Historical society members attend Lecale Review launch

Historical society members attend Lecale Review launch

30 October 2024

MEMBERS of the Lecale and Downe Historical Society were out in force last Thursday evening for the launch of the Society’s annual journal, Lecale Review.

This was the 22nd edition of the publication, which follows on from the very successful Lecale Miscellany, edited for many years by the late Mr Albert Colmer.

The Lecale Review showcases both local scholarship and shorter pieces relating to the history of Lecale and the wider county.

Launching the journal, the president of the Lecale and Downe Historical Society, Dr Finbar McCormick, explained how local history and memory are crucial to any community of people, preserving stories that detail the rich heritage of the area.

The pieces included in this edition of Lecale Review are diverse and will appeal to a wide range of people across the district.

The history of Legamaddy House and Stud Farm is explored in wonderful detail by William Stranney and two pieces originally penned by one of Downpatrick’s most famous residents, Aynsworth Pilson (1777-1863), are also reproduced.

An extract from Pilson’s famous diary is published by Colm Rooney, co-editor of the Review, while 

Finbar McCormick revives one of a series of articles that Pilson produced for his son Conway’s newspaper, The Downpatrick Recorder, in 1854.

Well known historian and poet Linda McKenna tells the intriguing story of a dispute in Downpatrick in 1832 between Mrs Esther Tate, gunsmith and ironmonger, and the town’s chief constable, Henry Dumas.

In his article, John McMullan recounts the tragic tale of the loss of the ‘Menapia’ of Waterford, which came to grief on the rocks at St John’s Point in 1836. Members of the crew are commemorated on a gravestone in St Anne’s Parish Church, Killough.

In another fascinating piece, Jennifer O’Reilly describes how the old and damaged organ in the former Presbyterian church in Strangford was patiently and lovingly restored by the new owners of the property, Melanie and Marty Hamill, and her husband, Tom.

In his second contribution, Colm Rooney outlines details of landownership in Co Down as documented by Mr John Bateman in his monumental survey of Britain and Ireland, published in 1879. The extent of the properties of many famous landowners are documented in this enlightening piece.

Very little is known about a medieval church and the Abbey of Carryke in the townland of Erenagh, close to the stone circle at Ballynoe. Piecing together the evidence, Conn Lavery, aged just 14, has produced a remarkable piece of work which details information on the site of the abbey, its construction, occupation and eventual destruction by John de Courcy.

Conn’s painstaking research adds a new level of understanding to this little-known aspect of our local history. He is the youngest ever contributor to the Lecale Review.

Copies of the Lecale Review can be purchased in a number of outlets across the district at a cost of £10. Paid-up members of the Society receive a free copy.

The next meeting of the Lecale and Downe Historical Society is on Thursday, November 28, at 7.30pm in the St Patrick Centre.

The speaker will be Alan Freeburn, curator of Down County Museum, whose fascinating talk is entitled ‘In Honour of Memory: The Victims of the Belfast Blitz’. Entry is free to members. Visitors are most welcome to attend with a suggested donation of £5 to the society.