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Home , County Armagh, Dromintee, Newry Cathedral, Ribbonism

Beliefs and Customs through the Ages in and Mourne

Exhibition at Newry and Mourne Museum 12th September 2011 – 13th May 2012 Artist’s impression of the Cistercian abbey at Newry as it may have appeared c.1300 © Newry and Mourne Museum (artwork by Philip Armstrong) Front cover: Kilnasaggart Pillar Stone, County © Newry and Mourne Museum (photograph by Christina Joyce) Réamhrá an Mhéara Mayor’s Foreword

Ba mhaith liom an leabhrán seo a mholadh, leabhrán I would like to commend this booklet which a ghabhann le Nósanna agus Deasghnátha fríd na accompanies Beliefs and Customs through the Ages hAoiseanna i gCeantar an Iúir agus Mhúrn. Is é in Newry and Mourne, a temporary exhibition at seo taispeántas sealadach in Iarsmalann an Iúir agus Newry and Mourne Museum. Mhúrn. The exhibition provides an overview of the beliefs Tugann an taispeántas léargas de nósanna agus and associated customs in this region. Their dheasghnátha a bhaineann leis an réigiún seo. evolution over the centuries is highlighted in the Leagann an taispeántas béim ar a dteacht chun cinn display, from the Neolithic period to the present, thar na haoiseanna, ó thréimhse Neoiliteach go dtí and how these changes have shaped our lives, and an lá atá inniu ann, agus an dóigh a mhúnlaigh na our landscape. leasaithe seo saol na ndaoine agus ár dtimpeallacht. The exhibition also provides an opportunity for the Chomh maith leis sin tugann an taispeántas deis Museum to showcase the breadth of artefacts and don Iarsmalann, fairsinge déantán agus doiciméad documents relating to beliefs and customs in its ina cnuasach a bhaineann le nósanna agus le collection. deasghnátha, a nochtadh. The Museum engaged with many local churches, Chuaigh an Iarsmalann i dteagmháil le roinnt local groups and other museums who have mhaith d’eaglaisí an cheantair, grúpaí áitiúla,agus contributed loans of important material to the iarsmalanna eile a thug ábhar tábhachtach ar iasacht exhibition, which we are proud to display in the new don taispeántas atá muid thar a bheith sásta a temporary exhibition gallery. thaispeáint i ngailearaí sealadach nua. I would like to thank the staff of the Museum Ba mhaith liom mo bhuíochas a ghabháil le foireann for their work and thank all who contributed na hIarsmalainne as a gcuid oibre agus le hachan information, artefacts, and photographs to this duine a thug eolas, déantáin agus grianghrafanna exhibition. don taispeáint seo. Councillor Charlie Casey Comhairleoir Séarlaí Ó Cathasaigh Mayor, Newry and Mourne District Council Méara Chomhairle an Iúir agus Mhúrn These stories portray the legendary heroes of such Beliefs and Customs as CúChulainn, who had pagan beliefs and looked to in Prehistory druids, a priestly caste, for divination and advice. Tales such as the Táin Bó Cúailnge (Cattle Raid of Cooley), portray There has been human habitation in for 9,000 druids as sorcerers opposed to the coming of Christianity. years, but it is only from the Neolithic period (4000 – 2500 BC) that archaeologists have found some evidence The druids were also associated with the rituals that of beliefs and customs. Known as the first farmers, accompanied the four sacred festivals that demarcated the Neolithic people built megalithic tombs. seasonal changes; Imbolc, , Lughnasa and Samhain. Aspects of these festivals were later Christianised, for Excavation of these tombs provides insight into burial example the spring festival of Imbolc on the 1st and customs of the period and some archaeologists believe that 2nd of February was associated with the pagan goddess the tombs were also ritual centres celebrating solar and lunar Brigit. This became the feast day of Saint Brigid, whose events. This may be reflected by the commanding position of birthplace was Faughart near . the passage tomb on the summit of . Over millennia, a rich oral tradition developed around The evidence for beliefs and customs is richer and more prehistoric monuments. This folklore was collected varied in the Bronze Age (2000 BC -500 BC). Burial in south Armagh by T.G.F. Paterson and Michael J. customs changed, with human remains placed in a pit or Murphy, and in south Down by E. Estyn Evans and stone lined cist. Monuments of this period such as stone Michael G. Crawford, representing a vibrant legacy of circles, henges, standing stones and rock art have been the beliefs and customs of the past. interpreted as possibly having some ritual or astronomical significance.

