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!