric,Johnny, Geoffrey, Cavan, Rosemary, Paul, David and Eileen Johnston, Ashlea Farm; Anthony, Mary and Thomas King, Legnegoppack;Jam_es and Bob Allen;James, Annie Willie and Sylvia Gray, and Bernard Curran from Myra; Sally, Joan, Waiter, Terence and Tommy Quayle, Walshestown; Joy Mulholland, Slieveboyne; the Skillen family at the Mallard; Loughlin, Annie, Phyllis, May, Joe and Laurence Brennan, Anne, Jean and Joan Press, Portloughan; Betty, Jim, Maureen, Margaret, Clare and Frank Kane, Joseph, Bernard, Patricia, Ellen, Frank and James Fitzsimons, Toberdoney; John, James and Raymond Press, Audleystown; Phyllis,

A Class with Master and Mrs. Ludgate - 1902 56

Lou and Roy Swail, George and Cecil Johnston, Tommy, Olive and Alex Henderson, Bertie Matthews, Gerald Wells and John McIlheron, all from Castleward; Lena, Ellie and Harry Seed, Slieveroe;Jackie Johnston, Paddy, Frank, Cissie and Ellie Curran, Englishtown; Arthur and Maggie Swail, the Almshouse, Edith, Margaret and Ena Lennon, Frank Lennon and John Coates, Carrowcasey;Thomas and Frank McKeown, David and Cecil Stewart, George, Jack and Beth Pollock, Marjorie and Janet Graham, Billy Nathaniel and Jean Creith, Billy Jack (whose father was stationed at RAF Bishopscourt); Norman and Mary Jones, Strangford;JimmyVint, Leonard, Irene,Tom and Desmond Curran, Carrowcarlin; Helena, Seamus and Theresa Fitzsimons, Eileen, Theresa and Richard Sharvin, Tullyratty; â&#x20AC;˘ Anne, Brian,Jimmy, Ursula and Mary Fitzsimons,Anne, Kay, Margaret andJim Savage, Downpatrick Road; Bernard, Sean and Jim Mulholland and Braniff family from Loughkeelan; Josie, Kitty, Brendan, Eddie and Tom Curran, Ballyorgan; Joseph, Patsy,

A Class in the 195 Os - Lower Ballyculter

Martin, Leonard, Bridget and Sheila Fitzsimons, Bill, Rachel and George Lowry; Pat, Rosaleen, Sarah, Oliver, Aidan, Gerald and Margaret Laverty, Ballyculter; Susan, Maud and Margaret McMinn, Carrinteggart;Johnny and Brigid McKeating, the Jackson family, Leslie and George McKibbin, Lower Ballyculter;Bridie,John, Eileen and Kathleen Magee, The Whitehills;Violet, May and Agnes Toner, Ballynarry; Bobby McKnight, Sean and Kathleen Farrington, Cargagh.

Hugh, Margaret, Breda, Harry and Patrick Magee,Jim and Brendan Denvir.

57

Date of Entrance

Reg.No.

Pupils Nanle

Age Religious Last Birthday Denonlination

Residence

Occupation & nleans of Living of Parent

May 1st

13

AlIen Robt

11 years

EC

May 1st

17

Bowden Robt.