The ritual deposition of metal objects, human remains and animal bones in lakes and rivers in the middle Bronze Age and continuing into the Iron Age, may indicate a type of water cult. These objects have been found in the King’s Stable, a man-made pool, and Loughnashade Lake, both near . It has been speculated that the origins Clontygora Court Tomb, of some of the holy wells of the Early Christian period © Newry and Mourne Museum (photograph by Christina Joyce) may date back to these water cults. Known locally as The King’s Ring, the tomb was excavated in 1937 and small fragments of bone, pottery and flint tools discovered. The King’s Ring was a grand place once, but they took stones to build the lock Navan Fort was the Emain of the on the …There’s times when there’s music in the ring. It’s quare music altogether. One minute it wud coax the heart out of ye, an’ the nixt it stories and was a major Iron Age ritual and royal centre. would frighten ye with the sorra that is in it. …’ From Country Cracks by T.G.F. Paterson (Dundalk, 1945)

Goward Portal Tomb, County Armagh © Newry and Mourne Museum (photograph by Christina Joyce) Near Hilltown, in the foothills of the Mourne Mountains. The enormous capstone of the tomb has slipped from its original position and would have roofed the rectangular chamber. Investigations in the first half of the 19th century uncovered a cremation pottery vessel and a flint arrowhead. Known as Finn McCool’s Fingerstone, local tradition recorded by E. Estyn Evans relates that Finn threw the capstone from Spelga and that he sleeps underneath. ‘Ternoc son of Ceran Bic under the patronage of Peter the The Coming of Christianity Apostle’. Little is known about how Christianity first arrived in Ireland. The first missionaries may have come from Gaul (France) in the 4th and 5th centuries but their work was superseded from the late 5th century onwards by the mission of Patrick, the son of an official in Roman Britain.

Much of the work of St. Patrick was focused on north- east Ireland and 7th century source material links him with south Down in particular. A strong local tradition Old Town Seal records St. Patrick with the planting of a yew tree ‘at the Newry and Mourne Museum Collection head of the strand’ above the Clanrye River which gave Local tradition credits St. Patrick with the planting of a yew tree ‘at the head of the strand’ above the Clanrye River which gave Newry Newry its name – Iubhair Cinn Tragh. This is mentioned its name – Iubhair Cinn Tragh. Recorded in the Annals of the Four in the Annals of the Four Masters. Masters, this may indicate St. Patrick adapting pagan tree cults to Christianity. As evergreens, yew trees symbolise the eternal cycle of life, death, transformation, regeneration and rebirth. Early Christian mission activity was probably very localised with royal patronage playing a major role. One of the most important early convents in Ulster was Scholars have suggested that place-names with established at Killevy, near Slieve Gullion, in the late domnach [donagh] may indicate early missionary centres. 5th or early 6th century by St. Moninne (also known Donaghmore, near Newry, may have been the ‘mother as Darerca, daughter of Erc). Like St. Patrick, a ‘cult’ church’ for evangelising the area known as Mágh Cobha, emerged in honour of St. Moninne from the 7th century the plain which gave its name to the Uí Echach Cobo, the onwards. A number of ‘lives’ of St. Moninne were ruling dynasty of west (west , later written and she was celebrated in two hymns composed the Diocese of Dromore). at Killevy in the 8th century. During the 6th to 8th centuries a number of other The Irish Church underwent significant reform in important ecclesiastical settlements were established the 12th century. One result of this was the introduction in the Newry and Mourne area, often under of new European monastic orders. Around this time the patronage of dynamic and well-connected th Killevy was converted to the Augustinian order and, in individuals. In the 6 century, a church was founded 1153, a Cistercian abbey was founded at Newry. A parish by St. Bronagh of Glenn Sechis at Kilbroney on the structure developed, with parish churches being built, north shore of Carlingford Lough and c.700 AD, such as the old churches at Kilkeel and Greencastle. an ecclesiastical centre was established at Kilnasaggart by Donaghmore Parish Church and High Cross, County Down © Newry and Mourne Museum (photograph by William McAlpine) The high cross, carved with images from the Old and New Testaments, dates from the 10th – 11th centuries. The present church opened in 1741 with the tower and chancel being added in 1828 and 1878 respectively. in 1660, Presbyterians and other Non-Conformists were Reformation and given greater freedom by William III. This led to the Consolidation establishment of the Synod of Ulster and the Toleration Act of 1719. Originally a theological and doctrinal challenge to the late medieval , the 16th century European The Old English and Gaelic Irish remained Catholic as Reformation soon became enmeshed in politics and they associated Protestantism with an alien government. the ambitions of secular rulers. The beginnings of the Periodic repression of Catholic worship and freedom Reformation in England and Ireland were associated with intensified after the defeat of the Catholic James II by Henry VIII’s break with the papacy in 1536. In Ireland, the Protestant William III in 1690 and the first Penal the Reformation became associated with Tudor Laws were passed in 1695. This legislation placed further expansion, particularly during the reign of Elizabeth I. limitations on Catholic freedom in religious and secular life.

