Islandmagee
is a not an island but a small peninsula in County Antrim, situated on
the East coast of Northern
Ireland. I had the
pleasure of visiting in 1995. The people were very
friendly and hospitable. I had not planned well as I thought
I
was arriving a day later. I went to the tourist office in
Belfast
and found a farm bed and 
breakfast near Ballycarry.
The
owners not only drove me around Islandmagee
but also found some people with the Haveron name in Whitehead, a nearby
town, and connected me with them.
The Haveron family were not related to my Haveron family but generously invited me to say at their home. They were Catholic and my Irish family was Protestant, although this is not a significant difference in Canada it was in Ireland at the time and I certainly appreciated their hospitality.
I arrived in Ireland a couple days before Orange Day: the Protestant's parades and celebration of the Battle of Boyne (1690) where William of Orange stole James II's crown and Catholics plotted to restore James to the throne. Traditionally- people listened to religious/political speeches and now there are parades of Protestants..... offending Catholics.
On July 12th I woke to the loud sound of drums and music outside my window. It was from the Orange Day parade. That evening we ventured into Carrickfergus for dinner and found that there had been a bombing on the main road and we could not get through. I was a bit scared but everything turned out OK and I had a great stay in the area.
Maggie Jane Kerr was born in a house in Ballystrudder on Islandmagee. There are no old homes there now so I wasn't able to see where she was born. It is a beautiful area; rolling hills and green pastures fill the
peninsula.
County Antrim holds a rich history of archiological sites
inlcuding the Ballylumford Dolmen which
is situated near the
north-west tip of the Islandmagee peninsula. It is known
locally
as the "Druid's Altar", and could be 4000 years old, or the remains of
an even earlier passage grave. As you can see from the poto I took, it
has four upright stones with a heavy capstone on top. There
is
also a sone in the middle which may have been put there to
block
the entrance to the tomb. The dolmen is in the front garden of a
house. Local finds indicate occupation of the neighbourhood
during the Bronze Age. [Wikipedia]
I met a great woman Deirdre Sprott who showed me around Islandmagee. I also met her father John Kerr who was 97 years old at the time (1995). We dind't think that we were related. She had done lots of family history of the Kerr name in the area and had not heard of my relataives.
On the North East side of Islandmagee is an actual island called Muck Island, which apparently means Pig island to reflect the 'fact' that the island is shapped like a pig. I'm not sure which end is the head and which is the tail. Close to Muck Island is Port Muck. There is a long history of shipwrecks off Muck Island. It is one of Norther Ireland's biggest seabird colonies..
Ireland. I had the
pleasure of visiting in 1995. The people were very
friendly and hospitable. I had not planned well as I thought
I
was arriving a day later. I went to the tourist office in
Belfast
and found a farm bed and breakfast near Ballycarry.
The
owners not only drove me around Islandmagee
but also found some people with the Haveron name in Whitehead, a nearby
town, and connected me with them. The Haveron family were not related to my Haveron family but generously invited me to say at their home. They were Catholic and my Irish family was Protestant, although this is not a significant difference in Canada it was in Ireland at the time and I certainly appreciated their hospitality.
I arrived in Ireland a couple days before Orange Day: the Protestant's parades and celebration of the Battle of Boyne (1690) where William of Orange stole James II's crown and Catholics plotted to restore James to the throne. Traditionally- people listened to religious/political speeches and now there are parades of Protestants..... offending Catholics.
On July 12th I woke to the loud sound of drums and music outside my window. It was from the Orange Day parade. That evening we ventured into Carrickfergus for dinner and found that there had been a bombing on the main road and we could not get through. I was a bit scared but everything turned out OK and I had a great stay in the area.
Maggie Jane Kerr was born in a house in Ballystrudder on Islandmagee. There are no old homes there now so I wasn't able to see where she was born. It is a beautiful area; rolling hills and green pastures fill the
peninsula.
County Antrim holds a rich history of archiological sites
inlcuding the Ballylumford Dolmen which
is situated near the
north-west tip of the Islandmagee peninsula. It is known
locally
as the "Druid's Altar", and could be 4000 years old, or the remains of
an even earlier passage grave. As you can see from the poto I took, it
has four upright stones with a heavy capstone on top. There
is
also a sone in the middle which may have been put there to
block
the entrance to the tomb. The dolmen is in the front garden of a
house. Local finds indicate occupation of the neighbourhood
during the Bronze Age. [Wikipedia] I met a great woman Deirdre Sprott who showed me around Islandmagee. I also met her father John Kerr who was 97 years old at the time (1995). We dind't think that we were related. She had done lots of family history of the Kerr name in the area and had not heard of my relataives.
On the North East side of Islandmagee is an actual island called Muck Island, which apparently means Pig island to reflect the 'fact' that the island is shapped like a pig. I'm not sure which end is the head and which is the tail. Close to Muck Island is Port Muck. There is a long history of shipwrecks off Muck Island. It is one of Norther Ireland's biggest seabird colonies..