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LECALE & DOWNE HISTORICAL SOCIETY



Past Lectures

Downpatick Courthouse: The courthouse was opened in 1737 on a site that may originally have been occupied by 'the monastery of the Irish', and which was known to have existed in early Christian times. There is some evidence that the site may have housed an earlier version of the Courthouse.It has been modified extensively since then, most recently in 1990. It was damaged by fire in the 19th century and by explosion in the 20th.  Photo - Pat Devlin CLICK FOR LARGER PICTUREArdglass Castle: A range of fortified warehouses at the harbour entrance, dating from the 12th century and known as the Newark (the New Works) was acquired by Lord Charles Fitzgerald in 1790. He converted the central section into Ardglass Castle, which he sold to William Ogilvie in 1806. The property subsequently passed to his-son-in law Charles Beauclerc, who went bankrupt in 1896. The castle and grounds were bought by a group of local men wishing to start a golf club Photo - Pat Devlin CLICK FOR LARGER PICTUREThis is, from 1993 onwards, a complete list of the lectures organised by the Society down the years. Information about the early years will be provided when the relevant Programme details have been located.


Year Date Title Presenter
2017 16 January
20 February
20 March
10 April
18 Sept
16 October
11 December
History of the Down Recorder
Meeting House and Chapel
Shipwrecks of County Down
Wellington's Dearest Georgy (later Baroness de Ros)
Irish Tower Houses
Strangford's Southern Shore
Down Through the Years
Marcus Crighton
Dr Finbar McCormick
Ian Wilson
Alice Crossland
Professor Terry Barry
Janes Elliott
Berkley Farr
2016 18 January
15 February
14 March
18 April
19 Sept
17 October
12 December
Richard Hayward: Romancing Ireland
Travels of an Ulsterman
St Patrick around the World
The Whimsical lady Anne(1718-1789)
Pilson's Notable Inhabitants of Downparick
The Legacy of 1916
Folk and Fairy Tales of County Down
Paul Clements
Alan Johnston
Dr Tim Campbell
Nicholas Ward
Colm Rooney
Dr Feargal McGarry
Steve Lally
2015 19 January
16 February
16 March
20 April
21 Sept
19 October
8 December
Francis Hutcheson
The Anglo-Irish Negotiations of 1921
St Patrick's Cross: Rediscovery and Reconstruction
Transport and Industy in County Down
In Search of El Dorado
Heros, Shapeshifters and the Other World: Aspets of Irish Myths & Folk tradition
Down from Every Angle
Philip Orr
Patrick Cross
Mike King
Dr Mark Kennedy
Dr Greer Ramsey
Róise Ni Bhaoill
Mike Hartwell
2014 20 January
17 February
10 March
21 April
15 Sept
20 October
8 December
Wedding Dresses in the Museum Collection
A Forgotten Soldier
A Decade of Centeraries 1912 - 1922
Down in the Archices
From Powdered Dandy to Old Bear
Audleystown: Researching a Townland History
Down From Every Angle
Madeline McAllister
Jim Fitzsimons
Dr Eamonn Phoenix
Walter Love MBE
Peter Carr
Dr Brian Turner
Mike Hartwell
2013 21 January
18 February
11 March
15 April
16 Sept
21 October
9 December
Looking after precious objects
The decade that defined a century
Subduing the light - Irish stained glass
The Second Survey of Northern Ireland
The Annesleys and the development of Newcastle, Castlewellan and Mount Panther
Elections in County Down 1800 - 1921
Christmas Past
Madeline McAllister
John Killen
Colin Hatrick
Alastair Coey
Terence Reeves-Smyth
Prof. Brian Walker
Madeline McAllister
2012 16 January
20 February
12 March
16 April
17 Sept
15 October
10 December
Knowing our Place
Parks Gardens and Demensed of Lecale
St Patrick's Staff of Jesus
Downpatrick'd Sisters of Mercy
Strangford, Portrait of a Village
Four thousand lives lost - the Enquiries of Lord Mersey
A life in Songs and Stories
Dr Brian Turner
Terence Reeves-Smyth
Sarah Erskine
Sr. Marie Duddy
Colm Rooney
Dr Alaister Walker
The Percy French Society
2011 17 January
