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Newcastle
In the year that the Spanish Armada set sail to attack England, an Irish chieftain was laying the first foundation stones of what was to become the basis of modern-day Newcastle. |
Felix Magennis, chieftain of the Magennis and Lord of Inveigh, the Barony in which in which Newcastle is situated, founded his "New Castle" at the Shimna River estuary because of the strategic importance of the region. A small village grew up around the castle, but the dwellings were scattered and the occupants made a meagre living through the harvest of the sea.
Magennis' Castle was not the beginning of man's habitation of this part of the County Down coast. However people have been living here for thousands of years, and among the earliest evidence of local habitation is a number of artefacts found at Furlough Nature Reserve, some two miles from the centre of Modern-day Newcastle. Items uncovered here were used by Neolithic man some 5,000 years ago.
There is other evidence, in the form of ancient monuments, dotted all over Newcastle and the surroundings area. Near Furlough is a dolmen, a table of standing stones, which it is believed may be the burial site of a local chieftain. A few miles away at Maghera village is an ancient ruin and a graveyard, where St. Domanagart, who gave his name to Slieve Donard, is said to have founded a church in the 16th century. The stump of a round tower is also visible on the site. In the foothills of the Mournes, between Bryansford and Kilcoo, a well preserved souterrain (underground passage) still exists at Dromena Cashel, while at Dundrum (four miles from Newcastle) is a spectacular example of a 12th century Norman Castle. Dundrum Castle was built by John DeCourcy, the first Earl of Ulster, in 1177 and was the scene of many famous sieges before being dismantled by Cromwell in 1652.
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