History from Headstones

History from Headstones

For at least two centuries the small coastal town of Donaghadee served as the Irish terminus of the sea passage with Scotland. This was mainly because it was a 'safe haven' only twenty miles from the Scottish shore. It was also visible from Scotland.

At the end of the 16th century, there was great discontent among the crofters and farmers in the Scottish lowlands and southern uplands. In 1606, when Hugh Montgomery and James Hamilton, two Scots who had secured huge land grants in north Down from King James I and VI, started spreading the news that they might make a new life of liberty in the sparsely populated lands of Ulster, thousands of these Scots gradually became attracted by the prospect.
So, even before the official Plantation began in 1610, there was already a steady influx of farmers and artisans from Ayrshire, Kirkcudbright, Galloway and the north of England taking passage to Donaghadee to begin new lives. More settlers followed these pioneers during the rest of that century. Many migrants passed through the small port, some going to the small settlements of Newtownards, Comber and Killyleagh, and some to other counties of Ulster. Some of those arriving just stopped where they disembarked in Donaghadee.

The people of Donaghadee thus had a great affinity with the sea. Many of them depended on it for their livelihoods. We find merchants, fishermen and even deep-sea divers in the churchyard there.

It is known for certain that a church existed on the site here at Donaghadee in 1622. Although it is highly likely that the site also had a mediaeval church going back several hundred years before, the date of the first church isn't known. The earliest dated gravestones to be found are from 1660 - two of them in fact.
" Here lieth William Scott, Mariner who died December 20, 1660 "

William Roulston (Ulster Historical Foundation) and Harry Allen, who's been attached to this churchyard for many years, discuss its history here with Caroline Nolan. Click below to listen to their conversation.

Audio Clip 1: William Roulston / Harry Allen


It becomes clear, even after a brief study of the graveyard here that many of its occupants were seafarers, largely Merchant Navy and fishermen. The graveyard itself gives a feeling of being unplanned with no obvious structure to the layout. The only sense of order is that mainly the older headstones are found nearer to the church.
One curious inscription reads: "Here underlyeth the body of Jean Mackgwear, wife to Alixander Milling of Downodie. Who lived well and died well, January 28 1660".

War heroes have their place in Donaghadee too. There are two headstones too recent to be mentioned in the Gravestone Inscriptions book. Ten feet from Jean Mackgwear’s gravestone near the east wall of the church there stands a solitary War Commission grave, dedicated to the memory of Gunner J. C. B. Harris, a soldier in the Royal Artillery who fell in 1940 aged 27 years.

Around the corner, on the south side of the churchyard is the grave of 21-year-old Lt. William Kenny who joined the Garhwal Rifles and saw action on India's North West Frontier in WWI. He was killed in action and was awarded the Victoria Cross.

Inside the church is a memorial to the fallen in the Great War which is perhaps unique. In order to accommodate Lt. Kenny’s glorious death at Kot Kai in Afghanistan in a known war, it uniquely dates the First World War as lasting from 1914 until 1920!

Other inscriptions around the graveyard include: "This stone claims three plots north". This is peculiar to this area, perhaps throughout all Ireland.

At the rear door of the church is found the grave of James Tedford, famous for his dockside chandlery in Belfast. Tedford actually began his business as a sea Captain in Donaghadee in the 1830s, expanding in 1851 into the Belfast premises.

Harry has a favourite headstone, the one owned by the Saul family. Francis Saul was the owner of Donaghadee’s Rope Walk on the stretch of foreshore immediately south of Shore Street Church in the early years of the nineteenth century. We must assume that it was he who composed this wonderfully nautical poem as a tribute to his father:
Beneath this stone lies Daniel SaulWho round the world’s terraqueous ballHas sailed to every land was knownNow under hatches lies at home. Anchor’d among his kindred mouldDreads neither storms nor seas that rollBrought to by death’s correcting rodSets sail again to meet his God.

Audio Clip 2: Harry Allen talks about the names around the churchyard

Betty Henry, née Lindsay, loves Donaghadee and says she wouldn't want to live anywhere else in the world. Betty has two sets of grandparents buried in the churchyard. Her grandfather Lindsay spent 50 years at sea on the 'Headline Boats'. Her own father sailed along with him from the age of only 16. The couple were torpedoed on two separate occasions. She recalls how her other grandfather (Davidson) used to sell fish door-to-door out of a whicker basket.

Talking to William, Henry and Caroline, Betty explained that only a few days before this interview she discovered that her grandfather's headstone had been smashed by vandals...

Audio Clip 3: Betty Henry talks about her family


Walking through the churchyard in Donaghadee, some of the prominent names of business or well-to-do are not in great evidence. That is because they are generally all buried in their own tombs beneath the church itself, indeed many of the pews in the church sit directly above the bodies of the well-heeled.

Willie Roberts has lived in Donaghadee all of his life and recalls how one day he ended up locked in a tomb beside an open coffin...

Audio Clip 4: Willie Roberts - more about the tombs


Angelique Day is a descendant of the De Lacherois family, well known in these parts. She explains how a French name ended up here in Donaghadee and also talks about the family home and why it was built.

Audio Clip 5: Angelique Day - the De Lacherois family


Grace Neill's pub claims to the oldest in Ireland. Grace's is therefore possibly one of the best known names around the area. She was born in 1817 during the reign of George III. Grace Neill owned and ran this small pub herself, which was probably highly unusual in those days, possibly unique in Ireland. With Donaghadee being such an important busy port, it is also likely that the business was rather lucrative. Her husband John was one of the last captains of the Donaghadee-Portpatrick mail-packet steamers.

Grace was the great great grandmother of Tom Neill, who curious shares the same birthday, albeit 130 years apart! Tom explains some family connections and how there were deep-sea divers amongst them. He adds that although he would very much like to be buried in the churchyard alongside his ancestors he can't - because the graveyard is full!
Tom also shares a glass of Grace Neill's secret recipe herbal tonic with the company...

Audio Clip 6: Tom Neill - about Grace Neill and the family


From left to right: Caroline Nolan, Tom Neill, William Roulston and Gwen, the owner of Grace Neill's pub.

Relevant weblink:
"History from Headstones" - Donaghadee Churchyard