This tour is designed to take the visitor on a short journey through a beautiful landscape. It focuses on three elements: the town of , the River Bann, and the Plantation. Some background information will not only help you understand what you are looking at in terms of the physical geography, but also the contemporary history and society of the area.

Contents

03 The River Bann 07-20 Historical Touring Route

04 The Ulster Plantation 08 Tour Map 14 Somerset, Mountsandel, The Cutts 18

05 The London Companies 09 Tour Map - Coleraine on Foot 15 The Cutts, Celtic Cross 19 Portna, St Patrick’s

06 The London Companies 10-13 Coleraine on Foot 16 Movanagher Bawn 20 Historical Touring Route

The River Bann

The river Bann takes its name from the Irish for ‘goddess’ feet in height from to the sea. and gravel hills and ridges with distinctive well-wooded in a complex eco-system before farming practices and is the largest river in Northern . It is divided The estuary is an important habitat for birds - about slopes. From the Vow to Ballylagan, downstream from became the human norm. When the river was dredged into an Upper part (fl owing into Lough Neagh) and a 4,000 wintering waders and wildfowl feed on the Drumaheglis, the valley fl oor widens and fl attens - in the 1930s, so many stone tools were found that one Lower part (from Lough Neagh to the sea). The Lower mudfl ats and roost on the shore - and there is a hide for this was the site of a lake where the confl uence of the type was even classifi ed as a ‘Bann fl ake’. Bann drains 38% of the country’s land area - about 250 bird watching located at the railway crossing. Equally Agivey, , Macosquin and Ballymoney rivers square miles. It has fi ve major tributaries; the Clady, as important are large numbers of birds that pass over came together. The earliest fi sh weir found in Ireland comes from the Agivey, Aghadowey and Macosquin Rivers rising in the estuary on their way from the northern territories river near Lough Neagh. As well as providing food, the the west and the Ballymoney River in the east. towards the south, as far as mainland Europe. The From Ballylagan to Coleraine town the valley narrows, river acted as a highway - an easy route into the land’s dunes at and Grangemouth are National and the steep wooded sides become very different from interior for early man, the Vikings, the Normans and The Lower Bann River leaves Lough Neagh at , Trust nature reserves, while the Bann Estuary is an the valley upstream. From Coleraine to the sea the river the later settlers. This role was revived in the middle of entering the sea forty miles to the north between Area of Special Scientifi c Interest and is a proposed is tidal. Downstream from the town there are extensive the nineteenth century and, even today, steps are taken Portstewart and . In the context of Ireland Special Area of Conservation. sand dunes on both banks, where the estuary widens. to make sure it remains navigable, more for pleasure it is a relatively large river - about 75 yards wide along The river Bann is hugely important in the history of than for commerce. Crossing points are limited and most of its length, becoming wider at the Estuary. The From to an area called the Vow, downstream the region. The earliest evidence of human habitation the modern road follows alongside the river. fl ow of the river is quite slow, dropping only about forty from Movanagher, there are steep sided glacial sand in Ireland came from its banks; where early man existed

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The Ulster Plantation

Plantations were a common feature of English rule in which led to the ruin of many Gaelic leaders of Ireland This was a period of colonisation - English settlement happens schemes that looked wonderful on paper when Ireland from the sixteenth century onwards. When the and involved the English crown in vast expense, but in Virginia happened almost exactly at the same time read in London, did not work out in practice. Even land was confi scated, usually as a result of uprisings, for the fi rst time brought the whole country under its and there were almost exact similarities in terms of without subsequent historical complications, inter- the chance to settle loyal subjects from elsewhere was control. The sea change was completed by the Flight attitudes to the natives. The aims were profi t: spreading marriage, waves of inward and outward migration, an attractive opportunity. After the Reformation, of the Earls in 1607, when the cream of the Irish ‘civilisation’ and security through control. The Ulster wars and famines, and the cultural and ethnic landscape when the Crown was Protestant but the majority of the aristocracy left for Europe, sealed by the rebellion Plantation started with a private enterprise in Down was complex - something which can still confuse the population was Catholic, there was a fear that Ireland of Sir Cahir O’Doherty. and Antrim followed by offi cial schemes which used visitor today. The majority of urban settlements in could become the back door for foreign invasion, ‘undertakers’ - sub-contractors who guaranteed to Co. Londonderry however, date from the Plantation especially for the Spanish. This actually happened Combined with property seized from the Catholic provide a certain number of settlers under agreed and local surnames divide between Irish, English in 1601. Church during the Reformation - almost 20% of land conditions - and grants of land to crown employees. and Scottish. area in the north - the crown found itself with a huge It was intended that, where possible, the native Irish Much of Ireland, but especially the north, was land bank especially in Ulster, which had remained people should be removed from the land and replaced devastated during the Nine Years War of 1593-1603, the most Gaelic part of the island. with English or lowland Scots - Protestants. As often

