Killyleagh Heritage Trail

Killyleagh Harbour

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Being on the Western side of Strangford Lough, the harbour is well sheltered. The present quay and basin were completed in 1833 at the expense of over £1000 and paid for by Lord Dufferin. In the 19th centuries, trade consisted of the exportation of wheat, barley, oats, potatoes, kelp and cotton goods and the importation of cotton, wool, coal, iron, salt and general merchandise. Some coal was still being brought in through the harbour up to the 1980s.

First Killyleagh Presbyterian Church

Follow the pathway which will bring you to Seaview directly opposite Irish Street. About half way up Irish Street you will come across the Roman Catholic Church.

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St Mary’s, Star of the Sea There was no Roman Catholic Church in Killyleagh until 1861 when the building you see to the rear was opened. When the congregation expanded in the 1970s the old church was converted to a Parish Hall and the current church opened in 1975.

Continuing up Irish street you pass the former Teacher’s Residence and National School built in the 1880s by the Reverend Robert Gault, first minister of Second Killyleagh Presbyterian Church.

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From Catherine Street turn left into Plantation Street and on the left at the corner is First Killyleagh Presbyterian Church.

Second Killyleagh Presbyterian Church The church is at the top of Irish Street on the corner with Catherine Street formerly known as Cow Street (as cows passed along here on their way to and from the Commons pasture ground). It was built in 1840 on ‘the waste ground in Cow Street’. Other ministers were Reverend Doctor Alexander McCreery, author of an important historical book, ‘The Presbyterian Ministers of Killyleagh,’ and the Reverend Clifford Boggs. They each gave 60 years of service to the congregation.

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First Killyleagh Presbyterian Church The church stands on ground donated by Lady Clanbrassal of Killyleagh Castle in 1669 and is the third church building on this site.

It was built in 1826 at a cost of £2000 and was designed by the then minister Dr Henry Cooke. Dr Cooke was a renowned theologian and was regarded as the most influential Irish Presbyterian minister of his age. He later became minister of May Street church in Belfast and his statue stands facing down Donegall Place in the city.

Turn right and walk up Castle Lane. The large wall on the left once contained the orchard and garden to the castle. At the top of the hill you are back at the castle and the end of the trail.

Killyleagh and District Family History Society promotes and encourages the study of family history and local history with particular reference to Killyleagh and the surrounding area. Killyleagh Heritage Trail has been designed and produced to mark the 30th anniversary of the society and the 400th anniversary of the granting of a Royal Charter to the town by King James 1. We hope walkers will be inspired to explore further and they are welcome to visit the North of Ireland Family History Society website www.nifhs.org to make contact with other Family History societies.

Killyleagh Harbour

Ards Visitor Information Centre 31 Regent Street Newtownards BT23 4AD 028 9182 6846 Open year round Downpatrick Visitor Information Centre The Saint Patrick Centre 53a Market Street, Downpatrick Co Down BT30 6LZ 028 4461 2233 Open year round Portaferry Visitor Information & Visitor Centre The Stables Castle Street Portaferry BT22 1NZ 028 4272 9882 Open Easter- end of August

Killyleagh Castle

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Killyleagh Heritage Trail visitstrangfordlough.co.uk

This project is part-financed by the European Union’s INTERREG IVA Cross-border Programme managed by the Special EU Programmes Body

Killyleagh Heritage Trail

Killyleagh and District Family History Society Marking the 400 year anniversary of the granting of a Royal Charter by King James 1 to Killyleagh, this trail takes the visitor round some of the places of historical interest.

It gives just a tiny flavour of the people and happenings in and around the town throughout the contraries. We hope it encourages you to explore further.

Map

Mary’s Stile

St John’s Church

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Heritage Trail From the castle, go through the archway to the right and down the road in the direction of Shrigley. Follow the line of the lime trees to the end and cross the road to the footpath on the other side. Continue down the hill until you reach a footpath on the right signposted to Mary’s Stile. Walk until you come to the bridge and then turn left through the kissing gate and follow the grass path to Mary’s Stile and the remains of old Killowen Church and graveyard.

