The return of High Sheriff Ward

"The veil between the two worlds was particularly thin on English Street ... the historic setting perfect for a guided tour by High Sheriff Bernard Ward. The former judge died over 300 years ago but was on hand to show revellers around the area’s most bloodcurdling hotspots."

I am pleased to announce that once more I shall don the costume of High Sheriff Ward for another grisly tour of The blood on English Street. Join us for tales of grave robbing, botched executions, bloody battles, notorious prisoners and cruel punishments.

Winding down the hill you are invited to envisage the sea of bodies and makeshift gallows that sprung up following doomed rebellions. As well as the dead there was the half dead strewn about. Caught pick-pocketing? Vigilante justice 17th-century-style meant were you were drowned to within an inch of your life in the Quoile — and the next time there was no bringing you back to life.

The very bottom of English Street wouldn’t have smelt too good either. Aside from all the bodies it was a place where rotten vegetables waited to be pelted at the poor miscreant being punished on the pillory.

Even High Sheriff Bernard Ward, who I am bringing back from the dead, couldn’t escape a bloody end on this street. Born in Castle Ward he lived in precarious times. William and Mary had just been crowned and religious tempers were flaring. Bernard was challenged to a duel in 1690 in row over priests being banished from Ireland. Despite mortally wounding his opponent also ended being run through by a sword outside the Petty Sessions.

The tour is completely free but spaces are limited. Tickets are available here.

The pedlar and his pack

On a dark December night Alice the housekeeper opened the door to a handsome pedlar. He told her a tale of woe about having walked from Belfast with his heavy burden and asked if she would put him up for the night. The master of the house was staying in the city that night and Alice informed him that she could not take him in. Having accepted this he bartered with her to look after his heavy pack while he sought alternative accommodation in the area. Alice initially said no but reluctantly after much persuasion she took his pack. She was informed that it contained delicate goods and that it must remain as he placed it - hanging between the seats of two chairs in the kitchen. She bid him farewell as he went off into the night.

Walking into the kitchen later in the evening, Alice noticed, to her horror, in the corner of her eye that the bag appeared to be moving. It seem to stop at once when her presence was known. Doubting what she had seen, Alice entered the room on two more occasions to try and catch the bag moving, on the second she was convinced. She ran out to the outhouses to find Richard an older man who resided in the house with her and Edward, a sixteen year old youth. Richard was unconvinced but when Edward returned to the house from a day’s shoot he entered the kitchen to discover the pack moving too.

All three couldn’t decide what to do and so Edward quite rashly decided that he should fire a shot into the bag. Upon doing so the bag immediately gushed blood onto the floor. All three rushed to tear the bag open and to their horror discovered a small muscular man wielding a knife in one hand and a whistle in the other. Edward was immediately able to make sense of the situation.

The master of the house had spent many years in India and had accumulated a wealth. He had returned to the ancestral home in Lecale with a fortune of £10,000. The man in the pack was the Trojan horse and upon the house falling silent would have used the knife to free himself and the whistle to summon the pedlar and raid the house. Deciding on the next course of action Edward decided they should call around their neighbours and set up an armed guard in the house. The group decided to wait until midnight to blow on the whistle. On doing so, within five minutes a large body on men on horseback arrived at the house.

The group set about firing their arms at them and they soon fled. Four of the party lay dead in the courtyard. Some returned before sunrise to remove their fallen comrades. When the master of the house heard of the bravery of Alice, Richard, and Edward he rewarded them for their service. Edward was made the gamekeeper and lived to a ripe old age.

He was often visited by the ghost of the small man and was disturbed by these visits so he called upon the priest for advice. The next time the ghost appeared Edward questioned, “In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost what do you want from me?” The ghost informed him of a guilt that was burdening him. Edward was informed of a stolen treasure which the man had buried which should be returned to its rightful owner. Since doing this Edward was never again visited by the ghost.

A delightful discovery

On my tour of Strangford and Portaferry I always read the satirical whip by Angus O'Daly about the Savages. He was a bard of the Irish court who fell on hard times after the plantation and was coerced by Lord Deputy Mountjoy to write disgracing verses about the old Irish chieftains who sat on their ruined estates. This is what he said of the Savages:

 

It translates as:

In the Ards of Uladh, scarce and starving,

A country without happiness, without religion,

Where Savage, the foreign hangman,

Scrapes off the limpets with his knife.

The Savages arrived with John de Courcy in 1177. In 1180 de Courcy established the ferry service on Strangford Lough and placed the Savages in Portaferry to collect the revenue from it. They even owned large tracts of land in Lecale including the town of Ardglass. The family continued to reside in the Portaferry until the 1980s which means that for 800 years they had an unbroken connection with the area. In 1812 Andrew Savage changed the family name to his mother's maiden name, Nugent. Through doing this he was able to then inherit her part of the family lands in Dysart, Westmeath.