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The London Companies

During the Middle Ages trades and professions in The London Companies were no more enthusiastic Getting these huge areas of land in what was renamed Scottish settlers, have a fortifi ed administrative centre, the City of London organised themselves into guilds. than anyone else about investing in the area - seeing ‘’ might have seemed like a good build planned villages with Engish-type two storey By the early seventeenth century these had become the risks and costs as outweighing uncertain benefi ts. deal, but the grants came with lots of obligations. The timber-framed houses, set up markets, build or take wealthy ‘livery’ companies (most of which survive The king persuaded them to get involved by imprisoning companies combined into ‘The Society of the Governor over churches, and endow them to the established today), whose wealth attracted the interest of the prominent members and coercing money by threats. and Assistants, London, of the New Plantation in Protestant Church. This all took place in the context English king James I. James was perpetually strapped The Companies came together in associations and the Ulster, within the Realm of Ireland’ which came to be of a hostile native population, with minimal existing for cash and desperately needed a source of capital to distribution of the land was decided by ballot. Lots were called The Honourable the Irish Society, which still infrastructure and no detailed mapping from which energise the Plantation of Ulster. The idea had been called ‘Proportions’ - the area awarded to the Mercers’ exists today, primarily with charitable purposes. This to plan. sold that the exercise would be self-fi nancing, while Company (where most of the tour will take place) organisation had to build the new city of Londonderry, delivering vital peace and stability on a vulnerable covered 33.5 square miles, with a capital at Movanagher. will walls, a cathedral, and a full urban infrastructure, frontier. Private fi nanciers were less enthusiastic than You will encounter another Proportion in that of the whilst fortifying and expanding the town of Coleraine. expected about the projected profi ts, especially in the Clothworkers who got 21 square miles and based Individual companies were expected to expel the top northeastern corner of Ireland which had been themselves at Killowen, across the river from Coleraine. native Irish from their lands, bring over English and designated the County of Coleraine under Elizabeth I.

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The London Companies

These diffi culties were compounded when James’s son There were many vicissitudes during the seventeenth building model farms, churches, schools, dispensaries and enabled tenants to buy their farms. The Mercers Charles I applied further fi nancial pressure on the and eighteenth centuries, when geo-political economic (the nineteenth century equivalent of the modern local sold their last 3210 acres in 1906. London Companies to help pay for wars with France factors impinged on the towns and little villages of health centre), mills, bridges, draining land and planting and Spain; at one stage confi scating the Irish lands county. Growing enterprises, mainly centred round hedges. When the Great Famine struck in the 1840s From 1660 the Companies were represented by 26 ‘honest and then doubling the rents. This was over-thrown by the linen industry, fought against asset stripping by the benefi t of this investment in limiting suffering and discreet citizens of London’, and delegations still Parliament - the issue became embroiled in the wider absent landlords and tenants with no stable stake in contrasted with many other areas of the country. visit regularly mainly with the aim of supporting local fi ght with the King, but a lot of damage had already their holdings. One of the most obvious symptoms of education and charities. The Society still owns the been done. The very same year, the Irish rebelled and this was the almost total removal of woodland - going Wider political events soon impacted again. The growth riverbed of the Bann and administers the fi shing rights. very nearly succeed in totally destroying the Plantation, from dense forestation to ‘the worst wooded county in of and agitation for land reform started a process that became part of the wider civil war that the King’s dominions’ by 1803. Those with an interest to have their effects and the Companies disposed of swept across the British Isles and, in Ireland, stretched in changing things encouraged the Companies to their holdings, in some cases before the series of Land into the Eleven Years War. The terrible events of this take their lands back into direct management. Once Purchase Acts, which broke up the big estates in Ireland period still resonate today. the policy was adopted, the better Companies started

