Maritime heritage the subject in Strangford

Maritime heritage the subject in Strangford

1 July 2015

THE Cuan in Strangford was the setting for a recent conference on local maritime heritage.

Attended by members of community groups from throughout the Newry, Mourne and Down Council area and from other parts of the county, the event was organised by the Down County Museum, Newry and Mourne Museum and Strangford Lough and Lecale Partnership.

Two years ago, both museums inaugurated a new network to bring together organisations and groups involved in heritage across the county. The purpose of the network is to share expertise and experiences and enable community, heritage and cultural groups to learn from each other to maintain and improve heritage resources and skills in local areas. 

Recent conferences have looked at World War I in the locality and at local history collections held by the museums, with the third annual conference taking place at the Cuan during the annual Strangford Lough Festival. 

The event was an opportunity for local groups to come together to find out more about maritime heritage in the Down, Newry and Strangford Lough areas and discover how local groups are preserving, interpreting and bringing to life maritime heritage for all. 

The speakers included Victoria Millar and Madeleine McAllister from the Down County Museum talking about the museum’s diverse collection of maritime related photographs and objects, detailing plans for the new farming and fishing gallery which will open at the museum in September.

Noreen Cunningham and Shane McGivern from Newry and Mourne Museum spoke about the Reside Collection of documents and other material relating to Newry’s port area.

Jennifer Firth, from the Department of Environment’s Marine Conservation branch, talked about the importance of Strangford Lough as a conservation area, while Caroline Nolan from the Strangford Lough and Lecale Partnership spoke about how the project has linked communities from across the Lough area in conserving and interpreting their culture and heritage. 

The conference was well received by participants and, speaking before the conference started, Newry, Mourne and Down Council chairwoman Councillor Naomi Bailie said she was delighted to see so many local people interested in finding out more about the important maritime heritage in the area. 

She added: “This is a great opportunity to exchange information about the important role communities working along our coastline, across Strangford Lough and on our canal have played in the development of industry, 

trade and leisure and how vital it is to preserve their heritage and culture created in these areas.”