The homeland of my ancestors - Kilbroney, Co Down, Ireland

 My Crilly ancestors came from the parish of Kilbroney in County Down. 


It is a picturesque area, nestled between the Mourne Mountains and Carlingford Lough.

Nineteenth century English novelist, William Makepeace Thackeray wrote of the area “were such a bay lying upon English shores, it would be a world’s wonder; or if on the Mediterranean or Baltic, English travellers would flock to it".

Looking across Carlingford Lough to Kilbroney (my photo 2014)


Looking down from the Cloughmore Stone towards Rostrevor, and Robert Ross memorial (my photo 2014)

Kilbroney Park (my photo 2014)


My 3 x great-grandfather, Daniel Crilly was born in Kilbroney in about 1808.  Sometime before 1830, he and his brother Ross left Ireland and sailed to Liverpool, England where they spent the rest of their lives.

Kilbroney must have stayed dear to the family’s heart, because in 1868, Daniel’s son Alfred (my 2 x great grandfather) and his wife Charlotte, travelled from England back to the Kilbroney area for the birth of their third child, Daniel O’Connell Crilly.

Daniel O'Connell Crilly's 1868 Irish birth certificate

Fast forward forty years, and Alfred’s eldest son, Frederick Lucas Crilly (my great-grandfather), named his home in Brixton, London “Kilbroney”.
My grandparents with their eldest son and unknown woman, outside "Kilbroney", Crilly family home in Brixton, England, circa 1924 (photo from my grandmother's photo album) 


In addition to being the home of my Crilly ancestors, the Kilbroney area has a number of other claims to fame :

  • ·         Kilbroney Forest inspired author CS Lewis for his “Chronicles of Narnia”

  • ·         The birthplace of Major General Robert Ross, the British Army officer who played a pivotal role in the Napoleonic Wars, and also the 1814 Battle of Bladensburg, in the American Civil War, where he died, and in whose memory a large obelisk has been erected

  • ·         Home to the 30 ton Cloughmore Stone, deposited by a glacier during the ice age, but in local folklore, reputed to have been thrown by Finn MacCool in his battle with a Scottish giant.

  • ·         Irish president Mary McAleese spent some of her formative years there, where her father owned a pub

  • ·         Street scene in movie Philomena was filmed there

  • ·         Home of St Bronagh’s bell circa 900 AD

The Cloughmore Stone, looking to Carlingford Lough (my photo 2014)

My photo 2014


 


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