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Historical Touring Route

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The Tour Coleraine on Foot

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The Tour Coleraine on Foot

The traffic system in Coleraine is complex and there The River Bann is the reason for Coleraine’s existence, century. Even a hundred years later a compromise, new bridge and reclamation of the muddy river shore by can be parking problems. It is suggested that visitors from the very earliest moment in history. The site was with stone piers and wooden superstructure, was the best embankments. There had been ‘Davock’s Hotel’, owned park and then walk in the town. the lowest crossing point at about four and a half miles that could be provided. The problem was finally solved by the Clothworkers Company on the site. This was from the sea. There is some debate about how important with some distinction by the current structure, which knocked down in 1843 with construction of the new Coming off the ring road from the or Portrush the area was during the Middle Ages, but it was dates back to 1844, and gave noble service as the only hotel starting in 1844 and finished in 1846, designed direction, follow the signs for Kilrea, Garvagh. Cross considered worth attacking and fighting over on several crossing until the new bridge was built in the 1970s to be as plain as it was practical - it was called ‘The the river Bann, and turn right towards Coleraine, occasions, notably during the Bruce Wars in the early as part of the ring road. The stone is Scottish granite- Clothworkers Arms’. It is made from bricks produced also sign posted as Castlerock. Park on the right hand 1300s. An important fourteenth century gold-jeweled transportation by sea was cheaper than by land, and at the Company’s tile works, with sand and crushed side beside the river at Christie Park - there are public broach, along with pottery and coins, was found during especially to a site so close to the harbour with regular stone added to the clay to make it stronger. It is a good toilets here. Recently, boat trips in the river have recent archaeological excavations outside what had services across the channel. example of the pervading influence of the London started from here - check with the Tourist Information been thought to be the area of a medieval settlement. livery companies. Centre, Railway Road, telephone 028 7034 4723 or Having reached the bridge, the ‘Clothworkers e-mail [email protected]. The earliest record of a bridge dates back to the thirteenth Buildings’ can be seen on the corner of the other side century and there was a long ferry tradition. Early bridges of the road. The recent history of the building has A pleasant path runs beside the water towards the town were made out of timber - one was partly burned during been difficult, in spite of the superb site. It was built as centre - head towards the bridge. the Williamite wars at the end of the seventeenth part of a redevelopment of the area, prompted by the

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The Tour Coleraine on Foot

Crossing the bridge and looking left, the river can After crossing the bridge, on the right is the new economy. These moves were seen as essential both to be seen heading for the sea. One of the reasons that Diamond Shopping Centre, built on the site of the ‘civilise’ and to maximise profit - there was certainly Coleraine was such an important part of the Plantation Augustinian abbey, which flourished until Henry VIII’s no conflict between the two aims. A lot of the physical was that the combination of the sea harbour and the dissolution of the monasteries. Before the construction structure of towns was designed to facilitate this. River Bann allowed easy access into the interior of the of the shopping mall archaeological excavation totally undeveloped country (as was perceived by the revealed the remains of cloisters and a number of Plantation towns tend to either have central squares English), though a sand bar at the mouth of the river medieval skeletons. (‘Diamonds’) or very wide streets in which markets was an obstruction to larger boats. Coleraine Harbour could be held. The settlements that succeeded were Commissioners are still in charge of both the port and Continue up the hill and into the Diamond - the those where the markets prospered. Sometimes the the navigation on the river as far as the Cutts. Over usual name in Plantation towns for the town squares, Diamonds were the site of other public events: an 20,000 tonnes of cargo is dealt with every year, much of used for markets. The Plantation of Ulster was ancestor of US President McKinley was hanged it timber and scrap, which can usually be seen piled up essentially a commercial venture, even before the here in the aftermath of the 1798 rebellion. on the quay on the right side. Looking down the river, involvement of the London merchants, and a key it is possible to see the railway bridge on the Belfast to part of the process was the establishment of markets, Londonderry line, which swivels to let ships through. which helped control, regulate and commercialise the