21 February
14 March
18 April
19 Sept
17 October
125 years of the GAA
Local herring fishing in the 19th and 20th centuries
The Treasures of Post-Patrician Ireland
The DeRos Family
St Patrick's Town
Keep the Home Fires Burning
Marice Hayes
Vivan Pollock
Dr Michael F. Ryan
Colm Rooney
Anthony Wilson
Philip Orr
2010 18 January
15 February
15 March
19 April
20 Sept
18 October
13 December
The Importance of being Wilde
Archibald Hamilton Rowand and Killyleagh Castle
Lecale Sites associated with St Patrick
The Neilsons
Sir Hans Sloan 1660-1735
The Ancient Gold of County Down
Advance of Gold
Maurice Cassidy
Philip Orr
Dr Finbar McCormick
Dr Roger Blaney
Dr Stanley Hawkins
Richard Warner
Peter Cavan
2009 19 January
16 February
16 March
20 April
21 September
19 October
14 December
Roads of County Down
The Belfast and Co. Down Railway
Down Cathedral
The Coastal Archaeology of Strangford Lough
Migration in Lecale History 1607-2007
Stone Circles and Monuments
More Images of Downe
Berkley Farr
Michael Collins
Fred Rankin
Sinead McCartan
Dr Brian Lambkin
Malachy Conway
Leslie Simpson
2008 21 January
18 February
10 March
21 April
15 September
20 October
15 December
Painting Lecale
Valuing the Past - Protecting our Historic Monuments
Aodh MacAingil 1576-1626 - Scholar, Poet Bishop
Monasteries of the North
A Century of Photographs
FJ Biggar - Ireland's Cultural Crusader
Sights Gone and Going in Co. Down
Richard Croft
Rhonda Robinson
Christopher Napier
Tony Fleck
Leslie Simpson
Roger Dixon
Alan Johnston
2007 15 January
19 February
12 March
16 April
17 September
15 October
17 December
Artists in County Down
Presbyterians and the Irish language
St. Patrick in the context of a 5th century Bishop
Richard Rowley, Poet of Mourne
Strangford - A Historic Village
The Flight of the Earls
Amanda McKittrick Ross Revisited
Brian Kennedy
Dr Roger Blaney
Mons. Raymond Murray
Victor Price
Eamon McMullan
Eamon O' Huallachan
Mrs Maxwell and Peter Cavan
2006 16 January
20 February
13 March
24 April
18 September
16 October
12 December
Artists in County Down
County Down Farming Families
St. Patrick and the fall of Ulster
Songs of County Down
Dawn of the Ulster Scots
Ardglass - an illustrated history.
Blue Plaques in County Down
Sean Nolan
Jonathan Bell
Richard Warner
Jackie Boyce
Mark Thompson
George Rice
Sean Nolan
2005 17 January
21 February
14 March
18 April
19 September
17 October
History and music of the uilleann pipes
Ireland's Eye: The Photographs of RJ Welch
Saint Patrick and Saint Columba: comparisons and contrasts
Landlord Response to the Famine in Co. Down - the Londonderry Estate
Strangford - a filmmaker's view
Down in Dundrum - an illustrated history.
Robbie Hughes
Dr Brian Turner
Cormac Bourke
Trevor Parkhill
Brian Black
Brownlow McClean
2004 19 January
16 February
15 March
19 April
20 September
18 October
13 December
Bishops and Churches of Lecale
"The Placenames of Roman Britain and Ireland" Language as a key to history
Churches - House of God: House of the People
Rambles round Lecale
Workhouses in Co. Down
Killough in the 19th century
Irish Christmases
Mgr. Ambrose Macaulay
Christopher Napier
Rev. Hugh Kennedy DD
Colm Rooney
Dr Ian Maxwell
Dr. Finbar McCormick
John Killen
2003 20 January
17 February
6 March
15 September
20 October
15 December
Marriage Customs
Bagenal's Castle
Recent Writings on St. Patrick
A Portrait of Lecale
Our Townlands
Down From The Air
Dr. Maura Crozier
Noreen Cunningham
Most Revd. Joseph Duffy
Prof. Ronnie Buchanan
Dr. Brian S. Turner
Dr. Noel Mitchel
2002 21 January
18 February
18 March
16 September
21 October
11 November
16 December
Family Names in Lecale
Joseph Campbell 1879- 1944: The Mountainy Singer
Images of St Patrick down the years (rescheduled to October)
Vikings in the North of Ireland
Images of St. Patrick down the Years
Charter Schools
The History of Ardglass and its Golf Club
Brian Turner
