Community group holds evening video night with music and culture

Community group holds evening video night with music and culture

22 January 2025

THE Rowallane and Slieve Croob Community Group has launched the latest in its series of fascinating and informative history videos.

They were launched last Friday night at Ballynahinch’s Market House during an evening of music and culture when guests were welcomed by the twinning group’s vice-chairman, Michel Richer.

Group chairwoman Karen Patterson outlined the history of the rationale behind the arts and culture video project funded by Newry Mourne and Down Council.

She explained the project was launched in 2022 with the aim to develop an archive of the local heritage of Rowallane and Slieve Croob to preserve the past and help shape the future with all the videos available on YouTube.

Ms Patterson said she hoped the videos will be used by community groups, historical societies, tour guides, schools, colleges and by people living in the local area and overseas.

The videos have been researched and narrated by the group’s esteemed local historian, Horace Reid.

The videos were produced by the RMC Media Partnership, with nine uploaded to the Rowallane and Slieve Croob Community Twinning Group’s YouTube Ballynahinch History channel. 

Ms Patterson also thanked Mr Reid for the many publications, which were developed for the Rowallane and Slieve Croob Community Twinning Groups events and tours. 

She said Mr Reid produced brochures on Norman castles, the castles of the Antrim Coast, pamphlets on the 1798 Rebellion, Derrymore House, the Rev Moses Neilson, Glebe House and now the Millbrook Lodge and Presbyterians of Killyleagh.

The first part of the music and culture evening focussed on the launch of the two most recent videos Ballynahinch – A Chronology in Four Parts – Part 1 of 4 and History of Spa Wells.

Ballynahinch Buildings.

Mr Robert Burgess provided a detailed overview of the content of Part 1 which covers a timeline form 900 to1800. 

In a series of four videos, Mr Reid tells the story of the development of Ballynahinch, the first of which covers the prehistoric period, the Medieval period, the Plantation Period and the Georgian era.  

“Horace says this is not a history of Ballynahinch town, rather, it is a deion of the buildings, when they were built and who built them,” said Ms Patterson.

“The lecture begins with the prehistoric/medieval periods and goes on to cover the Plantation and Georgian periods. The Georgian Period is from 1690 to 1798 and is defined as A Century of Peace.”

Ms Patterson said Mr Reid delivers an introduction to the Linen Hall and the linen process to Ballynahinch Fire station and ends on a detailed insight into Ballykine Classical Academy.  

In Part 2, the historian focuses on the Victorian period and how Ballynahinch grew as a market town, while in Parts 3 and 4, he explores the effects of Partition on Ballynahinch and how around the mid-20th century, the town transitions away from a market town to become a dormitory town. 

Mr Reid finishes in the 21st century with the explosion of housing in Ballynahinch and Ballynahinch of the future. Parts 2, 3 and 4 of Ballynahinch Buildings – A Chronology will be released during 2025.

During Friday night’s event, Robert McCormick played a short trailer for the video and the Andrea Rice Band played the theme track ‘Porter for me Tay’ by Joe Marks which is about the vagaries of the licensing laws. 

Kathleen Lyons provided an insight on the second video – History of Spa Wells – which explains that in the earlier 1700s, the Spa waters acquired a reputation for healing properties.

She said that in the earlier 1800s the Ker family of Montalto developed Spa as a health resort  which was the Co Down equivalent of Bath in Somerset.

The arrival of the railway in Ballynahinch in 1858 resulted in a flood of Belfast health tourists to which was established as a tourist destination long before Newcastle. 

The railway didn’t reach Newcastle until 1869 and Spa continued to market its healing waters right up until the Second World War period. 

The video covers the patronage by the Presbyterian clergy of the Spa waters, the development of the resort by the Kers and the attractions of the resort. And it also explores how the waters should be taken. 

In addition, the video explores the implications of the arrival of the railway which brought more tourists from Belfast and Spa was still marketing the healing waters until the start of World War Two.

The video also includes some poetry about the Spa resort which was written by Amanda McKittrick Ros, who came from the Ballynahinch area.

Mr McCormick then played a clip from the History of Spa Wells video and after a short break for refreshments, the Andrea Rice Band delivered a lively concert.

Committee member Pauline Lyons thanked Rod Whitworth from Drumlins Drone Services Ltd, Montalto Estate and Edengrove Church and the many others, who contributed to the success of the project.

Ballylone Concert Flute Band recorded the theme music for the first six videos - Betsy Gray – Growth of a Legend, Cartoon History of Lord Moira, Five Montalto Dynasties, Battle of Ballynahinch – Four Fighting Days, Old Magheradroll Parish Church and Ye Poors Money.

Pauline thanked Robert and Fran McCormick from RMC Media Partnership for their pivotal role in the project and offered sincere thanks to the dedication of Horace Reid and thanked him for documenting and recording the history of the local area, so future generations may benefit from this thorough, detailed archive. 

Pauline also thanked Ms Patterson who wrote and delivered the arts and culture project and closed the evening by thanking everyone for supporting the event, reminding them about the ceili taking place in the Dan Rice Hall on Friday, January 31 with music by the Tom McGonigle Band.