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The Tour Coleraine on Foot

Looking straight ahead, you can see the Town Hall, The Town Hall suffered during the Troubles from bomb that the timber-framed houses were not prefabricated which was completed in 1859. The stone roundels damage on a number of occasions. With a magnificent in England and shipped over, as shown here, but built on either side of the tower are the arms of Coleraine new civic centre on the Portstewart road, it is now used locally using the abundant timber. It is usually possible and the Honourable the Irish Society, both of which for events and museum exhibitions and will soon house the to go in and look at the window. There is a particularly include the cross and sword which feature in the arms Hugh Thomson study centre as of July 2006. Thomson good picture of the Cutts on the river, which you will of the City of London. Though newly built in the mid- was a born in No. 9, the Diamond and became an be visiting as part of this tour. nineteenth century, the Town Hall sits on the site of, important illustrator in late nineteenth century London. and is not much different in general design from, the Just inside the side door of the Town Hall is a very fine 1740s Market house - the first floor of which was used stained glass window, showing scenes from Coleraine for courts. Market houses provided covered space under history, or at least the history as it was imagined in the arches for merchants, and are another common feature early twentieth century. For example, we now know of Plantation towns.

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The Tour Coleraine on Foot

If you continue up the left side of the Diamond you Plantations and had reclaimed most of the countryside, Retrace your steps back to the river and you will will see signs for the ‘Round the Ramparts’ historical leaving only a few fortified towns in planter hands, return along the riverside path. Look across to the other walking tour - a pleasant ramble that will give you a crowded with refugees. Thousands of people had flocked bank, where you will see an unusual, apparently half- further insight into the history of Coleraine. Straight to Coleraine and hundreds of poor people were camped timbered building, now a Chinese restaurant. It was on you will also see the spire of St. Patrick’s church, in miserable circumstances round the church, which built as the clubhouse of the rowing club in 1900, and so-called because it supposedly sits on the site of a was struck by lightening and severely damaged, just to designed by a local architect. There is still a tradition church founded by the saint. The current structure make things worse. The church is open from Tuesdays to of competitive rowing in town. was built in 1884, but there are elements of the 1613 Saturdays, 11:00am - 3:00pm, but it is worth enquiring Plantation church and some fine funeral monuments with the Parish Office on 028 7034 4213. To the rear dating back to that period, as well as an interesting there are the remains of the seventeenth century graveyard. As you walk around, imagine the scene in town ramparts. 1641: the Gaelic Irish had risen in rebellion against the

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The Tour Somerset, Mountsandel, The Cutts

Return to the car and turn left out of the car park, most of the trees were planted in the twentieth century, In some ways this area has changed little over the past salmon and eels. The Honourable The Irish Society has heading towards the ring road and Kilrea. Cross straight but some go back to the nineteenth century, and the few hundred years - the view was a favourite with artists had ownership of the riverbed (and the fi shing rights) over the roundabout, with the Riverside Regional overall look may give some impression of what the river since the eighteenth century. since 1662 and still controls them today. In the past shopping Centre on the right. Just beyond this, if traffi c banks may have looked like in the more distant past, salmon used to be caught by the ton. Another name allows, behind modern houses you will see a fi ne range when the timber was a major resource to be exploited. The Cutts got their name because a passage was cut to for this site is the Salmon Leap - as shown by the hotel of two story stone buildings, which were nineteenth Check out www.forestserviceni.gov.uk/publications/ by-pass rapids here, making the river navigable by boats. across the road, now scheduled for closure. century barracks. The area is called ‘Somerset’- originally publications/walks_leafl ets/coleraine_woods_06_03.pdf, Work seems to have been started in 1612 under the it was called ‘Summer Seat’ after a house in a famously which gives more information and suggestions for walks. supervision of John Rowley, the Honourable the Irish scenic setting. On the other side of the river the wooded Society’s agent. It cost a great deal of money and shows slopes include Mountsandel - the earliest human 1.3 miles from Christie Park there is a hard-to-see that the improvement was regarded as very important. settlement found in Ireland. You will see nothing of entrance to a car park on the left, immediately past Until the cut was made, goods had to be laboriously this from here, but you may just be able to make out a long single story grey building, and the modern transferred between vessels, one above and one below the Anglo-Norman mote - a defensive earth mound, buildings of the Rivers Agency and fl ood sluices. the rocks. Equally, the structure of the river here meant which also took advantage of the strategic position Park here and follow the path upstream. that it was ideal for the commercial fi shing of both overlooking the river. The area is heavily wooded -

