Under Constuction
HISTORY AND ARCHAEOLOGY OF COUNTY DOWN, NORTHERN IRELAND
Below is a selection of sites I visited on my recent trip to the area, l have included photo's and a brief description of the sites and some links to other more detailed websites. I hope you enjoy looking through and please feel free to add any comments on the message board.
PORTAFERRY CASTLE
Portaferry Castle is a tower house which was built in about 1500 by the Savage family who came over with John de Courcy in 1177. The tower was built to protect the entrance to the Stangford Lough. The tower is a three storey building and the south and west walls have survived to there full height but the internal floors have gone and their is no access above ground level. The castle was restored in 1635 and a stone house was added onto it, which no longer survives.
http://www.portaferry.freeserve.co.uk/History.html
INCH ABBEY
Inch Abbey was set on an island surrounded by the river Quoile and marshland, which was accesed by a causeway that is now followed by the present roadway. The abbey you can see today was built in the 1180's but there was a church or monastary on the site from at least 800 A.D.
The abbey was founded by John de Courcy and was a cistercian monastary. The buildings consist of the church and associated buildings, vestry, chapter house, cloister, refectory and kitchen. Also on the site was a well, bakehouse and possibly an infirmary with an oven at one end. The boundry of the precinct is mainly intact and there was also a parish church on the outskirts for the lay folk. The graveyard as you enter the site could be where the parish church was situated but is now completely gone.
http://www.btinternet.com/~pdevlinz/InchAbbey.htm
CARRICKFERGUS CASTLE
Although not in County Down I have added Carrickfurgus as I visited it on my way from the airport.
John de Courcy built the early parts of the castle after his arrival in 1177. The keep and the courtyard it stands in are the earliest parts of the castle, which sits on a rocky promontory into the sea. The keep was positioned on top of a well which was burrowed into the rock, which was a valuable asset when the castle was under siege. The middle ward was added later and the sea tower was added to provide flanking fire. The gatehouse and outer ward was added in 1228. The castle has been in use in one form or another up until the Second World War when it was used as an air raid shelter and was placed into state care in 1928.
http://www.castlestoshamrocks.com/castles/carrickfergus.html
NENDRUM
Nendrum is on the Island of Mahee close to the shore of Strangford Lough. Originally the Island was only accessible by fords or boats. The Island takes it's name from St Mochaoi in the 5th Century but there is no evidence of monastery life on the Island untill the 7th Century when annuls start to record deaths of clergy on the site. John de Courcy established a Benedictine monastery on the site after his arrival in 1177 but it appears short lived and in 1306 only a parish church is listed on the site. At some point in the middle ages the parish church was ababdoned and the site was not re-discovered until 1844.
The monastery was made up of three enclosures. The remains of the outer cashel include a kiln and a few wall fragments and may have included guest buildings, orchards etc. The middle cashel seems to have had circular huts, which may have been workshops, and a rectangular building which iron styluses have been found. The inner cashel includes the church, round tower and graveyard. The site also has a sundial showing the main services of worship and also found on the site was an iron bell which was a symbol of an abbot. Other finds from the site include knifes, nails, broaches, pins and pottery.
http://www.theoldschoolhouseinn.com/nendrummonastery.htm
MILLIN BAY CAIRN
Millin Bay Cairn is a late neolithic burial cairn that all you can see today of it is the tops of the tallest stones as the site has been covered over to protect it. When an excavation took place in 1953 they discovered a long stone lined cist with at least 15 individuals inside. The bones had been sorted into types with skulls, long bones etc grouped together. The excavation also reported that some of the stones had been decorated with patterns. Below is a photo of the 1953 excavation.
