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Ardglass Timeline |
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Dunsford Timeline |
The Ardglass Harbour 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. In 1834 a new pier was constructed at an expense of £25,000 under the superintendence of Sir John Rennie, for which purpose an Act of Parliament received the Royal Assent on the 14th of June, 1827.
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Sir John Rennie's Proposed Scheme 1809
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Ardglass Harbour c.1910
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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. |
The Ardglass Inner Harbour and Dock The Ardglass Inner harbour and Dock were originally called Kimmersport and then Beauclerk's harbour for it was built by the Beauclerk estate. The pier was built first and then the large potatoe and grain stores were built (known locally as Leneghans stores). Eventually a dock was built which which provided shelter for the small boats against the worst storms. The construction period for all this work was between approximately 1830 and 1850. This painting shows Harry and Helen McKay (nee Brown) going out towards the lighthouse at the end of the inner pier to light the gas light which was used for navigation purposes. This light is also used for navigation purposes. The painting is by Noel Magee
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Harry and Helen Brown lighting the gas light
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