Porballintrae Portrush

Portstewart

Castlerock

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The Tour The Cutts, Celtic Cross

This is the limit of tides. As you head up the path you headquarters of the Irish Society, to which they moved then recaptured by English forces once again. This was saint. It seems as if the cross was intact until 1760, when will see the working lock, which allows boats up to 30m after their previous premises suffered damage from the a crucial site in controlling the river above the Cutts it was thrown down and the top broke off. Originally in long to by-pass the rocks. The old cast iron winding bomb blasts in . The house dates from the mid and the major route into the interior of the country. the west corner of the graveyard the shaft, which stands mechanisms, painted white, bear the name ‘McAdam nineteenth century and is an excellent example of a nearly two metres high, was re-erected in the eastern Brothers’. This fi rm was an important nineteenth century local architectural style. Following the Kilrea road for 1.2 miles past the Curragh portion in 1905. The stone is not native to the area. Belfast institution - major innovators and suppliers Road turn, you will see signs for the ‘Camus Guest House’. The carving is weathered, but you can still see that of fl ax machinery, but one partner, Robert McAdam Head back to the car, and be careful pulling out of the Park in the lay-by and walk about 150 yards upstream they depict a series of detailed narrative scenes. In the was also a notable antiquarian, largely responsible car park, as visibility is not good. Less than 0.5 miles along the footpath. You will see a ruined church on northwest end of the graveyard is a big boulder in the for starting the ‘Ulster Journal of Archaeology’, further on, just at the large Spanboard factory, turn left your right - cross here carefully. At fi rst sight, the area ground with a circular hollow -this is a ballaun stone. which collected antiquities and preserved numbers up Curragh Road, sign-posted for Kilrea. This area is looks unimpressive, though scenic, but it has a lot of These are thought to be pre-Christian, and their real of Gaelic manuscripts. Coleraine had an important called Castle Roe. The site of the castle that gave its historical signifi cance. There was an important fording purpose is unknown, although there are lots of popular linen industry - one type of cloth was even known as name is unclear, but once again there are opportunities point across the river and an early monastery named traditions in existence about them, including the ‘coleraines’ and this could explain the connection. to park and walk through the woods that fl ank the river. after St. Comgall fl ourished here. The dated age of the idea that water which gathers in the depressions have Castle Roe had originally been an O’Neill stronghold- church remains is unclear - it is probable that the most curative properties. There are also some interesting A stone wall blocks the end of the path by the river. it was taken over during the Plantation and is shown as we can see is no older than the seventeenth century, gravestones here. If you go up to it and look over, you will see the lovely a tower house and bawn on a 1620s Raven map. It fell but the site contains Co. Londonderry’s only High private Cutts House and gardens. This is the current back into Gaelic hands during the 1641 rising, but was (‘Celtic’) Cross, supposedly erected in honour of the

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The Tour Movanagher Bawn

Go back to the car and continue towards Killrea. Just airfi elds. The fl at ground and closeness to the Atlantic the middle ages, but was not intended for long-term was shown on Thomas Raven’s 1622 map. The site over 5.5 miles after you take the Curragh Road turn, made the area strategically important for covering defence or for permanent garrison, like a castle. They is particularly important for our understanding of the there is quite a steep bend to the right, and in the convoys on the last leg of their hazardous journeys. were places of refuge in times of trouble - animals could Plantation because it was so short-lived - the little middle of which is the left turn towards Ballymoney. be driven into the yard, Planter families could shelter town was only occupied up until 1642. If you take this you will cross the river again. In the area After 4.3 miles, take the small Monavanagher Road from danger. Musket loops in the towers allowed fi re to on the nearside bank just upstream, the Ironmongers on the left. This is a narrow and twisty road, requiring be directed along the walls, particularly to protect the Company had built a castle or fortifi cation as part of a some care. After 1.5 miles you will see on the right a gate. They were very effective against raiding but less settlement where the Agivey River joined the Bann, yet substantial modern farm, which embodies a part of the secure against concerted assaults. Movanagher Bawn again emphasising the river’s strategic importance. These wall and one fl anker tower of the Movanagher Bawn. was about 120 feet along each side and the three feet works were all destroyed as part of the 1641 rebellion. Please remember to respect the privacy of the owners. thick wall enclosed a two-story manor house. As well Bawns were a typical and essential part of the Plantation as timber-framed ‘English’ type houses there were oval Continuing towards Kilrea, turn left at 0.7 miles past infrastructure. In general Bawns were perimeter walls, Irish dwellings, probably made out of woven branches the Ballymoney Road. On the left, and occasionally with squat towers at each corner and a substantial house plastered with mud. Archaeologists found traces of on the right, you will see the remains of World War II within the enclosure. The building type goes back to one, with a central fi re but no chimney, just where it

