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Greyabbey
According to the Ordnance survey the parish, with some small islands in Strangford Lough, comprises 7689 statute acres, nearly equally divided between tillage and pasture, the land on the shore being good, but in the interior boggy and rocky; very little improvement has been made in agriculture. Excellent slate is found in the townland of Tullycaven, but the quarry is not judiciously worked. There is a very extensive bog, which supplies the inhabitants with abundance of fuel, and beneath the surface are found large oak and fir trees lying horizontally at a depth of 15 and 20 feet; the fir is in a fine state of preservation, exceedingly hard, and susceptible of a very high polish.
A great quantity of calico and muslin is woven here by the peasantry at their own dwellings, and many of the females are employed in tambour-work. It is a perpetual curacy, in the diocese of Down, and in the patronage of W. Montgomery, Esq., in whom the rectory is impropriate: the tithes are included in the rent, and the perpetual curate's stipend amounts to £96. 19. 10½., of which £13. 16. 11. is paid by the impropriator, £9. 4.7½. by the Marquess of Londonderry, £4. 12. 4.
by A. Auchinleck, Esq., and £69. 6. by the Ecclesiastical Commissioners out of Primate Boulter's fund. The church is a small neat building, erected in 1778, and contains some handsome monuments of the Montgomery family. Here is a place of worship for Presbyterians in connection with the Synod of Ulster, of the third, class.
There is a school on Erasmus Smith's foundation, for which the school-house was built by the late Marchioness of Londonderry, and 60 of the children are supported and clothed by the present Marchioness; and a male, female, and an infants' school, to which Mrs. Montgomery annually contributes £6, £12, and £6 respectively. In these and six other schools about 460 children are educated.
The remains of the abbey are beautiful and picturesque; the eastern gable is nearly entire; and contains five lancet-shaped windows, of which the stone work is quite perfect; there are also a window of the same character on the north and south sides of the choir; the nave, which till 1778 was used as the parish church, is tolerably entire, and is now the mausoleum of the family. There are the remains of several ancient monuments, and within the choir are two recumbent effigies, said to be those of John de Courcy and his wife, finely carved in freestone. There are also several other walls remaining, serving to give an idea of the former extent of the buildings, which appear to have been in the purest style of early English architecture. A very large tumulus was opened in 1825, by Dr. Stephen son, and found to contain 17 stone coffins, formed by placing together several flag-stones on edge, and covering them with one large stone; one of these in the centre was larger than the rest, and in each of them was found an urn of baked clay, containing granular earth of a dark colour.
from Lewis's Topographical Dictionary of Ireland, 1837.
Cemeteries
St Saviour, Greyabbey, Church of Ireland |
South of Ballyblack Road, Ballyblack, Presbyterian |
Churches
St Saviour, Greyabbey, Church of Ireland |
East of Ballycastle Road, Ballyblack, Methodist |
1st Presbyterian, Newtownards Road, Greyabbey, Presbyterian (Non-subscribing) |
South of Ballyblack Road, Ballyblack, Presbyterian |
Trinity, Greyabbey, Presbyterian |
Cistercian Abbey, on the southern side of the vill, Greyabbey, Roman Catholic |
Ruins, Mount Stewart, Roman Catholic |
You can also perform a more selective search for churches in the Greyabbey area or see them printed on a map.
Gazetteers
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Genealogy
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Historical Geography
The civil parish of Greyabbey contained the following townlands.
- Ballyblack (Near Loughries).
- Ballyblack Little (Greyabbey).
- Ballyboghilbo (Greyabbey).
- Ballyboley (Greyabbey).
- Ballybryan (Greyabbey).
- Ballycastle (Greyabbey).
- Ballyewry (Greyabbey).
- Ballygrangee (Greyabbey).
- Ballymurphy (Near Greyabbey).
- Ballynester (Greyabbey).
- Ballyurnanellan (Greyabbey).
- Black Abbey (Greyabbey).
- Bootown (Near Greyabbey).
- Boretree Island East (Greyabbey).
- Boretree Island West (Greyabbey).
- Cardy (Greyabbey).
- Chanderies Islands (Greyabbey).
- Chapel Island (Near Greyabbey).
- Gabbock Island (Greyabbey).
- Gordonall (Greyabbey).
- Gull Rock (Greyabbey Parish).
- Hare Island (Near Greyabbey).
- Killyvolgan (Greyabbey).
- Kilnatierny (Greyabbey).
- Middle Island (Greyabbey).
- Mount Stewart (Greyabbey).
- Peggys Island (Greyabbey).
- Pig Island (Greyabbey).
- Rosemount (Greyabbey).
- Salt Rock (Greyabbey).
- South Island (Greyabbey).
- Tullykevin (Greyabbey).
Maps
- Francis Firth Collection - a commercial site offering maps, photos and books about Greyabbey
You can see maps centred on OSI grid reference J5784367943 (Lat/Lon: 54.535227, -5.562172), Greyabbey which are provided by:
- This place shown on a Google map.
- Google Streetview
- OpenStreetMap
- Bing (was Multimap)
- Irish Ordnance Survey (Has old Irish maps)
- GeoHack (Links to on-line maps and location specific services.)
- All places within the same township/parish shown on a Google / Openstreetmap map.
- Nearby townships/parishes shown on a Google / Openstreetmap map.
- Nearby places shown on a Google / Openstreetmap map.