Sean Nolan
Prof. Peter Harbison
Dr. Cormac Bourke
Prof. Petr Harbison
Dr. Kenneth Milne
George Rice
2001 15 January
19 February
12 March
15 October
19 November
10 December
The Ulster-Scots and Irish languages
Down County Sources in PRONI
St Patricks Festival Lecture: Architecture of Downpatrick
Early Christian Symbolism and Irish Art
Killough: The Early years
Roads of County Down
Brian MacLochlin
Dr Ann McVeigh
Dick Oram
Mike King
Finbar McCormick
Barkley Farr
2000 17 January
21 February
20 March
16 October
20 November
11 December
William Crolly, Bishop of Down and Connor,Archbishop of Armagh
The Down Line (BCDR)
St. Malachi
An alternative Cromwell
Homage to Jack Magee: A journey in photographs through Lecale
Tracing ancestors and the work of the Ulster Historical Society
Mons. Ambrose Macaulay
B. McClean and Peter Davey
Mons. Ambrose Macaulay
Tom Reilly
Tony Wilson
Shane McAteer
1999 18 October
15 November
6 December
The Defence heritage Project focussing on Bishopscourt
The Tower Houses of Lecale
Farming in ireland 1000 years ago
Michael Coulter
Marion Meek
Finbar McCormick
1997 20 January
17 February
24 March
21 April
19 May
The Intertidal archeology of the Quoile Estuary
Michael McLaverty - Ulster Author
Marriage Customs in Ulster
Educational Records in PRONI - the Southwell Schools
Oram's Travels - Slide Show and Talk
Tom McErlean
Dr. Sophie King
Mrs Linda Ballard
Miss Valerie Adams
Dick Oram
1996 15 January
19 February
25 March
15 April
21 October
18 November
16 December
The de Ros family of Strangford
Farming in the past in Co. Down
The Linen Hall Library and its relevance to Downpatrick
Memorials for the dead in Lecale and beyond
More Ulster Women Writers
The Rise and Fall of Marcus Ward Ltd
Downpatrick during the War
David Maxwell
Dr Jonathan Bell
John Killen
Dr Finbarr McCormick
Brother Albert Trainor
Roger Dixon
Dr. Maurice Hayes
1995 16 January
20 February
20 March
16 May
16 October
20 November
The Ulster Plantation
Underwater Archaeology
Women in Irish Society
Historic Gardens in N. Ireland
Four Ulster Women Artists
Place names in the Barony of Iveagh
Dr Philip Robinson
Miss Claire Foley
Dr Myrtle Hill
Mrs Belinda Jupp
Brother Albert Trainor
Dr Kay Muhr
1994 17 January
21 February
21 March
18 April
16 May
20 June
17 October
21 November
The Forde Family and Estates
The Titanic and some Ulster Families
Old Downpatrick Buildings
County Down in the Seventeenth Century
Field Trip to Ballance House, Glenavy and the Middle Church, Ballinderry
Walkabout in Portaferry and District
The Magennis Family
Antique Silver
Mr Patrick Forde
Mr Douglas Carson
Miss Marion Meek
Dr Raymond Gillespie
Mr Trevor Neill
Professor R.H. Buchanan
Mr Harold O'Sullivan
Mr Mark Donnelly
1993 18 January
15 February
15 March
19 April
17 May
18 October
15 November
The Battle of Ballynihinch
The Archaeology of Co. Down from the air
Garibaldi Nelson - Romantic Adventurer and Opthalmic Surgeon
Rev. E. Hincks - Egyptologist and Assyriologist
Some aspects of Irish Bardic poetry
The Story of the Dead Sea Scrolls
The Highest Call - Ulster and the American Presidency
Trevor Neill
Noel Mitchel QUB
Jack Magee
Dr. W.D. Baillie
Canon J. Maguire
Brother Albert Trainor
Mr R. Hanna
1992 21 September
19 October
16 November
The evolution of Ulster towns
Down with cars
The language and place names of Lecale
Dr WH Crawford (Ulster Folk and Transport Museum)
J. Moore (Ulster Folk and Transport Museum)
Brothe Albert Trainor
1985 21 January
18 February
Education in Lecale
Yesterday in Down
George Rice
Jack Magee
1984 16 April
21 May
17 September
18 November
Architectural History
Local Birds
My three churches
B.C. Down Railway
Hugh Dixon
Ian Forsythe Q.U.B.
Rev. W.E. Kennedy
R.J.A.Pue
1982 18 January
15 February
19 April
A Talk on birds
The History and pre history of Lough Neagh and Lower Bann
Folk Lore of the Mournes
Dinah Browne
N. Mitchel
Dr Haughton Crowe