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16 Previous Next Historical Touring Route

The Tour

Movanagher was planned to play a major part in excavations, shows that the size of the settlement never During the nineteenth century there was renewed interest Return to the main road - the Movanagher Road developing the Mercers Company lands. The area was reached a critical mass. In 1642 it seems as if the inhabitants in the river. As the search for agricultural effi ciency itself loops round. It is narrow and twisty, but winds heavily wooded and the river was particularly good for were over-run and in 1649, forces loyal to the English developed, fl ooding was increasingly seen as a problem. through a lovely landscape. If you come back the way fi shing, especially the eel weir. Lots of the timber for Parliament levelled much of what was left to ensure Things were fi ne during the summer, but a lot of ground you came, not long after rejoining the Kilrea road building Coleraine came from this area. The timber that it did not become a base for opposition. When spent time under water in the winter. In the 1830s and 1840s, and turning left, there is a fi ne stone building on the was also commercially exploited for tanning bark, peace returned, the site was abandoned and human drainage work was carried out on the whole length of the left, made up of a single storey central section with charcoal for iron works and to make barrels in which activity moved to Kilrea. Lower Bann from Lough Neagh right down to the Cutts. two storey ends. This is a school built for the Mercers fi sh could be exported. The site seemed excellent in terms Associated with this engineering was the development Company in 1843. The London Companies built of economics but, surrounded by a hostile population, Continue a short distance down the road and you will of navigation. Canals were dug at Movanagher and schools and encouraged education on their lands was a poor choice for defence. Whilst there was little come to the river. The extensive remains are hard to Portna (the bridge area at Kilrea) - the employment before the existence of the state system. organised military opposition to the Plantation in its interpret and have not been investigated, but there are of which was a way of providing relief from the Great early years, ‘wood-kerne’ - guerilla soldiers who lurked in clearly wharfs and the remains of a fi shing weir to be seen. Famine in the 1840s. In an interesting example of the dense woods, were a constant threat. Movanagher The Mercers Company also built a corn mill, where tenants historical continuity, there is also a modern fi sh farm. was over-looked by hills and surrounded by dips and had to have their corn ground, although it was alleged depressions in which attackers could hide. The Raven map, that it ruined as much as it produced in terms of fl our. whose accuracy was confi rmed by recent archaeological