The dissolution of the monasteries was the first aspect By the mid 18th century Newry had become a thriving of the Reformation to affect the Newry area. In 1542, commercial port. International contact with the outside the last abbess of the Augustinian convent at Killevy, world introduced various Protestant denominations. Alicia Negan McDonnechy O’Hanlon, withdrew with The spread of Methodism, the system of religious belief her nuns and the convent with its lands passed into promoted by John and Charles Wesley, is one example. secular control. This period also saw the dissolution of During his preaching tours of Ireland, John Wesley the Cistercian abbey at Newry and, in 1552, the abbey made sixteen visits to Newry between 1756 and 1789 and its lands were granted to Sir Nicholas Bagenal, a preaching to large congregations of Catholics and settler from Staffordshire. Bagenal was one of the New Protestants. English reformers and he saw the establishment of the Protestant religion as part of English plantation in the south Down area. In 1578 he built St. Patrick’s Parish Church in Newry, which was the first purpose-built Protestant church in Ireland.

The religious profile of Ulster, however, changed with the arrival of Scottish Presbyterians during the plantation in the early 17th century. Presbyterian congregations began to be established in Ulster from the 1640s. A Presbyterian congregation may have been established at Newry around Geneva Bible (Breeches Bible) © Newry and Mourne Museum (photograph by William McAlpine) this time under the Rev. James Simpson. Although this This was one of the most important translations of the Bible to be made growth was curtailed after the Restoration of Charles II as a result of the Protestant Reformation. This copy, printed in 1608, was presented to St. Patrick’s Parish Church in Newry by the fourth Earl of Kilmorey in October 1920. St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Church, Chapel Street, Newry © William McAlpine A Mass House was built on this site c.1730 and the oldest grave dates from 1763. The present church was built in 1789 and served as a cathedral before the present cathedral was opened in Hill Street in 1829. his congregation, withdrew from the jurisdiction of the Revival and Transformation General Synod in 1829. This led to the building of new

th Presbyterian churches throughout the district. Revival in all denominations continued in the 19 century with developments sometimes being influenced The Evangelical Revival of 1859, which started in the by political events. After the Act of Union of 1801 the parish of Connor in , is also closely political power of the was diminished associated with the Presbyterian community in Ulster. in a series of reforms as its privileged position was resented These developments led to a revival in personal faith, and by other denominations. The 1861 Irish Census had the establishment of Sunday Schools and support for the revealed that 4.5 million people were Catholic, 700,000 temperance movement. were Church of Ireland, while 550,000 belonged to other denominations, mostly Presbyterian. Temperance, the control of alcoholic The Irish Church Act of 1869 placed consumption, was promoted by all all denominations on the same denominations in Ireland. One of the standing. best known figures associated with this movement was Father Theobald The Catholic Relief Acts of the th Mathew who visited Newry in last quarter of the 18 century had August 1840 where he addressed a repealed most of the penal laws gathering in Hyde Market. against Catholics, but still excluded election to Parliament and to major During the 20th century Protestantism office. This barrier was lifted with the experienced a growth in evangelical Catholic Emancipation Act of 1829 denominations, particularly in the and ushered in a new confidence, post-war period. Fundamental which was locally reflected by the changes in Catholic worship were opening of churches and convents. In ushered in by the Second Vatican Newry the Cathedral of St. Patrick Council (1962 – 1965) including the end of the Latin and St. Colman was opened in 1829, followed by Saint Mass and change in layout of the altar. Clare’s Convent in High Street in 1830.

