Christian Heritage
This whole area is steeped in Christian heritage. In 432AD St Patrick arrived through the Narrows of Strangford Lough at the mouth of the Slaney River. He began his teachings at Saul in the barn (sabhall) of the local chieftain Diohu, his first convert.
With the arrival of St Patrick , and in his wake, a cluster of great monasteries grew up and flourished around the Lough. The best preserved of these, Nendrum on Mahee Island, founded by Saint Mo-choí, still retains an aura of sanctity. With its triple enclosure walls, its church and round tower, Nendrum is probably the best surviving example of what an early Irish monastery looked like. A new chapter in the archaeology of Nendrum opened in 1999 with the discovery of the monastic tide mills on the nearby shore. With the absence of freshwater streams on the island, the monks turned to tidal power for their corn mill. The first mill has been dated to AD 619 and is at the moment the earliest known tide mill anywhere in the world. In the 21st century Strangford Lough is once again a global leader in tidal energy with the world’s first commercial experimental tidal current device, the SeaGen turbine, previously installed and trialed in the Narrows. Although this trial has now been completed and the turbine removed, other innovative tidal energy trials continue.
Ballyculter parish was first recorded in 1306 and there was a church, dedicated to St. Malachy, on this site in medieval times. The Rev John Orr (with architect John Millar) built Portaferry Presbyterian Church in 1841 along the lines of a Doric Greek temple to reflect the town’s interest in the classics at that time. Today it has regular services and outstanding music events. Derry Churches are two small pre-Norman churches associated with Saint Cumain. Local saint – Cooey, founded the holy wells near Ballyquintin in the C7th.
The Abbacy in nearby Ardquin parish was an important centre in medieval times and related stone slabs are housed in the church there. St Patricks Parochial Hall was built in the 1900s as a community centre.
The Vikings
The Vikings carried out short blitzkreigs in Strangford in the 9th and 10th centuries and established short-term settlement. Many interbred with the native Irish and settled here, setting up trade links with the homeland. Their longboats had a huge influence on boat design in Strangford, and their legacy lives on in the name Strangford, from the Norse Strangfyorthe, or ‘place of strong currents’.
Anglo-Norman Tower Houses
The Celtic kingdoms and monasteries dominated Strangford until John de Courcy and his 22 Norman knights along with their followers arrived to conquer Ulster in 1177.
The Anglo-Normans were great builders, throwing up quick ‘campaign’ castles (mottes – there are seven around the lough), usually commanding the best views over the Lough.
De Courcy and his wife Affreca also founded stone abbeys, such as at Inch and Greyabbey, which have survived well.

Tower Power
Look around the lough – particularly either side of the Narrows, and you can’t miss the profusion of square towers, known as tower-houses. These unusual fortified houses were built during the 15th and 16th centuries by local lords, occupying strategic locations around the lough shore. Audley’s Castle commands an unrivalled view over the safe havens of Audleys Roads and Castle Ward Bay and Kilclief guards the entrance to the Lough.
When John de Courcy invaded he granted the lower part of the Ards Peninsula to the Savage family. In the C16th they built Portaferry and Strangford tower houses. The Audley’s built their castle in the C15th and later sold it to the Wards (also nearby Kilclief). Look at the openings over the doorways (machiolations) and you can almost see the hot oil or stones that were dropped on unwanted visitors. Or imagine yourself waiting to pounce on an assassin from the “murder hole” off the stairwell. Quintin Castle (1800s) incorporates a C16th tower house. We know that it was on lands held by the Savages for a time and was occupied by the Smith family in the late 16th century.
Commerce and Industry
Scots entrepreneurs in the 17th century brought the great changes to the area, with massive economic exploitation of its natural resources, investment in the towns and ports, and the creation of the huge estates that would dominate life right into the early 20th century.
The ‘designed’ landscapes at Mountstewart and Castle Ward were imposed over the natural and social fabric of the terrain, with the gardens serving as a compliment to the equally impressive ‘big houses’ they surrounded.
200 years ago, Portaferry was bustling with market houses, commerce and trade in potatoes, corn, linen, kelp and more. Many ships were built along the shore near Portaferry, and a thriving salvage business grew up in Ballyhenry Bay.
A Place of Harvest
The Ards and Lecale area have a long tradition of arable agriculture, from prehistoric time to the present day. This is reflected in the many windmill ‘stumps’ and the remains of tide mills and water mills, and also in medieval references to milling and important manors in the area (e.g. Ardquin and Bishops court).
This agrarian economy, alongside the maritime industries would have had a major bearing on how the landscape was settled and evolved over time, influencing the pattern of many roads, farms and boundaries. The traditional Co Down stone gateways are a feature of the rural landscape and you can see corbelled stone pigs sties near Rossglass.
The Oldest Ferry in Ireland
A ferry has plied the Narrows from as 1180, but it was 1836 before the as early first paddle steamer, Lady of the Lake, began ferrying sizeable numbers across (30 trips a day). Three people were lost when a later ferry, ‘Lizzie’, tragically capsized off Strangford in 1913. A converted landing boat was used after World War II (it too capsized), and various small boats were then used until finally, in 1968, the local council, and later the DOE took over the service.
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