Porballintrae Portrush

Portstewart

Castlerock

8 SOMERSET Downhill RIVER BANN Articlave 9 MOUNTSANDEL COLERAINE 9 MOUNTSANDEL 10 THE CUTTS SOMERSET 8 10 THE CUTTS

Macosquin 11 CELTIC CROSS 11 CELTIC CROSS 12 MOVANAGHER BAWN

13 KILREA 12 MOVANAGHER BAWN Ringsend 14 PORTNA Aghadowey 15 ST PATRICK’S CHURCH AGIVEY RIVER 16 GARVAGH 16 GARVAGH

14 PORTNA KILREA 13 15 ST PATRICK’S CHURCH

17 Previous Next Historical Touring Route

The Tour Kilrea

After three miles you will go up the hill to Kilrea. production, particularly in the eighteenth century, as At the centre of the Diamond is the War Memorial, Kilrea seemed to have been in a terrible state in the This alone should indicate why this town succeeded well as dealing with more general agricultural produce. recording the service and deaths during the World early nineteenth century, with most people living in when Movanagher did not - a fact confi rmed by the It is easy to park in the square or its approaches. Set Wars I and II. The list of men from this small place who unhealthy hovels. The Mercers Company decided to transfer of the fairs and markets. Kilrea was an ancient back from the road on the left is the Mercer’s Arms, fought and died in World War I is particularly sobering. take a direct interest in their property, rather than settlement, with an early church, commanding one now a pub, which was built as an inn at a cost of £800 The Memorial has another interest. If you look at the just sub-letting it. They sited their agent in the town, of the major Bann crossings. Sitting on high ground, in 1832. To its left, sitting at right angles, is a modern side facing the Mercers Arms, in the lower section you building him an impressive house with landscaped it was defensible. In more recent times, it lay at the building labelled ‘Kilrea Town Hall’ which replaced can see the face of a cast iron object. This is the town grounds - now the Manor House golf course - and set junction between roads from Garvagh, and the Market House, built just a few years after the pump, dating from 1838. The square drive for attaching about developing the town, trying to impose planning . When the bridge was built at the end of Mercers Arms. The old building was demolished after a handle can be seen. The pump was the place where controls and providing public services. The results of this the eighteenth century, it became a link in the road bomb damage in the 1970s. Bombs and ‘improvements’ many of the young people gathered in the evening, can still be seen in much of the town’s infrastructure. running north from Belfast and Antrim. have destroyed or altered many of the original buildings much to the alarm of Victorian moralists. The pump in Kilrea beyond recognition, but the structure of the was one of a number of improvements from that time. The hill into the town fl attens out in the Diamond. town preserves its original form to a remarkable degree. Though apparently prosperous, with a lot of tradesmen, This hosted important markets relating to linen

Porballintrae Portrush

Portstewart

Castlerock

8 SOMERSET Downhill RIVER BANN Articlave 9 MOUNTSANDEL COLERAINE 9 MOUNTSANDEL 10 THE CUTTS SOMERSET 8 10 THE CUTTS

Macosquin 11 CELTIC CROSS 11 CELTIC CROSS 12 MOVANAGHER BAWN

13 KILREA 12 MOVANAGHER BAWN Ringsend 14 PORTNA Aghadowey 15 ST PATRICK’S CHURCH AGIVEY RIVER 16 GARVAGH 16 GARVAGH

14 PORTNA KILREA 13 15 ST PATRICK’S CHURCH

18 Previous Next Historical Touring Route

The Tour Portna, St Patrick’s

Return to the car and head down Bridge Street signed the bridge. You will also be able to see wharf walls This continued during the 1641 rebellion. On 1st see a ruin covered in ivy - the old church. The date for Ballymoney and Rasharkin. There are a number of dating from 1834, where the short-lived Lower Bann January 1642, a force loyal to the MacDonalds and of what we can see today is hard to work out - parts lovely mid-nineteenth century brick villas on either side Steamship Company boat serving Coleraine, Agivey, the King were camped at Portna when a rebel band are probably medieval, but work was done on it in the of the road, designed by William Barnes, who was the Kilrea and Portglenone was able to dock. One of the led by Alaster McColl McDonnell, a Highlander early years of the Plantation, again in 1690 and also architect for a lot of the Mercers Company buildings in most important civil engineers of the fi rst half of the who had switched sides, attacked them. Almost all to repair bad fi re damage in 1799. St. Patrick’s church the town from the 1830s. There is a set of traffi c lights nineteenth century, William Cubitt, was asked to of MacDonald’s men were killed, and this marked itself symbolises London company investment. The at the bridge. On the right side of the road is a hotel report on possible improvements in navigation and the start of a series of defeats that culminated in successful tender for the building was £3,339 - a huge and to the left of this is a small access road heading water-power here. The bridge, which has undergone Ballymoney town being burnt. sum at the time. The facing is sandstone quarried at towards the river, through a gate and trees. It will take various alterations, was built in 1783 but is still as - a long and diffi cult journey. The church, you to a small car park. This area is called Portna. impressive and elegant today. Return up the hill to Kilrea and turn left in the designed for 450 adults and 70 children, was opened It was another place where there were rapids and Diamond, in the direction of Portglenone. It is usually in 1843. The spire housed the town clock. It is worth a crossing place, giving it some importance and This is another peaceful scene that hides a dark past. easy to park further along the street and then use the noting that the alignment of old and new churches is signifi cance from pre-history on. There is a modern By emphasising their allegiance to the crown, the second roundabout to turn round when heading back. different. Traditionally churches align east west, but to platform, mainly designed for fi shing and mooring MacDonald family retained their lands through the The impressive church at the end of the town is give a command of the town, St. Patrick’s lies north south. boats, which gives excellent views of the river and Plantation, along with extensive holdings in Scotland. St. Patrick’s. Beside this ‘modern’ structure you will

