History of the Upper Ards - UAHS 1

8/11/2019 History of the Upper Ards - UAHS 1

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)rone and traded with :reat ritain. "oards of )rone im%lements ha#e )een found at :lastry and at


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!hristian martyrs in Ireland and, as in the rest of the !eltic fringe of 'uro%e each area had its ownhermit who was a !hristian saint. St. !oey li#ed in the %%er &rds where the ancient church ofTem%lecoey and St. !oey$s


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the =ing of 'ngland and set u% a colony in an area around -u)lin called the 8ale. &s a reward,-ermott ga#e his daughter &oife in marriage to Strong)ow. "owe#er, the &nglo2orman con4uest inIreland was #ery incom%lete.

/ne young 2orman =night, Sir ohn de !ourcy, saw the o%%ortunity to car#e out a semiautonomousearldom for himself. "e set out in Fe)ruary 1177 to march north with ** knights and *00 men atarms and succeeded in ca%turing the counties of -own and &ntrim. "e set u% his head4uarters at

-own%atrick and )uilt the castle of -undrum. &t this time the =ingdom of -al Fiatach was wellorganised with a strong church organisation. So de !ourcy$s strategy was well researched and wellthought out.


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y 1300 the old !eltic cattleowning Irish aristocracy dwelling in raths had disa%%eared and )eenre%laced )y an Irish'nglish aristocracy who )uilt the first stone tower houses. 'am%les of earlytower houses are &udley$s !astle, Strangford !astle and the three in &rdglass, which were )uilt from13001350. The tower houses in the &rds came rather later. The ordinary %eo%le still li#ed on in theirhouse clusters and tilled the land under the old o%enfield ;undale system. The land lay around thehouse cluster and was di#ided u% into stri%s with an earth )ank )etween. 'ach %erson$s %lot werescattered all o#er the fields and the whole system was agriculturally inefficient. The %eo%le li#ing in

the clusters of houses were often related and the land was often held in (oint tenure. The houseclusters were known as townshi%s or allys and the land around it was the town$s land or townland."ence the names of many of our townlands )eginning with ally, showing Irish influence or endingwith town showing 'nglish influence. This system of land tenure gradually died out )ut it lasted longerin the %%er &rds. & close look at :riffith$s Ealuation of the early 1C>0$s will re#eal (oint tenures e#enat that late stage. 'am%les of these are 2ewcastle, !alhame, 8orta#ogie and =earney.

The Sa#ages held their territory in ecale until 1530 )ut they were )eing ousted )y the agennises, anati#e Irish tri)e. It was at that time that ;oland Sa#age )uilt 8ortaferry !astle as a defence againstin#asion from the ough. It is regarded as ha#ing )een )uilt around 157. The em)rasures at the to%of the )uilding were designed for the use of guns, gun%owder ha#ing first )een used in 1377. Theorigin of 8ortaferry can also )e dated from around 157.

In an attempt to regain his (ecale territory% )oland &a'age brought in mercenary soldiers

from &outh *est &cotland" )oland failed to regain (ecale but the &cots stayed% settling in atriangle from the &alt *ater Bridge to +orta'ogie and to ,ust south of Cloghey" They were afishing community who mo'ed bac- and forward between here and &cotland" Theytherefore remained semi.&cottish" The accent of these people is different from that of later&cottish settlers" /(inney 000

y this time there were two main )ranches of the Sa#ages, one at 8ortaferry and the original line at&rdkeen. It was in 132 that the +ortaferry line became the main branch of the family"

The Smith Settlement

-uring the time of 'lia)eth I @155C1>0A the /$2eills of South !lanna)oye owned a large %art of theower &rds and 2orth -own. They )itterly o%%osed 'nglish rule in Ireland and were also )itterenemies of the Sa#ages. 6ueen 'lia)eth decided to settle the &rds with 'nglish %eo%le. & sur#ey

showed the area to )e the most fertile %art of lster. So she sold it to her Secretary Sir Thomas Smithfor H10,000. Smith$s son came to claim the territory accom%anied )y a %arty of settlers and C00soldiers. "e was to lea#e the Sa#age territory in the %%er &rds alone as the Sa#ages had agreed togo along with 'lia)eth$s %lans. Sir Thomas sent a friendly letter to the owner of most of the territory,Sir rian c8helim /$2eill, )ut rian e%lained that he had )urnt the letter, (ust as he would )urnanything Sir Thomas attem%ted to %ut in the &rds.

