Cushendall – A Colourful Village with a Colourful History
Introduction
“….one of the sweetest villages in Ulster”
Black’s Guide to Belfast, the Giant’s Causeway and the North of Ireland, 1871
Cushendall is a pretty little village on the north Antrim coast. Established in the 17th century, it has long been a popular stopping place for tourists and visitors. In 1973 it became the second village in Northern Ireland to be awarded Conservation status and it is recognised as ‘Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty’.
The name Cushendall comes from the Irish Cois Abhann Dalla meaning ‘foot of the river Dall’. The Dall is actually the convergence of two rivers the Glenaan and the Ballyemon. Dall means ‘the dark one’. For a time in the 1600’s the village was called Newtownglens.
Cushendall Setting
Cushendall is situated in the barony of Glenarm Lower and the parish of Layd. It is just less than 48 miles north of Belfast. The village is located at the junction of three of Antrim’s nine Glens –Glenaan, Glenballyemon and Glencorp. It is sheltered by the table-topped mountain of Lurigethan.
Lurigethan, sometimes just known as Lurig, is a steep-sided mountain rising to a height of 1,253 ft. Its defensive qualities plus its flat top that stretches for 2 miles have been appreciated since ancient times. The remains of a prehistoric promontory fort can be found on the summit. This strategic Bronze Age battlement would have had commanding views over the surrounding glens and across the sea to Scotland.
The Tale of Ossian
Not surprisingly, this atmospheric mountain is steeped in myth and folklore. Finn McCool, leader of the ancient band of Irish warriors, the Fianna, is said to have been born on Lurigethan. And it was here on the plateau, in the 2nd century, he met and defeated the armies of Connaught led by Goll Macmorna.
Finn’s son Ossian (Oisin), a warrior and poet, was also born on Lurigethan. Once while out riding with his companions, (as every Irish child knows), Ossian happened upon a beautiful maiden named Niamh. She was the daughter of the king of Tír na nÓg (Land of the Young). Enchanted, Ossian accompanied Niamh back to her homeland. Here the couple lived happily together for 3 years.
However, Ossian missed his family and friends and desired to return to visit them. Niamh was reluctant but could not bear to see him so homesick. So, she gave Ossian her magical white horse and let him return but with the warning that his feet should not touch Irish soil.
However, when Ossian returned, he could find no trace of his loved ones and the buildings he remembered were all in ruins. As he rode around on his white steed, he came across three old men trying to shift a boulder. Ossian leaned over to help them but lost his balance and fell to the ground. He immediately turned into a decrepit old man – 3 years in Tír na nÓg equalled 300 years in the real world!
Ossian died soon after and was buried on the slopes of Lurigethan. His grave, sometimes referred to as Lubitavish Court Tomb, can still be visited today. The semi-circular stone arrangement opens onto a two-chambered burial gallery. Facing south-east, it has peaceful views over the surrounding countryside and beyond.
‘We stood and pondered on the stones
whose plan displays their pattern still;
the small blunt arc, and, sill by sill,
the pockets stripped of shards and bones.
The legend has it, Ossian lies
beneath this landmark on the hill,
asleep till Fionn and Oscar rise
to summon his old bardic skill
in hosting their last enterprise’.
From ‘Ossian’s Grave’ by John Hewitt, 1962
In later times, this area of County Antrim was attacked and captured by Anglo-Norman invaders. They ousted the local Irish chieftains and held sway here until the 14th century.
In the late 14th century, John Mor MacDonald, second son of the Lord of the Isles, wed Margery Bisset. Margery was the daughter of Mac Eoin Bisset, Lord of the Glens and Sabia O’Neill of the O’Neill clan. The Bissets (Byset) were of Scottish-Norman descent and had arrived in Ireland, under dubious circumstances, in the mid-13th century. As was customary, MacDonald now held all his wife’s inherited lands.
During the reign of the English queen Elizabeth I (1533-1603), Cushendall was ‘granted’ to the son of Henry Knowles (Knolly), vice-chamberlain and treasurer to the Crown. However, it was subsequently in the territory of Sorley Boy MacDonnell. The clan burying ground is at Bonamargy (see link below to the post Bonamargy Friary – War, Treasure and the Black Nun’s Ghost).
In the decade after the Battle of the Boyne in 1690, the area became the property of the English business known as the ‘Hollow Blade Sword Company’. This company, formed in 1691 by goldsmith Sir Stephen Evance, used German techniques and German craftsmen to produce a hollow and therefore lighter sword which was easier to wield.
When the Hollow Sword business failed, the village was sold to a Dr William Richardson. It was this gentleman who, for a time, changed the name from Cushendall to Newtownglens.
By the early 19th century Cushendall consisted of a considerable number of houses, a corn-mill, a flax-mill, a barracks and a post office, the postmaster being one Randall McDonnell. It also had four “tolerable” shops, four smaller ones and six public houses.