Porballintrae Portrush

Portstewart

Castlerock

8 SOMERSET Downhill RIVER BANN Articlave 9 MOUNTSANDEL COLERAINE 9 MOUNTSANDEL 10 THE CUTTS SOMERSET 8 10 THE CUTTS

Macosquin 11 CELTIC CROSS 11 CELTIC CROSS 12 MOVANAGHER BAWN

13 KILREA 12 MOVANAGHER BAWN Ringsend 14 PORTNA Aghadowey 15 ST PATRICK’S AGIVEY RIVER CHURCH 16 GARVAGH 16 GARVAGH 14 PORTNA KILREA 13 15 ST PATRICK’S CHURCH

19 Previous Next Historical Touring Route

The Tour

If you walk just a little distance down the hill appropriate. This was also supported by the Mercers worth turning left down the Garvagh Road. As the signposted as ‘Moneydig’ will take you to the Claragh towards Portglenone you will see an interesting relic Company and was designed by William Barnes. It street widens out, you will see the second, ‘seceding’ Heritage Centre - which holds a private collection of more recent history. Nestling into the bank of was completed in 1838 and cost £2,300. At this time Presbyterian Church of 1839. This is much more of rural artefacts. It is open from April - October, what is probably a medieval graveyard is a World War the Anglican, Episcopalian church was offi cial, or typical in style and scale for non-Anglican buildings Monday - Saturday, between 1.30pm and 5.00pm II pillbox designed to command one of the main established. Everyone paid tithes to support it and other of this period and was needed because of a split in the including Bank Holidays, but it is advisable to routes into the town. These were not designed to halt Protestant denominations were ‘dissenters’. By the congregation. Beside it are recently built public toilets. telephone ahead on 028 2954 0370 to check. invading forces, but it was hoped they would have standards of the time, it was very enlightened of the Just past this is the modern cattle market, still in use slowed down an advance. There is another example Mercers to help build churches for all their tenants- and actively serving the surrounding area. Originally In Garvagh itself there is a fi ne local museum, open of this on the opposite side of the town. Anglican, dissenter or Catholic. The Presbyterian there was another market, now a car park, on the Wednesday to Saturday from 2pm - 5pm, during the Church has another interest. Until 2000 an ancient opposite side of the road, on the town side of the road summer from April to September, and for groups at Heading to the right of the church - facing it head on - ‘fairy’ thorn grew up against the graveyard wall. A lot to at which horses were sold. The area still other times. The telephone number is 028 29557924 you can see two other interesting buildings. The fi rst of folklore was associated with the tree - it is thought to keeps the name Fairhill. and the web site is www.garvaghmuseum.com/ is a fi ne private house with a veranda. This was the be certain and very bad luck to cut one down - and its htmlsite/local_info.asp, which also features useful Estate Offi ce, where tenants would have paid their rents reputation lives on in an annual ‘Fairy Thorn Festival’, This is the end of this tour, but if you would like to information about the history of the area. and any other business relating to the holdings being and in a special seat on the pavement outside the head back to Coleraine on a different route there are conducted, dated to 1849. Past this is the Presbyterian church. Over four hundred people contributed ideas a number of visitor attractions worth visiting. Taking Church, making the ‘Church Street’ name very to its design. If you have an interest in churches, it is the road towards Garvagh and the road on the right

Porballintrae Portrush

Portstewart

Castlerock

8 SOMERSET Downhill RIVER BANN Articlave 9 MOUNTSANDEL COLERAINE 9 MOUNTSANDEL 10 THE CUTTS SOMERSET 8 10 THE CUTTS

Macosquin 11 CELTIC CROSS 11 CELTIC CROSS 12 MOVANAGHER BAWN

13 KILREA 12 MOVANAGHER BAWN Ringsend 14 PORTNA Aghadowey 15 ST PATRICK’S CHURCH AGIVEY RIVER

16 GARVAGH 16 GARVAGH

14 PORTNA KILREA 13 15 ST PATRICK’S CHURCH

20 Previous Next Coming soon in this series... Mesolithic Tour Coastal Tour Industrial Tour Salmon Tour

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