Smith mo#ed to 2ewtownards )ut he and his %eo%le were so harassed )y the /$2eills and othergrou%s that they had to mo#e to ;inghaddy where he made his last stand. "e lost the )attle and hehimself was killed. & few of his followers fled to the %%er &rds where they were looked after )y theSa#ages who ga#e them land on which to )uild a house. This was 6uinton !astle. The central core ofthe %resent castle is the original tower house )uilt )y the Smiths. It would ha#e )een similar to thecastle at 8ortaferry. The )uilding was added to in Eictorian times when the little #illage of allymartyrwas demolished to make room for the im%ro#ements. ost of the Smyths of the %%er &rds are

descendants of the 'lia)ethan settlers. /Castles 4uinton Castle . Built by 5ohn de Courcy in1167. as part of his defences against nati'e attac-" 4uinton Castle was later held by the&a'ages and their dependants the &myths"

In order to %re#ent an army con#erting the old monasteries into garrisons, the /$2eills ado%ted ascorched earth %olicy. They )urned the monasteries of 2ewtown, o#illa, angor and "olywood.They )urned the &rds from elfast to &rdkeen including :reya))ey and all the #illages. 2owhere werethere more than three houses left standing together. Thus there was as chaos in the ower &rds whilethe %%er &rds remained in com%arati#e %eace.


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The Plantation Of Ulster

6ueen 'lia)eth died in 1>0 and was succeeded )y ames EI of Scotland who then )ecame ames Iof 'ngland. In order to settle the unruly lster %eo%le he organised for settlers to )e )rought in fromScotland and 'ngland D the 8lantation of lster. This took %lace in the counties west of the ann. &tthe same time, Sir ams "amilton and Sir "ugh ontgomery, two Scotsmen from :alloway managedto trick !on /$2eill out of his territory in the &rds and 2orth -own. They s%lit the territory )etween

them. "amilton ac4uired =illyleagh, angor, "olywood, -undonald and allywalter while ontgomerygot the %arishes of -onaghadee, :reya))ey @which included =ircu))inA, 2ewtownards and !om)er.

The first thing Sir "ugh ontgomery did was to organise the charter for a market in 2ewtownards.This %aid him well as he recei#ed a toll for e#erything sold there. The market s4uare was in the areaaround the /ld !ross where, )y Scottish tradition, any )argain struck within its shadow was )inding inlaw.

In 1>*3 ane, daughter of Sir "ugh ontgomery married 8atrick Sa#age of 8ortaferry. Theontgomery SS, written a)out the year 1700 descri)es 8ortaferry at that time as )eing only a fewmudwalled fishermen$s ca)ins clustered around the castle, which was in a )ad state of re%air. ane$s)rother, Sir ames ontgomery undertook to reorganise 8atrick Sa#age$s affairs. "e sent the ha%%ycou%le for a long holiday to the isle of man while he had the castle re%aired. "e reorganised the8ortaferry estate )y releasing the land to his tenants. 30. It is aty%ical Scots )awn with a tower house in the centre guarded )y a curtain wall and flanker towers andis one of the finest eam%les of a defended house in the 2orth of Ireland. &t that time it wase%ected that the nati#e %o%ulation would rise in re#olt against the settlers. Therefore su)sidies weregi#en )y the go#ernment for the erection of defended houses. Innishargy "ouse and the


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the chief em%loyment was farming, mainly graingrowing and %otatoes. &round the coast there weremany little fishing communities and kel% was )urnt.

In the late 1Cth !entury the landlord ames ailie )uilt the town of =ircu))in. "e selected the site onthe )asis of dee% water for a har)our. In 17C> he sold the land to ;o)ert


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was always a feature of the life in &rds. The greatest %eriod of emigration was of course in the yearsfollowing the famine. 'migrant shi%s sailed from elfast, -erry and e#en 8ortaferry. ost went to&merica )ut many also set sail for &ustralia, !anada and 2ew Jealand. 8ortaferry 8res)yteriancongregation, for eam%le, lost 17* of its mem)ers in the ten years after the famine, a loss which hada de#astating effect on those left )ehind.

Con&l"sion

The aim has )een to gi#e a )rief run down on the history of the &rds in the ho%e that it can )e used asa starting %oint for further studies. There are so #ery many as%ects of history within the %%er &rdsthat would im%ossi)le to gi#e them all in detail.

This document was typed in September 2003 by Mrs. Amy Anderson, President of the Upper ArdsHistorica Society.

Documents

History of the Upper Ards - UAHS 1