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William Ogilvie

The fortunes of Ardglass changed when Mr William Ogilvie bought the estate of his stepson Lord Charles Fitzgerald. He set about the task of modernising the village, building new streets, baths, rebuilding the church of Ireland and constructing a new hotel with lodging houses. But the provision of a harbour was his main concern, as the only refuge for small boats was in an area called 'God's Pocket' or 'Kimmersport', which is where the Ardglass dock is today. He engaged the famous engineer Sir John Rennie and on 17th March 1809 Rennie submitted his first report with a map and estimates.

After much lobbying success finally came in 1813 when an act of Parliament secured the provision of a pier and lighthouse for £31,548. Stones for forming the pier were brought in from the Isle of Man. Soon Ardglass became a prominent port again. The harbour could not keep up with demand and in 1827 another Act of Parliament was secured to extend the pier. This work was undertaken in 1829 by Rennie but on completion it was seen as still not adequate so Ogilvie applied for a loan of £6,650 from the Board of Works. Although the loan was successful, Ogilvie died in 1832 and lack of more investment caused the project to halt.

Although Ogilvie's heir, his grandson Major Aubrey William Beauclerk did not have the same interest in the village he nevertheless pursued the progress of the harbour and in 1878 the harbour was granted £20,000 with the local landlord and rate payers paying £5000.

Since then, Ardglass harbour has been developed on several occasions and brought under the ownership of the government. As recently as 2004 a new breakwater has been developed allowing much larger ships to use the port. The town now has fish processing plants and the fish industry started by Ogilvie is sustaining the village today.