European integration in the latter half of the 20th century Changes in the wider Presbyterian Church impacted on facilitated the migration of people from other countries, the Newry congregation during the ministry of the Rev. who have settled in this region. Some of them have . Differences in aspects of doctrine between different beliefs systems, which has contributed to a more conservative and liberal elements led to division. Mitchel multicultural society. was a supporter of the liberal Presbyterian view and, with Taylor’s Illustrated Manuscript Bible © Newry and Mourne Museum (photograph by William McAlpine) Inspired by the Evangelical Revival, James Taylor took one year and seven months to make this copy of the King James Version of the Bible. Nuala Maguire Contributors Nuala is an Objects Conservator who qualified A number of people have been invited to contribute from Cardiff University in 1998 with a degree in articles to this booklet to provide a deeper insight to Archaeological Conservation. She has been freelance topics and processes involved in this exhibition. since 2008 and has worked with a range of national and The contributors are: local museums. She is also a qualified designer and keen seamstress with an interest in other textile crafts. Christina Joyce Christina is a visual artist and teacher, who lives in the Mournes. She has a Masters Degree from the National College of Art & Design, . During her MA in Art in the Digital World, she examined the symbolism of religious statues of the 1950s. She is interested in storytelling, folklore, nature, and social history among many other things.

Kevin Murphy Kevin is a native of south Armagh and was a teacher of English and Politics for thirty-six years. He has co- authored the books Kick Any Stone and A Famine Link - The Hannah. He has researched a number of topics and is best known for his work on Michael J. Murphy, , Townlands, the 1798 Rebellion and the Famine.

Sean Madden Sean is a conservator of works of art and archive on paper. He qualified in 1995 from the University of Northumberland (Newcastle upon Tyne) with a MA degree in Conservation of Works of Art and Archive Postcards showing churches in Kilkeel, County Down, in the first on Paper. In 1998 he established a full-time private th half of the 20 century conservation business. He has been the paper conservator From The Hugh Irvine Collection at Newry and Mourne Museum for Special Collections at University of Sheffield since 1996. Gospel Hall, Glennane, County Armagh © Michael O’Connell Gospel halls have been a feature of the Ulster countryside for many John Wesley’s Pulpit, Old Meeting House Green, Newry years. This example was built in 1923 using corrugated iron. Biblical © The National Library of Ireland texts are displayed on the porch. It was demolished and a new gospel Local tradition records that John Wesley used this pulpit, (which still hall erected on the site in 2001. survived in the ruins of the First Presbyterian Church in the late 19th century), during his visits to Newry in the 18th century. The church on the Old Meeting House Green was built in 1722 after Presbyterian worship was legalised by the Toleration Act in 1719.

