Kearney Village

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Small village or ‘clachan’ situated on the south east coast of the Ards peninsula, (c.3 miles SE of Portaferry), consisting of single and two storey cottages and houses, mainly in the vernacular style and arranged in an informal layout.

The village is of considerable age (certainly 18th century, and probably 17th century) and many of the houses are undoubtedly pre 1834, but a few are recent reconstructions or conversions of former farm buildings. The National Trust has acquired almost all of the properties within the village in 1965 and since then has repaired, renovated and reconstructed many of the houses, whilst converting some barns and stables to living accommodation and offices/visitor centre. Unfortunately some of the recent reconstructions (houses Nos.8C and 8D) have asbestos roofs and PVC windows, gutters and down spouts, whist the seemingly oldest house in the village, No.12, has a modern, but relatively harmonious, extension to its rear.

Historical information

In early medieval times, the townland of Kearney was a possession of the McKearneys, a family possibly distantly related to the O’Neills of Tyrone. During the later medieval period this land came into the possession of the Gaelicised Norman family of the Savages, who appear to have leased much of it to the Smiths, a dependent family of similar origin. A lease from Patrick Savage to Patrick Smith from 1643 mentions what was then one of the most lucrative aspects of Kearney, ‘the mill, mill ponds and watercourses’, from which the landlord received at not inconsiderable income.

By the later 17th century the Savages had leased much of Kearney to the Ross family (of Rosstrevor) who continued in possession of the lands throughout the 18th century. It is from a lease of March 1729 that we have the first indication of a substantial settlement on the site of the present village. This settlement was to grow throughout the remainder of the century, with locals employed on the local farms and the two near by flax and corn mills, whilst supplementing their incomes by salvaging the not infrequent shipwrecks, and perhaps smuggling. Wrecking may have taken place also.

The village probably reached its greatest extent in terms of population and activity in the 1830s, when there were 33 families, two schools (one C of I and Catholic, the other Presbyterian), and a ‘ceilidh house’. Most of the buildings we see today appear to have been present at this time, but as most were exempt from rating, very little is recorded of the village in the 1836 valuation in terms of house dimensions and occupiers. The only dwellings which are mentioned are three single storey houses, occupied by Hugh and John McNabb and Widow Hasty (who owned the close by windmill).

The slow decline in Kearney’s fortunes began in the latter half of the nineteenth century and by 1900 the population had halved, many seeking more prosperous lives in the towns, or emigrating. By 1938 most of the Kearney farms and cottages had passed into the possession of Hugh Orr, who had established a model farm close by. The decline continued unabated, however, so that by 1945 only three houses were occupied by a total of seven residents. When the National Trust acquired the village twenty years later (with money collected during the Enterprise Neptune campaign), it was practically a ghost town.

Since 1965, the Trust have attempted to restore and reconstruct Kearney based on the plan of the village as shown on the 1834 OS Map, when the settlement had probably reached its zenith. Most of the houses are now occupied as full time homes once more, with a few as holiday residences, with all properties leased from the Trust.

Currently only one of the original dwellings lies vacant awaiting imminent restoration.

References- Primary sources
1 PRONI D.552 Savage/Nugent Papers
2 PRONI OS/6/3/32/1 Ordnance Survey Maps, 1st ed., 1834, Down sheet 32
3 PRONI VAL/1B/38 First valuation, Parish of Ballytrustan, 1836
4 PRONI OS/6/3/32/2 Ordnance Survey Maps, 1st rev., 1860, Down sheet 32
5 PRONI Second valuation, Parish of Ballytrustan, 1861 (in print)
6 PRONI OS/6/3/32/3 Ordnance Survey maps, 2nd ed., 1899-1900, Down sheet 32
7 Admiralty Chart of Strangford Lough, surveyed by Richard Hoskyn Master R.N. 1859-60, with small corrections 1918-38 (HMSO)

Secondary sources
1 The above history was mainly compiled from various articles kindly supplied to the authors by the National Trust, in particular one
by Mrs. M.A.K. Garner, charting the early history of Kearney
2 Jim Blaney, "Mary Ann Donnan of Kearney" in 'Journal of the Upper Ards Historical Society No.3' (1979), pp.24-5
3 Reta Lyttle, "Kearney" in 'Journal of the Upper Ards Historical Society No.4' (1980), p.15

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

Not listed

Criteria for listing: historic interest

Not listed

Evaluation

Largely restored and reconstructed small village, containing single and two storey mainly vernacular dwellings, with some converted farm buildings. The overall village is pleasant and neat and largely traditional, but because it is no longer founded on an economic base lacks the vitality it no doubt once possessed.

General comments

This record is a gereral overview of the village. The various buildings are recorded individually - see HB24/01/085 - 095