Historic town in Liberties OF Carlingford

The town of Carlingford is situated at the foot of Slieve Foy along a narrow ledge of land where the mountain slopes meet the sea. The earliest mention of the Carlingford area is with reference to Viking raids in the 9th century but nothing is known of any settlement which they might have made. The placename Carlingford is Scandinavian in origin translating into the 'Fjord of Carlinn' and it is possible that the Vikings may have used the sheltered natural harbour of Carlingford as a temporary base. Apart from the name, no other Viking evidence has been recovered to date. The next mention of Carlingford is in relation to the Anglo-Normans who arrived in Ireland in 1169 as allies supporting King Dermot MacMurragh in his bid for the throne. By 1184 they had made their way as far north as Carlingford and a Norman knight, John de Courcy, claimed this part of Louth for himself. In this year he gave the rights of the ferry at Carlingford to the Abbot of Downpatrick which indicates that the harbour or somewhere near it was in use as a crossing point. However, the town of Carlingford only developed after the castle, known as King John's Castle (LH005-042002-), was built c. 1200. The castle commanded an important defensive position on the Lough and it was under its shadow and protection that the town gradually developed. The layout of the town has a distinctive linear pattern forming an elongated H-plan with a centrally placed market place. It began to be enclosed with a town wall in the in early 13th century and eventually enclosed an area estimated at c. 8 hectares. Whether this extensive area was ever fully built up is doubtful, but its size suggests something of the hopes and vitality of the early town planners. Its trade flourished and by the 15th and 16th centuries the townspeople had obtained sufficient wealth to enable them erect substantial tower houses and have them decorated in the latest architectural style (see Taaffe’s Castle (LH005-042005-) and the Mint (LH005-042008-)). After the dissolution of the monasteries much of their lands in the Cooley peninsula came into the possession of the Bagnalls. The decline of the town began in early 17th century as the more in-land routes northwards through the Moyry Pass were opened up; the old coastal route via Carlingford was increasingly by-passed. During the Confederacy period of the 1640s the town remained loyal to the Dublin administration but was taken by the Royalists in 1649; they surrendered to the Parliamentary forces some months later. It seems likely that as a result of Cromwellian confiscations many of the town’s old families were dispossessed. The port was again used during the war of the two Kings (James II and William of Orange). In 1689 it was burned by the Jacobites in their retreating before the Williamite army and the harbour provided safe anchorage for supply ships for the Williamites. It also served as an intermediary hospital station for transfer of the sick and wounded Williamite soldiers to Carrickfergus. Carlingford continued as a port town though with much reduced trade in the 18th century that was largely dependent on fishing. The lands of the Cooley peninsula, including Carlingford, passed from the Bagenal family to the absentee Angleseys in 1715. A new pier was erected in the late 18th century which saw an increase in trade in the 19th century when the produce of newly-opened local quarries on the south side of the town were exploited. The opening of the railway line along the coast from Dundalk to Newry in 1876 necessitate the infilling of the old quay. A more permanent way was to follow when the line was closed the present road built on top of it. A new pier, the present pier, was constructed in the 1880s. Carlingford endured and through further economic decline preserved much of its ancient core and fabric, thus providing the visitor with a rare glimpse into its medieval past. Compiled by: Paul Walsh Date of upload: 23 May 2016