Memories of Drumnaquoile Cross

I enjoyed reading the Drumaroad history website site, passed on to me from Eamon, my brother, from Teconnaught. I was particularly interested on the links to the Drumnaquoile cross, and the bit on the Savages, by Colin J. Robb. I remember C.J.Robb who lived at the Spa, and who came into my parent's pub, The Star Bar, High Street, Ballynahinch. He would come in usually on Thursday market day, have a whiskey or two and chat to the mainly country folk in for the market.

Fr. Cahill, or the Canon as he became known, prompted the building of the cross on top of the hill at Drumnaquoile, and the altar at top of the first field above the Drumnaquoile road. I was then seven years old, and had spent the summer holidays with my great aunt Lena Laverty, (nee Savage), who was married to Willie Laverty. They farmed the surrounding fields and land on which the cross and altar were erected. Lena Savage originated from Drumaroad/Dunturk area, and had sisters: Martha (who lived in Seaforde); Maggie (married to Pat Barr near Dundrum); Lily (married late in life to George Bell of Ballynahinch); and two other sisters whose names I don't recall for certainty, other than one was a Mary Jane I think. My maternal grandfather, James O'Connor, originally from Dunturk married one of these sisters, and after her death, married the other. My brother Eamon is married to Anna Savage, from Drumaness, and there are connections between her side of the Savage family and myown through Grandad O'Connor.

Work on the Drumnaquoile cross and altar started the week after I had returned home to Ballynahinch at the start of the new school term, and I remember being disappointed at not staying for the work to begin. That would have been at the end of August or early September. The granite stones had already arrived and were left at the bottom of what even then the family called the "chapel field", and in which the altar was built. I remember the stones in the field, but have no recollection of their actual arrival and suspect we were working away at the time harvesting on land owned by the family across on Dunturk mountain, then called by them "The Big Fella's". I recall Uncle Willie buying that small farm and suspect the previous owner was the said "Fella".

I recall a grand opening or consecration ceremony some time afterwards, with lots of clergy and laity, and Aunt Lena, with her daughter Mary, and helped by the ladies of the parish, providing tea etc in the farmhouse just 100 yards up the road from the chapel field. There were similar gatherings annually for several years after that when Mass was celebrated in the chapel field, but I recall that after Canon Cahill died, interest waned and the annual gatherings ceased. There used to be lots of framed photos of the gatherings on the walls of the Laverty farmhouse, which has now passed on through their daughter Mary, who in the mid 1950's married Eddie Fegan who came from somewhere along the coast south of Newcastle. One of their sons still has the land there.

Fond memories!

Jim O'Rourke

Yorkshire Dales