All
An extract from Picturesque Handbook to Carlingford Lough (see
http://www.oldwarrenpointforum.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=71&t=2813&p=30977&hilit=handbook#p30977 ). Note the sentiments of the author even this long ago on the opportunities for development of the Lough. I recommend reading the full book, for the information on the area as it largely was c160 years ago, and for the quality of the prose.
Regards
Jim
"There is a lovely walk, in a deep glen, thickly planted with old oak and ash trees, running parallel with the park in rear of the house, which ascends the hill to Upper Fathom. In this wizard glen are the remains of a roofless octagonal tower: although in ruins, it appears to be a modern structure. Contiguous to this spot once stood a fortress, erected by Shane O'Neill, to guard the frontier of his kingdom of Ulster, mention of which is thus made in history :—" At this time (the reign of Edward VI.), Sir Nicholas Bagnal, Knight, Marshall of Ireland, upon coming into these parts, found the lordships of Newry and Mourne altogether waste, and Shane O'Neill dwelling within a mile of Newry, at a castle called Fedom, suffering none to travel from Dundalk northward; but after the buildings and fortifications of Sir Nicholas Bagnal, all the passages were laid open, and much of the country adjacent was reduced to civility."
There is a cluster of houses here at the Fathom Sea Locks, the largest and prettiest of which is that occupied by Mr. Ramsay, C.E., the resident engineer of the Newry Navigation Company, of whom we have just spoken. We now pass along the new canal, which is in course of construction, from Fathom, two miles farther seaward : on our right hand, abruptly rising from the road, ascend the wooded Mountains of Fathom. At the Rough Island, there is a neat steam sawmill, for sawing into railway sleepers, &c., the timber which is thinned out of the flourishing plantations on the mountains' side, great quantities of which have been exported hence to England during the last ten years. Contiguous is Orier House, the pretty seat of Seacome Ellison Bilbrough, Esq., member of an affluent and respected mercantile firm of Liverpool, and who, having bought the lease of the plantations already noticed, and in the midst of which the house is situated, has come to live here during the unexpired term of his purchase. Though a young man, and his property in this place not of a staple and enduring character, such as to give him more than a temporary interest in the locality, his deportment has earned him general respect among the humbler classes, and esteem amongst his equals.
After crossing the stream, which here divides Armagh and Louth, our road for the next two miles is separated from the river by a thick flourishing plantation, which adds to the beauty, while it diminishes the extent of the view. Approaching the Bay once more, directly opposite to Warrenpoint, we come to the beautiful little Church of Omeath, with a School-house nestling beside it, seen in our sketch of O'Hagan's Hotel. Adjoining the churchyard is a pretty glebe house, the residence of the minister, the Rev. Mr. Browne; a spacious modern building, surrounded by young plantains, which, when they grow up, will greatly beautify it. Next is Captain Nunn's elegant cottage, with its tastefully arranged planted park and gardens. There are several cottages along the shore neatly fitted np for bathers. There are constabulary and coast-guard stations, a post-office, and a well- attended national-school here.
Next is O'Hagan's, from the front windows of which is obtained a splendid prospect of singularly wild and beautiful scenery : and if such a prospect, with excellent cheer, a seaman's welcome, and an intelligent host, constitute any attractions for tourists and bathers, commend us, by all means, to the Captain and the assiduous hospitality of his wife. We are glad to hear that he has got a lease of these premises, which, we confidently predict, will, before long, become a place of universal resort by all frequenters of either shores of the Bay.
What a fortune would not a London licensed victualler make of the place! A small steam-boat, with a penny fare, running across the Bay, would load, from stem to stern, for a dozen times a day, in summer time, and open up a new source of attraction altogether in the neighbourhood, with infinitely increased profit to every portion of it. Omeath being excellently sheltered, and the ground around admirably adapted for villas, there can be no doubt that a resident population of great respectability will locate here, once access may be had to Warrenpoint by the steamer suggested, and by the contemplated railroad with Newry and Greenore, on its own side the Bay—to which project the authorities at the Admiralty have given their sanction, having laid down the line themselves, on the plan submitted to them by Mr. Bush, the engineer. No absurd notions of rivalry or jealousy should be suffered to restrict the vast resources that now lie, comparatively undeveloped, on both sides this most favoured Bay. As, to take a familiar example, the more Liverpool prospers, the more does Birkenhead, on the opposite bank of the Mersey—one cannot improve without improving the other; so it would be between Warrenpoint and Rosstrevor on the one side, and Omeath on the other, were the facilities we speak of at hand.
Let but the traffic and the population be brought towards the district, and all the district will profit by it, just in the mode that each portion is fitted to do. Let but the Bar be deepened, as it speedily will be; let a mail-packet station for the north of Ireland be established at Greenore, with a rail thence through Car- lingford to Newry, joining the Newry and Enniskillen and the Belfast Junction;—let this be done, and shipping enough will enter the Bay to treble the trade of Newry and Warrenpoint in three years—to add fifty per cent to the value of building land about Rosstrevor—to reanimate Carlingford with some slight spice of its olden bustle—and to impart something like its actual worth to the fruitful, but comparatively marketless soil, running by the shore from Carlingford right up to Newry. What living being is there whom this state of things would, in the remotest conceivable degree, injure? Not a soul: every body is interested in bringing it about, and brought about it will be before long. Whoever reads these lines in August, 1848, will be then aware of facts that are now a matter of conjecture, made under circumstances that lend to prediction the certainty of truth.
And now, having jotted down these remarks—for having made which, one day or other (the sooner the better, for we should like a little immortality in our lifetime) a monument will be erected to us, in front of O'Hagan's Hotel, of the same form and dimensions as the Ross Obelisk—let us pursue our way."
Regards
Jim
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