Killyleagh is a model plantation town which was laid out in the early 16th century. By the 1800s it had become an important industrial town.

Mary’s Stile, Killowen (old) Church & Graveyard

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Killyleagh Castle - The site of the castle and great round tower date back to 1180 when John de Courcy invaded Ulster. It was one of a series of defences round Strangford Lough built to repel the Vikings. The castle came into the ownership of the Hamilton family in 1604 when James, son of an Ayrshire vicar, was given an area of land, stretching from Killyleagh to Bangor, by King James. In 1613 the town of Killyleagh was given a Royal Charter by James 1 granting it borough status. This meant that the people of the town could elect a Provost and twelve burgesses who could then elect two members to sit in the Irish Parliament in Dublin.

Retrace your steps back to Killyleagh Castle and make your way down to the bottom of High Street. Cross the road and notice the stone bench marking the crossroads at the corner of Cross Street and Shore Street.

Turn left on to Cross Street and then right up Church Hill. On the left you pass the gate of Church Hill House. Between the trees there is a blue plaque commemorating the orientialist Edward Hincks.

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Map by Joanna Martin www.curlewcottagedesign.co.uk

Killyleagh Castle

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St John’s Church Built and consecrated in 1640 after the old Killowen Church had fallen in to disrepair, the building is more substantial than that found in many towns of similar size.

Another famous person with links to the Church and Killyleagh was Henry Blackwood.

Vice Admiral Sir Henry Blackwood was the fourth son of Sir John Blackwood of Ballyleidy (later Clandeyboye). He entered the Royal Navy at the age of ten and led a very distinguished career. He was in command of the HMS Euryalus at the Battle of Trafalgar being held in high regard by Lord Nelson. Later he was nominated KCB (Order of the Bath – Knight Commander), made Commander-in-Chief in the East Indies and then Vice Admiral and Commander-in-Chief at the Nore.

This is the site of a very ancient church and graveyard dating back to medieval times. The oldest headstone in the graveyard is a memorial to the Scottish Stewart family of 1628 - 1801. The name, ‘Killowen,’ means ‘Church in the Hollow’. At the time of the Irish famine it was the setting for Lady Helen Dufferin’s ‘Lament of the Irish Emigrant’, which gives the name to Mary’s Stile.

Killyleagh Castle

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The complete trail is approximately 3 miles long beginning and ending at the castle. If you wish to shorten your walk to approximately 1.5 miles you can omit No 2, Mary’s Stile and Killowen (old) Church and graveyard, and go directly from No 1, Killyleagh Castle, to No 3, Church Hill House. A short part of the way to Mary’s Stile is on a grassy path and the rest of the walk is on footpaths. There are places to eat and drink in High Street and Catherine Street as well as shops selling art and craft goods.

Take the path beside the wall of the graveyard which goes down the hill to Shore Street. Then turn left past the former Methodist church till you come to Hans Sloan Square (on your right). The statue there was erected by the people of Killyleagh in 2002 to mark the millennium. The Square is built on the site of the old dock and former coal yard.

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Sir Hans Sloane Statue

This was formerly the rectory of St John’s Church and was the home of Edward Hincks, Rector of Killyleagh from 1825 to 1866.

He was greatly interested in old languages and became an expert in deciphering ancient Egyptian and Arabic writing, opening up a treasure of hieroglyphic material for modern reading. Hincks never travelled outside the United Kingdom but had casts brought by land and sea for him to decipher. He is buried in the church graveyard.

Hans Sloane was born in 1660 in humble surroundings in Frederick Street, he went to the school funded and supported by the Hamiltons. He became very interested in natural history and in later life recalled early lessons on the shores of Strangford Lough where his first botanical specimens were gathered. He became a doctor and physician to the Royal family, friend to the famous and rich and the inventor of milk chocolate. After his death he gifted his collection of plants and specimens to the nation and this became the core of the British Museum in London and later the Natural History Museum.

Killyleagh Church of Ireland (St John’s Church) is straight ahead.

Past the statue take the next right hand turn from Bridge Street in to the remaining harbour area.

Church Hill House