Local historian puts townland into print

Local historian puts townland into print

28 May 2014

RENOWNED historian, Dr. Brian S. Turner, has penned a fascinating new book.

Entitled Aspects of Audleystown, A Townland in Lecale, the 62-page publication is a study of the townland of Audleystown and its sub-denomination of Toberdoney on the southern shore of the internationally acclaimed Strangford Lough.

Illustrated with superb photographs, Dr. Turner’s new book — which is penned in memorium to former South Down MP Eddie McGrady — follows on from the publication of two maps on the townlands of East Down.

Strangford Townlands and Lecale Townlands  were published in 2011 and 2012 respectively by the Friends of the Down County Museum, supported by the Downe Historical Society and accurately represent the names and boundaries of the hundreds of townlands.

Aspects of Audleystown shows how to study one of these townlands and demonstrates the wealth of interest to be found locally.

Dr. Turner, a former Director of Down County Museum, officially launched his new book last weekend to wide acclaim. In his foreword, he says one of the functions of local history is to encourage people to see what they are looking at.

The author says the world around us is “built on what has gone before” and that it’s a “continuous interaction between people and their environment.”

Dr. Turner continues: “It is the local and the personal which connect us with our real feelings and to each other, and which act as anchors when we voyage further afield. As change becomes faster and more radical we can unconsciously, or perhaps even deliberately and arrogantly, abandon our grasp on history.

“When we act as if nothing important has happened before our time we can lose all sense of perspective about our place in the world, and of our responsibility to care for it.”

Dr. Turner says Audleystown is a place in the world and that it was his privilege to be allowed into the homes of Audleystown and Toberdoney to talk about the place and what people remember about it.

“The welcoming generosity with which my queries and my wandering presence have been met is appreciated on a level far beyond mere fact-finding,” he said.

The book begins with an overview of Audleystown and Toberdoney before focusing on the area’s ancient past, revealing that the best known monument is Audleystown Cairn, a Neolithic dual court tomb.

Chapter Two reveals that in 1547, a reference to John Audeley of Audleystown provides the first specific documented association of the family with the townland. Dr. Turner explains that it’s clear from other references that the surname was well known in the area before that, and it was commonly associated with the earliest days of the Anglo-Norman colony in East Ulster.

Chapter three, entitled The clearance of Audleystown recalls stories of how the village was “cleared of its inhabitants” with houses demolished and people sent to America on a ship called the Rose because Lady Bangor who lived in Castleward’s majestic house “didn’t like to see its untidy appearance from her window.”

Dr. Turner said he has heard this particular story told with varying intensity, from the suggestion that people had their fares paid to bring them to a better life in America, to a lurid picture of swordsmen bursting into the village, attacking the people and burning their houses.

The new book is a must read for those with a thirst of local history, with Dr. Turner providing a fascinating insight into an area many people are familiar with in appearance, but know precious little about its intriguing past.

• The new book, priced £5, is available from the Down County Museum and Kevin Og’s in Strangford. It’s published by the Lecale and Downe Historical Society in association with the Friends of Down County Museum and the Ulster Local History Trust.