In the 1817 Statistical Account of Ardclinis and Laid, the author mentions that the little Catholic Church in Cushendall had been enhanced by the planting of a great number of trees by Cushendall-born Dr James McDonnell (see link to the post James McDonnell – The Father of Belfast Medicine).
“If his good wishes for the parish could be properly supported, he (McDonnell) is entitled to every person’s thanks for his endeavours to promote knowledge and give medical advice to those who apply from the district, which he estimates highly as the place of his nativity”
Francis Turnly
Restoration of the Village Name
In the 19th century, the village was owned by Francis John Seymour Turnly, a descendant of the ancient Norman family of Turnley (the surname can be spelt with or without the ‘e’).
He had several impressive buildings constructed on Cushendall’s four main streets. These Georgian buildings can still be seen today and include the Curfew Tower. Turnly restored the original name of the village and also had a road built around Red Bay approaching the village.
Family Background
Francis Turnly was born in 1765, it is believed, in Newtownards. He was the fourth of seven children – 3 boys and 4 girls. His father, also Francis, was a merchant, businessman and landowner in counties Antrim and Down.
The Turnly’s also owned a large brewery near Queen’s Bridge at Donegall Quay in Belfast, near their residence. Francis’s mother was Catherine Black. Her father was from Belfast but had business interests in Bordeaux, France and her mother was from Aberdeen in Scotland. Catherine was the sister of noted chemist Joseph Black, famed for his innovative techniques and the discovery of magnesium and carbon dioxide. The family were among the elite of the town’s mercantile community and were in partnership with prestigious Batt family.
Education and Career
Francis (junior) enrolled in Glasgow University, where he studied moral and natural philosophy, completing his studies in 1784.
The following year, as a young man (and second son), he was sent to China to join the East India Company. He was employed here for 15 years amassing a large fortune of over £60,000.
Return to Ireland
On his return to Ireland in 1801 Turnly bought Richmond Lodge at Knocknagoney in County Down. Despite the name Lodge this was a substantial mansion built around 1798 and set in 24 acres.
He also owned several properties in Belfast. Subsequently Turnly purchased the Cushendall estate. He served as High Sheriff of Down in 1806 and of County Antrim in 1824.
On 6th July 1804 Francis married Dorothea Emilia Rochfort, daughter of John Rochfort of Cloghrenance in County Carlow. The couple had 8 children, 6 boys and 2 girls – John (who died in infancy), Francis, Robert Alexander, Joseph, John, Charles Horace, Dorothea Anna and Catherine.
Construction of Drumnasole House
In 1808, Francis paid £7,400 for a property at Drumnasole. (A provision of the sale was that the purchase price was to be paid in gold sovereigns). Here he built the impressive Drumnasole House.
The project took nearly 20 years to complete. The grand mansion was composed of local basalt and had a basement. The central doorway was flanked by 4 unfluted Doric columns and was reached by 6 sandstone steps with a curving balustrade.
“Mr Turnly is building a most commodious and excellent house, 63 feet square, and four stories high, including garrets and underground apartments with back additions”
Statistical Account of Ardclinis and Laid, 1817
In 1901 81-year-old John Turnly and his 80-year-old wife Charlotte, were residing at Drumnasole House. Also living with them was their unmarried daughter Augusta and 5 year old granddaughter Sybil Bagwell.
Among the servants living on the premises were Thomas Wilson (25) coachman, Susan McGooken (23) housemaid, Annie Neeley (26) cook, Annie McCreary (40) general servant and Ada Quinn (22) nurse. The house at this time was described as containing 32 rooms and 29 front windows. Outbuildings consisted of a stable, a coach house, a harness room, cow and calf houses, a dairy, a piggery, a fowl house, a boiling house, a barn, shed and store, a potato store and a laundry.
“Drumnasole, the beautiful seat of John Turnly, J P., Dl., occupies a romantic site at the foot of a pine-clad hill, near the village of Carnlough, co. Antrim. Around it are pretty and well-timbered grounds, some three acres in extent”
Robert M Young, Belfast and the Province of Ulster, 1909
Francis Turnly – Charitable Support for Cushendall and its Environs
Francis Turnly seems to have been blessed with a philanthropic nature, probably inherited from his father who was involved with many Belfast charities.
As a student in Scotland, he sent home money for the purchase of wheaten bread and soup to be distributed to the needy of Belfast.
As a landlord he improved the roads around his County Antrim estate and had school houses built for his workers’ children.
“Mr Turnley was a most active and benevolent man. He was the first to improve the coast road at his own expense; cut the arch at Red Bay through the sandstone rock, and spared no expense in the improvement of his own village of Cushendall”
George Benn, A History of the Town of Belfast, Vol 2 1880
The Curfew Tower
In 1821 Turnly had the Curfew Tower constructed in the centre of Cushendall village. This had a dual purpose. The bell was to be rung at 9 o’clock every night and in times of emergency and for curfews so acting as a public clock and early warning system.