St Malachy’s Roman Catholic Church, , County Armagh. © Newry and Mourne Museum (photograph by William McAlpine) Built in 1816, this is an example of a pre-Emancipation chapel. Like Non-Subscribing Presbyterian Church, John Mitchel Place, Newry many Catholic churches of this period, it has a T-plan with internal © William McAlpine galleries, which are approached from the outside. The architecture is Built as a result of the split in the Presbyterian Church in Newry after Gothic in style. the Second Non-Subscription Controversy. The Meeting House in High Street continued to be used by the Non-Subscribing congregation. Subsequently a new site was obtained in Needham Place (later John Mitchel Place) and the present church erected to the design of the architect, W.J. Barre, in 1853. the full moon at Ballymacdermott Court Tomb, modern A Photographic Pilgrimage life seems to dissolve into mist. Christina Joyce A vibrant holly tree has brightened a sombre Commissioned by Newry and Mourne Museum in summer cemetery for two hundred years or more. Like many 2010, Christina spent six months photographing subjects indigenous species, holly’s associations in folklore and associated with beliefs and customs in south Down and south history links us to the distant past. A Rag Tree at St Armagh. Moninne’s Well, preserves a timeless tradition of prayer. A lone Haw at Ballykeel Dolmen seems ineffably rooted The Newry and Mourne area has a high concentration of in the history of the site. historical sites across a landscape dominated by uplands. Finding sites and photographing them opened my eyes I was privileged to be able to photograph Irish to the wealth of history on my doorstep. Increasingly, Wolfhounds. Watching the lithe hounds at Annaghmare, the pilgrims whose footsteps I followed became real to it seemed that their warrior owners were not far away. me. I hope that my photographs inspire a similar response I read accounts of local saints I had never heard of, St in the viewer. The following meditations are shared with Thuan, St Domangard, St Tighernach, St Moninne, and this intention. St Mahula, influential members of their society who caused me to re-imagine this landscape. Time stands still on mountain tops. They are more resistant to human activity. Standing at the mouth of My journey started at a forgotten court tomb near my Beara’s House and surveying the Ring of home. I wondered about the nameless person buried there Gullion and beyond, one is transported back in time and was impelled to find out more. My photographs aim 4,000 years to the Neolithic people who built this tomb, to stimulate curiosity about the past. The more I scratch or to 1789 when locals disturbed the chamber searching the surface, the more I realise what lies beneath and the for a witch. more admiration I feel for our predecessors.

To pause at the cairn on Knockshee, between the High Mournes and Carlingford Lough, and to breathe the heathery-salty breeze, is to feel reverence for the dignitary who rests here.

Kilbroney small cross has endured centuries of weather. Lamplight reveals its endearing face, demonstrating the sculptor’s playful artistry. At dawn, at dusk or by moonlight many sites have an ethereal presence. Viewing A Rag Tree at St Moninne’s Well, near Killevy Churches, County Armagh © Newry and Mourne Museum (photograph Christina Joyce) Rag trees are often associated with holy wells which have ‘cures’ for ailments. A nearby tree or bush would often be festooned with rags, Rosary Beads and other religious tokens, perpetuating prayer.

View from Slieve Gullion Passage Tomb (South Cairn), County Armagh © Newry and Mourne Museum (photograph Christina Joyce) Locally known as Calliagh Berra’s House, Calliagh Berra was a mythical old hag or witch and local folklore relates her adventures with Finn McCool. “Do ye know her house on the mountain an’ the lake beside it. Shure it was into that very lake she coaxed fool Finn. An’ in he went fresh an’ youthful an’ out he come a done oul’ man.” T.G.F. Paterson, Armagh Miscellanea Vol. XII. and part-time collector of folklore for most of the 1940s. Michael J. Murphy - In 1949 he became a full-time collector and moved with ‘The Last Druid of Sliabh his wife Alice and young family to Glenhull, Co. Tyrone. Further work for the Folklore Commission brought him Gullion’ [Benedict Kiely] to the Glens of Antrim, Rathlin Island, the Mournes, Kevin Murphy , Fermanagh, Louth, and back to south Armagh. Michael J. Murphy, writer and folklorist, was born in Eden Street, Liverpool, in June 1913. Both of his parents He compiled, until his retirement in 1983, what is were from the parish of , south Armagh, and probably the largest collection of oral tradition by a when he was nine years old the family returned home. single individual in the English-speaking world. These one hundred and fifty volumes are in University College, He attended the local national school until he was Dublin. Each volume has between three hundred and thirteen years old and he then went to work as a half-a- fifty and seven hundred pages. He kept a journal to crown-a-day labourer with neighbouring farmers. accompany the material and compiled an invaluable glossary of Anglo-Irish speech. Michael’s father, also Michael, and his mother Mary Campbell, were accomplished storytellers. Michael Michael was also an accomplished creative writer and senior, a seaman, was a friend of both James Connolly and social commentator. He wrote six plays; a collection Jim Larkin and was a strong socialist and republican. So it of prose poems; a large number of social and political was no accident that the young farm labourer developed articles and more than fifty short stories. an interest in folklore, customs, the plight of the rural poor and the political problems of a divided country. He died at Walterstown, Castlebellingham, County Living in the shadow of Sliabh Gullion gave him an Louth, on May 18th 1996 and is buried, along with Alice, appreciation of landscape and of the mystic quality of his in Darver cemetery. environment.