10

EC

May 1st

20

BreenWm

11112

EC

May 1st

25

Brown George

9

EC

May 1st

28

Brown Joseph

9

EC

Wm. Johnson

6112

EC

C'ward

Labourer

Thos. Ludgate

13

EC

B.culter

Sch. Master

John C. Ludgate

11

EC

B' Culter

Sch. Master

Sam Lawson

9

EC

Carrow Carlin

Farmer

Wm. Jas. McGhie

14

EC

Castlemohan

Farmer

John McGhie

13

EC

Ballyculter

Farmer

Wm. A. McGaie

11

EC

Castlemahon

Farmer

Jas McDonald

11

EC

Castlemahon

Farmer

John McCartan

9

EC

Ballyculter

Kilm Man

Thos. McCartan

EC

Ballyculter

Kiln Man

Thos. Newell

EC

C'ward

Servant

John Orr

EC

B'culter

Fanner

Joseph Orr

EC

Carrowcarlin

Farmer

John Orr

EC

B'culter

Labourer

SamuelOrr

EC

Ballyrenan

Farmer

George Richardson

EC

Raholp

Servant

Alex Stewart

EC

Ballyrenan

Farmer

Thos Seed

EC

Englishtown

Farmer

Robt. Stockdale

EC

Whitehills

Farmer

Henry Seed

EC

Englishtown

Farnler

,877

,

58

Pupils Name

Religious

Residence

Occupation or

Demonination

Means of Parent

rear 1811 Joseph Skillen

EC

Myra Castle

Servant

John Seed

EC

Tullyratty

Farmer

George Torney

EC

Scaddens

Farmer

Henry Trace

EC

Strangford

Farmer

Thomas Torney

EC

Scaddens

Farmer

Francis Wylie

EC

C'ward

Labourer

HenryWylie

EC

C'ward

Labourer

Sam Walmsley

EC

Strangford

Labourer

Joseph Kearney

RC

Castlemahon

Labourer

Hugh Pete Laverty

RC

B'culter

Smith

Cornelius Kearney

RC

B'culter

Servant

John McCartan

RC

B'culter

Servant

Wm. McIlheron

RC

B'culter

Servant

Denis Laverty

RC

B'culter

Smith

Joan Braniff

RC

Castlemahon

Farmer J

James Savage

RC

Castlemahon

James Maguire

RC

Creenstown

Labourer

James Laverty

RC

B'culter

Smith

Patrick Braniff

RC

Castlemahon

Farmer

181 8 George Collins

RC

Toberdoney

Farnler

John Rogan

RC

Ballinclieve

Labourer

Thos. Gilchrist

EC

Alex Matthews

EC

Ballynarry

Labourer

Moses Matthews

EC

Ballynarry

Labourer

Samuel Gillespie

RC

Ballyculter

Shopkeeper

Robert Gillespie

RC

Ballyculter

Shopkeeper

Cornelius Gillespie

RC

Ballyculter

Shopkeeper

John Hinds

RC

Cargie (Cargagh)

Labourer

Joan Curran

RC

Ballywalter

Labourer

Arthur Martin

EC

S'ford

Ships Captain

George Linton

EC

Saul

Farmer

Robert Linton

EC

Saul

Farmer

James Crangle

RC

Carrowcarlin

Farmer

Robt. Montgomery

EC

Strangford

Widow

James Watterson

RC

Tullyratty

Farmer

James McGorrian

RC

Tullyratty

Farnler

Patrick King

RC

Strangford

Widow

Labourer

Labourer

59

Pupils Name

Religious

Residence

Dernonination

Occupation or Means of Parent

,813 Charles Hanna

Pres.

Castleward

Labourer

Thomas Orr

EC

Carrowcarlin

Labourcr

Bernard Curran

RC

Churchtown

Labourcr

Henry Clarke

EC

Castleward

Labourcr

Robert Ludgate

EC

Churchtown

cachcr

Thomas Curran

RC

Strangford

Labourcr

Robert Keaghey

EC

Ballyculter

Fa rm cr

Geo. T. Torney

EC

Scaddens

Farmcr

John Laverty

RC

Ballyculter

Smith

James Robertson

Pres.

Isle O'Valla

Stcward

Francis Corry

Pres.

Carnacaw

Farmer

Richard Crickard

RC

Ballyculter

Widow

Richard Fitzsimons

RC

Tullyratty

Labourcr

Robert Reid

Pres.

Isle O'Valla

Stc" ard

W illiam Boal

Pres.

Ballyorgan

Farmer

Bernard Holland

RC

David Johnson

EC

Tully

Farmcr

Frances Armstrong

EC

Castleward

Game Kccpcr

William Armstrong

EC

Castleward

Game Keepcr

Samuel Armstrong

EC

Castleward

Game Keepcr

James Johnson

EC

Tully

Farmer

John Bailie

EC

Ferry Quarter

Mill er

Wm. Jas Taggart

RC

Ballyculter

Labo urer

Robt.Jas Cleland

EC

Raholp

Farmer

Francis Smith

EC

Ballynarry

Labourer

Moses 01'1'

EC

Ballyrenan

Farmer

Saul Moses Seed

EC

Lougakeeland

Farmer

Samuel John Orr

EC

Ballyculter

Labourer

James McCartan

RC

Ballyculter

John McDonald

EC

Tubberdoney

Farmer

James Curran

RC

Ballyculter

Labourer

Moses Hanna

Pres.

Ballyculter

Labo urer

Samuel McDonald

EC

Tubberdoney

Farmer

George Press

EC

Castleward

Carpenter

Samuel Skilen

EC

Moira (Myra)

Servant

James C UlTan

EC

Mallard

Gardener

James Bowden

EC

Castleward

Labourer

Wm.]. Stockdale

EC

Ballynarry

Widow

,880

Labourcr

,88,

60

,

Labourer

Religious

Pupils N ame

Residence

Occupation or Means of Parent

Demonination C>f(ap 1882

W illiam Coop et (11 yrs)

Pres.

Ballyculter

Farmer (came from Canada)

George Moore (7 yrs)

EC

Belfast

Shopkeeper

James Reid

RC

Castlemahon

Labourer

James Hinds

RC

Cargie (Cargagh)

Labourer

Robt.]. Coates

Pres.

Isle O'Valla

Labourer

H enry Coates

Pres.

Isle O 'Valla

Labourer

Hans Kennedy

EC

Isle O'Valla

Farmer

James Matthews

Pres.