While the tower itself was to imprison criminals and ‘idlers’. It was 45 ft high and 17ft square. It had 3 storeys, each one a single room with the cell on the ground level. The building was designed on the model of a Chinese watchtower.
A decorative but practical stone fountain was set into one of the building’s walls, for both thirsty humans and animals.
By the end of the 19th century the ground floor was used as a reservoir for the village water supply which was sourced from a rock spring some quarter of a mile away.
The first person employed in the tower was ex-soldier Dan McBride. One source claims he was given a year’s supply of food and informed that he must never leave the premises. He was armed with a musket, a brace of pistols, a bayonet and a 13ft long pike. The tower was always to be amply stocked with food and coals. It seems that Francis was rather paranoid with the idea of a siege!
Latter Days
As time went on Francis Turnly seems to have become more eccentric. His views, while perhaps a little odd, seem to come from a genuine desire to do good. When he died on 10th January 1845, aged 80, his will was contested and overturned. The implication being that Turnly was insane. A later account describes Turnly as having “queer, disordered, uncontrolled notions in his head” (Ballymoney Free Press, 11th September 1924)
However his philanthropy is acknowledged.
“He believed that just as the integration of numbers is possible in mathematics, human society and nations throughout the world could be integrated by the operation of reason, by the influence of the spoken word and the Word in the biblical sense, and by the cumulative effects of local and individual acts of philanthropy”
Linde Lunney Dictionary of Irish Biography
Francis was buried in Nappan graveyard at Killycrappin. The vault also contains the remains of Dorethea who passed away on 7th August 1866, and sons Francis (died 1831) and Joseph (died 1836).
Cushendall Village
In 1837 Cushendall contained about 90 houses and had 481 inhabitants. The town is described in Samuel Lewis’s Topographical dictionary as “beautifully situated within a quarter mile from the sea….with a handsome bridge and neatly built”
The bay provided good anchorage and there were 8 fairs a year “chiefly for Raghery ponies, cattle, sheep and provisions”.
Due to its scenic location Cushendall was a favourite holiday destination.
“Cushendall is a tourist place of the first rank. The inhabitants, although occupied in farming and other pursuits, are not slow to appreciate the advantages to be gained by catering to the wants of the thousands from all over the world, who annually stop at the village on their way round the coast.
The bathing facilities and salubrious air attract families from other parts of Ireland, and from England and Scotland. Plenty of bathing boxes are provided, and there is a safe strand, about a quarter of a mile in length”
George Henry Bassett, County Antrim, A Guide and Directory, 1888
Visitors were accommodated in a number of hotels and inns over the years including Waterside House proprietor James Nobbs and the Cushendall Inn proprietor Francis Kennedy.
The most famous of these establishments was arguably the Glens of Antrim Hotel. This was the ‘brainchild’ of Dr Richardson but was completed by Francis Turnly. It was a substantial building in a picturesque setting.
“There is a large and convenient house begun by William Richardson Esq and finished by Mr Turnly, the present possessor of Cushendall; it is intended for a Hotel, with convenient stabling so as to induce people to visit the town for the purpose of bathing, and travellers to stop at; the house is near the sea, and water plenty at all times of the tide for bathing”
Richard Dobbs, Statistical Account of Ardclinis and Laid 1817
Innovation
In 1924, Cushendall became one of the first villages in Ireland to have electric street lighting. Local miller, Anthony O’Connor, moving with the times, converted his milling business into generating electricity at a cost of £2,000.
The Cushendall Electric, Light and Power Company was powered by a 15 BHP water turbine from the mill race on Mill Street. Six lights were installed in the village – 1 on Mill Street, 1 on High Street, 4 along Shore Street and 1 on Bridge Street outside the Cushendall Hotel.
Cushendall Today
Today Cushendall is still a pretty, friendly, colourful and busy village, although the sight of the empty hotel on the way into the village is disappointing.
It has a range of restaurants, pubs and shops. Cushendall is also famous for its successful hurling team – Ruiari Og – founded in 1906, which has won the Ulster championship 11 times.
The Heart of the Glens
Every August, Cushendall hosts the Heart of the Glens Festival, a nod to the numerous fairs once held in the village.
The 9-day ‘party’ consists of numerous events, culminating in a ceili with the streets lined with dancers partaking in the ‘Waves of Tory’.
“Nature has done so much for Cushendall, that human effort, however magnificently directed, could do very little that would be worthy of comparison. Mountains of great height, and glens of surpassing loveliness, give to the scenery of the coast at this point a grandeur indescribable”.
George Henry Bassett, County Antrim A Guide and Directory 1888
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