He began in the early 1930s collecting stories from the people around Dromintee, writing articles and short stories for newspapers and magazines, doing broadcasts for Radio Eireann and the BBC. When his first book At Slieve Gullion’s Foot was published by Harry Tempest of Dun Dealgan Press in 1941 he joined the Folklore Commission in Dublin as a part-time collector. He continued to work as a farm labourer, freelance writer Michael J. Murphy with his wife Alice and sons Patrick and Michael Jnr. c.1949 © Department of Irish Folklore, University College Dublin Each drawing was surface cleaned to remove loose surface Conservation treatment dirt and mould spores. Old cello-tape and adhesive drawings of St Mary’s residues used to carry out repairs were removed using a Sean Madden scalpel and localised heat treatment. Several oxidising metal particles were located in the paper Sean was commissioned by Newry and Mourne Museum in fibre of the drawings using ultra violet light, these were 2010, with grant aid from the Museums removed under magnification using a tungsten needle. Council, to conserve and prepare for exhibition a series of fire damaged drawings of St. Mary’s parish church in Newry. All of the drawings were flattened by being pressed These are from the Reside Collection. between archival blotting paper under weighted perspex for eight weeks. This treatment removed The drawings consisted of charred fragments of original the ‘memory’ of being rolled. Old tears and ink and water colour plans on tracing paper. The plans structural damages were repaired using Japanese paper had been damaged by fire in the 1950s and then had been (Kizuki -shi) and non-aqueous Klucel G adhesive. rolled for storage.

Each drawing was then attached by it’s edges only, to Once the drawings had been unrolled they were found a Japanese paper backing. This held the drawings flat to be many fragments which had become very dry and and prevented the drawings from recoiling, allowing brittle. They comprised seven incomplete drawings, mounting onto conservation board. Only the Japanese all severely damaged. The fire had caused significant backing paper was adhered to the board while the loss, scorching, and dehydration to the paper fibre, drawings hung free. Michaelexacerbating J. Murphy the (1913 already – 1996) weakened paper structure. Poor storage© The Arts and Council handling of Northern over theIreland years had caused a heavy The drawings were then mounted with conservation card build up of surface dirt and mould spores. Insects, water window mount and sealed into new oak frames. and old repairs (including the use of cello-tape) had also damaged the drawings. I found the conservation of these drawings a rewarding challenge. I had to use well tried techniques as well as After a full conservation survey of the drawings the innovating new procedures due to the fragile state of conservation treatment commenced with the aim of the drawings and the complexity of the damage from a preserving the drawings, carrying out restoration where number of sources. ethically appropriate, and mounting and framing the drawings for exhibition. I am proud with the finished result as it signifies what conservation of historic artefacts should be, preserving the past for the future. Drawings of St. Mary’s Parish Church after conservation These drawings date c.1900 and are from the Reside Collection

Interior of St. Mary’s Parish Church, Newry © William McAlpine Building of St. Mary’s Parish Church commenced in 1810 to a design by Patrick O’ Farrell under the supervision of the architect, Thomas Duff. The church was consecrated on th25 August 1819. Conserving textile and other items for Beliefs and Customs Exhibition Nuala Maguire