Ballynarry

Farmer

Francis Cur ran (6 yrs)

RC

Englishtown

Labourer

AlfredJohnston (6 yrs)

EC

Tully

Farmer

Moses Porter (7 yrs)

EC

Loughkeeland

Farmer

James Gillespie (9 yrs)

RC

Ballynarry

Shopkeeper

John McKeating

RC

Englishtown

Shoemaker

Thomas Armstrong (7 yrs)

EC

C'ward

Gamekeeper

William Ludgate (6 yrs)

EC

Ballyculter

Teacher

W m .]. Curran (7 yrs)

RC

Ballynarry

Labourer

W m. Fagan (10 yrs)

EC

Ballyculter

Kilnsman

James Fagan (10 yrs)

EC

Ballyculter

Kilnsman

Samuel Roberts (8 yrs)

EC

Strangford

Pensioner

John Roberts (14 yrs)

EC

Strangford

Boatman

John Quinn (7 yrs)

RC

Ballynarry

Labourer

Hugh Porter (7 yrs)

EC

Loughkeeland

Farmer

James Coates (7 yrs)

EC

Mallard

Mason

Patk. H inds (8 yrs)

RC

Isle O 'Valla

Labourer

&c17J7. 1882

,

1883

1888

Finny (Fenimore) Cooper (5 yrs)

Pres.

Ballyculter

Farmer

Joshua Crilly (7 yrs)

EC

Ballintlieve

Farmer

1883 Thos. Mechlin (6 yrs)

EC

Raholp

Miller

Samuel Seed (16 yrs)

EC

Ballynarry

Farmer

Daniel Doherty (12 yrs)

RC

Ballintlieve

Labourer (transfer from Ballee)

Wm.]. Sharvin (12 yrs)

RC

Strangford

Shopkeeper

183 1 Fred Kallaway (9 yrs)

EC

Strangford

Coastguard

183 2 James Cooper (6 yrs)

Pres.

Ballyculter

Farmer

61

Pupils Name

Religious

Residence

Demonination

Occupation or Means of Parent

23-4- 06

Patrick Faloona

RC

Carrinteggart

Farmer

EC

Ballylena

Farmer

EC

Ballynarry

Farmer

Castlemahon

Farmer

EC

Ballyculter

Labourer

EC

Castlemahon

Farmer

EC

Ballyculter

I nsp ector of Post Offices

EC

Castleward

Labourer

EC

Castleward

La bourer

23-S- 13°?

Thomas Stockdale 1-?-13°?

Harry Stockdale 1-2- 13° 8

John Seed Robert Jackson (7 yrs) 22-11- 13 03

Gordon Stockdale IS-3- 13°3

WillieWeir 14- 2 - 13°3

Ernest Swail 24-10-1310

David George Proctor

(transfer from K.illylea,Armagh) James Proctor

EC

La bourer

Castleward

(transfer from K.illylea,Armagh) Thomas J. Pore tor

EC

Labo urer

Castleward

(transfer from K.illylea, Armagh) 28-2- 13"

Wm. Patrick Hynds

RC

Cariff

EC

Ballyculter

Pres

Carnecaw

Farmer

RC

Castlemahon

Farmer

EC

Ballyculter

Labourer

Labourer (transfer from Kilclief)

22-S-13 I1

Joseph Jackson (DOB 1901)

•

Labourer

23-S- 13"

Norman McMurray (DOB 1906) 26-6- 1311

Vincent Braniff (DOB 1905) 24-6-13 I 2

Willie Jackson (DOB May 1905)

62

Pupils Name

Religious

Residence

Occupation or Means of Parent

Demonination 12-S-13 1 3

Andrew Savage (DOB Aug 1906)

RC

Loughkeeland

Labourer

RC

Castlemahon

Fanner

Vincent McCartan (DOB May 1905)

RC

Ballynarry

Labourer

Joseph F Fitzsimons (DOB Oct 1908)

RC

Castl emahon

Laabourer

PatrickJ. Fitzsimons (DOB Feb 1910)

RC

Castlemahon

Labourer

Pres.

Ballyculter

Engineer

IfJ-3- 1 3 14

Gerard BranitT (DOB June 1908) 27-4- 1 5) 14

â&#x20AC;˘

3 0 - 1 1-1 5) 14

James Seeds (DOB 1908)

-

63

~(JUยงhli1island Pat Fitzsimons Last week a great 0 N eill Kicked by exuberant youth Into the long grass of summer Prompted a search Which yielded a nest of two blue eggs

I

Lodged in perennial briar of Hope.

That hope of life and space and time That would join the march Of mysterious creation And the possibility of future which All flesh craves Turned turtle at 0 Toole 's in one Despicable act Of predictable human behaviour.

That Lough in Island of quiet waters and odious sanctity, So ancient in its tribute to God And the mystery of life, Should be the nest of Perfidious death Is the near despair that grips This place Of never ending hell Experienced more sharply By those too close.

And yet, one week later, my Visit to the blue-egged nest Revealed the answer, when two Pink gullets searched The beautiful summer sky For the food of life and soul.

It has to be enough.

64

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