The Anglo-Norman town of Carlingford is a positive heritage story with a majestic setting on the Cooley Peninsula, writes Eileen Battersby.
Long before the Anglo-Normans established the first settlement, possibly even earlier, before marauding Viking long ships had cruised the famous lough and bequeathed the name Carlinn Fjord, or the Fjord of Carlinn, on what remains an atmospheric heritage town, the dramatically beautiful topography of the Cooley Peninsula had played its part in the 8th century Irish epic, the Táin Bó Cuailnge. It took the presence of a prized brown bull to draw the avaricious Queen Medbh to this mountainous coastal region in which the North meets the South. Most visitors now arrive in search of pleasure rather than conquest.
Situated equidistant between Belfast and Dublin, the Cooley Peninsula, on the northern edge of Co Louth, offers the romance of myth and legend, battles lost and won and also spans Irish history. This is a place that has often suffered hardship, most recently through the devastation of the Foot-and-Mouth crisis, yet has survived. Walkers and cyclists have long enjoyed the region, but there is a particular pleasure in exploring the landscape on horseback - after all, few animals possess as well defined a sense of history and occasion as the horse, who enjoys pride of place on the peninsula.
Among the range of ancient monuments is the famous Proleek dolmen, a huge portal tomb with a massive capstone believed to weigh about 40 tons. The capstone rests on three stones and the raising of it testifies to a remarkable combination of engineering and strength. At the time of its construction, little thought would have been given to what would eventually share its immediate landscape.
Centuries after the tomb had become a silent feature, as familiar to the passing birds as a tree or a stone, a hotel was built near it. So the great field monument set on a river terrace to the west of the River Flurry is now to be found at the north edge of the Ballymascanlon House Hotel golf course. Golfers and monument co-exist and nearby is a good example of a wedge tomb. In keeping with the region's store of myth and legend, there is the belief that the defeated giant Parra Buí MacShane lies here, having been slain by Finn McCool. And there are those who maintain that if you succeed in pitching a stone to land and rest on the top of the capstone, you will be married before the year is out.
The archaeology, spanning the Neolithic tombs to Plantation castles such as Moyry Castle, includes some fascinating Bronze Age standing stones, ceremonial stone circles and alignments and examples of rock art. Architecture of the medieval period is well represented in a living context in the heritage town of Carlingford and its neighbour, the former Gaeltacht village of Omeath, where Patrick Pearse is reported to have first drafted the 1916 Proclamation.
Although the natural landscape of the Cooley Peninsula, a slender mountainous finger of land spanning just 11 square miles and reaching down into the Irish Sea, has sufficient appeal to keep the visitor climbing the hills, Carlingford, population 700 souls, is one of the most attractive towns in Ireland, the port at which, according to legend, St Patrick landed on his second visit to Ireland.
Carlingford, granted the first of its five charters in 1229, is an example of heritage being preserved without having to endure commercial exploitation in the process. The heritage information is beautifully presented, making effective use of period maps, watercolours and memoirs. The centrepiece is an excellent Medieval Town Map published by the Carlingford Lough Heritage Trust.
There is an impressive range of medieval and period buildings, including the Tholsel, the only survivor of the four original town gates. There are also specialist shops, smart restaurants, two adventure and activity centres, a marina, an international cookery school, golf, art workshops, music festivals, guided tours and quality sea and inland fishing. The effect is subtle and relaxed, not pushy. This is a town with residents as much as seasonal visitors; the medieval and modern co-exist.
BEST OF ALL, it was the community itself, conscious of its legacy, that set out to look after both the wonders and the burdens of a complex past. The town has shaped a tourism package created around the Táin, this is heritage tourism at its most responsible. Having gained support during recent years from Louth County Council, the EU Programme for Peace and Reconciliation, FÁS and the International Fund for Ireland, the area has been able to maintain and develop a unique tourism experience that highlights its physical, cultural and historical resources.