Nuala was commissioned by Newry and Mourne Museum in 2011, with grant aid from the Northern Ireland Museums Model of the Cathedral of St. Patrick and St. Colman, Newry Council, to conserve and prepare a range of items for display © Newry and Mourne Museum (photograph by William McAlpine) in this exhibition. The model was made by the Toman brothers who lived in Francis Street, Newry. It depicts the cathedral as it appeared at the turn of the 20th century, before the transepts, bell tower and sanctuary were added. The A number of textile items were conserved including a model is very detailed, and the interior includes the altar, rows of seats and pillars. 1930s First Communion dress, an 1880s sampler and christening robes. Wedding dress The dress was cleaned using a museum vacuum which Marble model of Newry Cathedral has a much lower suction than domestic vacuum cleaners. Different kinds of plaster and glue on the surface of the A soft brush was used to loosen dirt from the surface. model showed it had been repaired several times in its Dirt particles can be sharp and can cut through delicate history. These were removed by using small tools to lift fabrics. the residues without scratching the marble. Solvents were used to remove old yellowed glues and pieces which had Areas where the silk was torn or lost were supported using become separate were reattached using a conservation fine silk netting and thread, as this supports the weight adhesive. of the tear and prevents further damage to weak areas. A loose silk decoration to the waist area was reattached to The missing areas were filled in, then painted totone the dress to prevent loss. in with the colour of the marble. Wax was applied to the surface to seal and improve the appearance of old The dress has been mounted on a mannequin, (the scratches. The wooden base had several large scratches mannequin used is child size) this gives you an idea of and areas of loss. These were sealed and again painted to how people’s shape has changed over time. Polyester tone in with the main colour of the base. wadding was used to build up the chest and hips of the torso whilst leaving a small waist, this would have been achieved by the owner wearing a corset. Wedding dress © Newry and Mourne Museum (photograph by William McAlpine) Purchased in 1914 in Fosters drapery store, Newry, the silk and lace wedding dress has a matching pair of silk shoes. It belonged to Ella McGaffin who became Mrs Poland.

Photograph of Patricia McArdle wearing her First Communion dress mid 1930s © Newry and Mourne Museum This dress was also worn by Patricia’s sisters. It has been conserved for this exhibition. Thanks to all those who contributed to the exhibition Acknowledgements through donations, loans or expertise, including:

Thanks are due to the staff of Newry and Mourne • Irwin Major and St Patrick’s Church of Ireland Museum for their assistance in this booklet: • Fr. Gerard Fearon and Fr. Noel McKeown, St Catherine’s, Dominican Church Joanne Cummins • Christina Joyce Emma Farrell • Jack Gamble Conor Keenan • Justyna McCabe Shane McGivern • Fr. Stanislaw Hajkowski Maureen O’Connell-Fitzpatrick • Sean Madden Frances Potts • Kevin Murphy • Margaret McGaffin We are grateful to Christina Joyce, Kevin Murphy, Sean • Greer Ramsey and Sean Bardon, Armagh Madden and Nuala Maguire for contributing articles to County Museum this booklet. • Nuala Maguire. • Michael O’Connell Thanks also to Northern Ireland Museums Council for • Fr. Hackett, Kilbroney grant aid to conserve items in this exhibition. • Cathy Brooks • Seamus Mac Dhaibheid • Ursula Mhic An tSaor • Michelle Boyle • Andrew Kernaghan • Sister Perpetua, Sisters of Mercy Convent, Newry • Phillip Armstrong • National Museums Northern Ireland

Text by Noreen Cunningham, Dr. Ken Abraham and Declan Carroll Salvation Army Citadel, Trevor Hill, Newry © William McAlpine Formerly known as the Ebenezer Chapel, it was erected in 1816 as a meeting house for Congregationalists. There was originally a school at the rear of the building. The Salvation Army moved into the chapel in 1908.

Poster advertising a visit to the Town Hall in Newry by Ballymacarrett No. 1 Salvation Army Band in 1923 © Newry and Mourne Museum (photograph by William McAlpine) This band had just returned from performing at the London Festivals at the Alexandra Palace and Albert Hall. Picture of Emmanuel Chapel Convent of Mercy, Newry © Sisters of Mercy, Newry The Emmanuel Chapel in the Covent in Catherine Street is named in the honour Sarah Russell later Sister Emmanuel, sister of Lord Russell of Killowen. She was elected Superior of the Convent of Mercy in 1870. The chapel was designed by John Brown and built by Denis Neary, both from Newry and opened in 1901.

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