I however was last week astounded to uncover a personal connection to this family. Knowing my ancestors held the title Baron Crolly of Swordes, I thought I would have a quick check in the archive at PRONI. Lo and behold there was a will from 1780 belonging to a Lucy Crolly. Not expecting much from it, I did the obligatory order.

Much to my delight this Lucy was a determined character. Being the relict of Baron John Crolly of Ballykilbeg I was surprised that in her will large amounts of money were being bequeathed to her nephews and nieces who were the children of Andrew Savage of Portaferry. On closer examination of Burke's landed gentry I uncovered that I could trace my line back to my 9th Great Grandfather Rowland Savage of Portaferry who died in 1572! This means that the ruined Castle standing in Portaferry is actually an ancestral home!

The ruins we see today were repaired in 1643 by the Montgomery family. As it turns out Jean Montgomery married Patrick Savage. Her brother not seeing the home fit for purpose gave her the money to fit it out after Patrick's death (probably to avoid insulting him). This would very much imply that Angus O'Daly words had a ring of truth to them!

Europe's oldest ferry service

Did you know that the Strangford and Portaferry ferry service is the oldest in Europe, if not the world? John de Courcy left a great legacy on the east coast of Ireland. One of the first things he did was to set up the ferry service in 1180. The Savages who were among the army were then granted Portaferry as a means of protecting the eastern gateway to his precious Lecale.

On the 29th September 1604 James I sanctioned the use of land which in 1612 was granted to Peter Tumolton. It is in two quarters one called Carhomada (now Bankmore Hill) on the Portaferry side and the other Ferry Quarter on the Strangford side. The conditions of the grant cited:

"His heirs and assigns, at his and their expense for ever to maintain, keep and have in readiness, in and upon the ferry of Strangford, a good strong and sufficient ferry boat, and four able and efficient ferrymen to attend the ferry, for the transport of men, horses and other cattle and to perform other services at the said ferry as was theretofore used or accustomed to be done."

The ferry crossing was plied by many scales of vessel. In the 1830s there was a paddle steamer named The Lady of the Lake which operated the service. The first car ferries were operational in 1946. However tragedy struck in the same year when the ferry capsized resulting in the loss of a life. For years afterwards only foot passengers could be ferried on the remaining ferry. It is not unusual for the ferry to be part of the daily commute and it used to be joked that the school boys who went to Downpatrick would me made to row the ferry home!

Animals were ferried across the Narrows until well into the 20th Century from the Horse Ferry Slip which is now a private slipway for the De Ros estate. Written into the deeds of a Strangford house are the grazing rights to animals who have missed the last ferry.

Major William Brownlow who held land on both sides came up with his own solution an Amphicar. He was an instrumental campaigner for the government to provide a ferry which came to fruition in 1968. It is this service which is the current provision today with. The newest vessel is the Strangford II which entered service (eventually) in 2016!

You can experience all of this yourself on the Sail across the Vikings fjord experience which I run throughout the year.

Biggerféis set for 2018 return!

I am delighted to announce that Biggerféis is to return in 2018!

The brand new festival organised by Ardglass Development Association and supported by The Lecale Peninsula Tours celebrates the life and legacy of Francis Joseph Bigger. He was probably one of the most influential people to ever call Ardglass home. His zeal was infectious and his legacy is well and truly alive.

The 2017 programme included walking tours, talks, musical events, and rounded off with a coach tour of County Down. In his lifetime he contributed much to the heritage of Lecale. The attendees came from far and wide, many on return visits too!

Fab Food tour on the 'Fjord

I am delighted to announce that I am currently working on a food tour of Strangford and Portaferry to take place on 22 July 2017. Beginning in Strangford the tour will take in The Artisan Cookhouse, The Cuan, and The Lobster Pot.

Not your ordinary tour this will also include a trip across the Narrows on Europe's oldest ferry service to Portaferry. Hre we will taste the culinary delights of The Portaferry Hotel and The Narrows.

For details of the event please contact me directly. The menu will include signature dishes and local specialities. Spaces will be on a first come first served basis.

Food, glorious food tours

I am very pleased to tell you all that I am now a recognised WorldHost Food Ambassador! It was on a lovely day last month that I sat down to the most delicious lecture on the food we produce and what makes it that bit more special!

As time goes on before the tours relaunch in May I am busying myself by working out the best and most authentic places to take my tours for a quick treat at the end! To date I have secured an agreement with Denvirs in Downpatrick, Ireland's oldest coaching inn which is 350 years old this year, The Portaferry Hotel, and Ardglass Golf Club.

After many years of working in hospitality under the likes of Niall McKenna of James Street South and Stevie Toman of Ox you can be guaranteed I will search for only the best of the best as an added bonus to my tours. Seven generations of farming at home also mean that you can be guaranteed a very unique perspective on the culture of the countryside!

Below is Denvir's signature smoked and unsmoked Chowder from East Coast Seafoods in Ballyhornan - that's about 7 miles away!