"Carlingford was by-passed when the roads closed the old railway line, so was left behind by the Industrial Revolution," says Frances Taylor, Cooley Peninsula tourism officer, "but its decline ensured its survival. The old buildings are untouched. We've also had to contend with the Troubles in the North and, more recently, the Foot-and-Mouth crisis when there wasn't a sheep left to be heard or seen on the hillsides. But the community wanted the area to survive, and it has. This is a positive heritage story."
The physical setting is special, flanked by the highest peak of the Cooley Mountains, Sliabh Foy or Foye, the Mourne Mountains and by the sheltered waters of Carlingford Lough, it is an Anglo-Norman town dominated by the 13th-century fortress, King John's Castle, which sits on a rocky outcrop above the 18th-century harbour. The oval-shaped castle was constructed, possibly on the site of an earlier building, between Hugh de Lacy's acquisition of the eastern part of the Cooley Peninsula in 1195 and the arrival of King John in 1210. His Highness stayed for only three days or so. The de Lacy connection is far more enduring.
Having promised his daughter to Richard de Burgo, a fellow Anglo-Norman noble, de Lacy was outraged to discover that the girl had fallen in love with de Whyte, the Knight of Ballug Castle, situated south of Carlingford. De Burgo was outraged. He imprisoned and tortured the unfortunate de Whyte who died in the castle. De Lacy's daughter, the grieving lover, knew nothing of the truth and then married De Burgo.
The dead suitor did not rest easy. His ghost took to walking up from the torture chamber, along the corridors and up and down the turret steps. Lady De Burgo eventually discovered her husband's role in the murder and left him. De Burgo was doomed to listening to his victim's ghostly pacing. But, and this is where the story collapses, Lady De Burgo apparently forgave her husband, returned to him and moved to Downpatrick.
After sharing the secular trials of the De Burgos, it seems correct to walk down the town and next visit the Church of the Holy Trinity. Standing above the road, the church is surrounded by a small graveyard. The oldest tombstone, marking the grave of a young girl, is dated 1703. The foundation of the church is believed to be 13th century. There is evidence of a later pointed arch doorway, of 16th or 17th-century origin. The entire building is believed to have been rebuilt between 1699 and 1709, while the present structure, which has been extensively renovated and now serves as the heritage centre, was largely rebuilt in 1804.
While the Church of the Holy Trinity resembles a witness of the 19th century, the Dominican Friary, dedicated to St Malachy, testifies to the presence of the Dominican order which came to Carlingford in 1305. Parts of the nave and chancel remain, as do fragments of the domestic buildings, including a mill, mill race and mill pond. When the Dominicans and Franciscans were in dispute over repossession in the 1670s, Oliver Plunkett decided in favour of the Dominicans.
WALKING BACK TOWARDS the centre of town, Dundalk Street runs parallel to Tholsel Street. A small house marks the birthplace of Irish patriot and Canadian parliamentarian, Thomas Darcy McGee. On entering Market Square, you are standing at the heart of the Anglo-Norman town, back up towards the Tholsel. Othe right is the Mint, a three-storey fortified townhouse dating from the 15th or 16th century, with five decorated limestone windows. Permission to mint coinage was granted to Carlingford in 1467, but it is unlikely this building ever served as a mint. It was probably home to a merchant as was nearby Taaffe's Castle. Home to the Taaffe family, who became the earls of Carlingford in 1661, it would also have served as their business residence.
In 1772, traveller and travel writer, the Rev Pococke described Carlingford as "a poor town of one long Street of cabins, at the foot of the high craggy mountains, from which several little streams descend and pass through the town". According to Lewis's Topographical Dictionary of Ireland in 1837, "the town is beautifully situated on the south west of the spacious lough or bay to which it gives its name." It is an apt description, although best of all is the perceptive comment made by the Rev Laurence Murray, antiquarian and heritage campaigner, who remarked, in 1914, on the town's "medieval suggestiveness", adding that "it carries one back many centuries and fills the mind with vague dreamings". Carlingford still possesses both atmosphere and possibilities.