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Holywood Priory, Co.

Down

Originally posted online on 29 December 2014 at rmchapple.blogspot.com


(http://rmchapple.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/holywood-priory-co-down.html)

3D images >
In a recent discussion of where will we go today? with my family, l gamely suggested
a trip to Holywood, Co. Down, to see the old Priory and graveyard. When this failed to
elicit the desired response from the Chapples Minor, the plans were revised to include
a visit to one of the local playgrounds. To cut a long story short, the eventual
compromise we reached was that theyd go to the Johnny the Jig playground in
Holywood and Id proceed alone to the graveyard! All things considered, I reckon I got
the better of the deal if only because the other parents give me nasty looks when I
go on the swings and slides.

Overview of the Priory building and graveyard, with the modern Presbyterian
church in the background
Tradition relates that St Laiseran was a local boy, the son of a princess called Nasca,
and studied in Bangor under St Comgall. After some time spent around Cork, he
returned home to found a monastery in Holywood. It was certainly active before 640
AD, as a priest-abbot of Holywood, called Laisrianus, was mentioned in a Papal letter
regarding the date of Easter. However, there remains some uncertainty as to whether
that foundation lay here at the Priory, or near the later Holywood Motte. Certainly, no
early remains have been discovered at the Priory site where the oldest structures are
the ruins of the 12th century Augustinian Abbey, built by Thomas Whyte on the orders
of the Anglo-Norman knight, John deCourcy. From what I can gather, the site fell into
decay and around the 1490 it was refurbished by Niall ONeill for the Franciscans. The
fine traceried East Window dates to this period of activity. After its dissolution in 1541,
the lands eventually passed to Sir James Hamilton, First Viscount Clandeboye, who
laid out the plan for the modern town of Holywood. The site was burned by Sir Brian
O'Neill in 1572 along with the Abbeys at Movilla, Bangor, and Greyabbey to prevent
it falling into the hands of the English government forces. The tower at the western
end dates to 1809, when the site was refurbished for use as a parish church. It
continued in this role until the present Church of Ireland building was completed in
1843.
Carved window in the tower

West Doorway
Plan of the Priory (Source)

Early 19th century gravestone with


fluted fan motif over a classical urn
View of the graveyard

Selection of gravestones
View down the priory building, from the East Window

The Priory and graveyard, from the east


Romanesque-inspired monument
to James McLean d. 1821
The last name on the memorial commemorates Captain John Frederick Smellie,
grandson of James McLean. Smellie was a glider pilot who died at Arnhem in
September 1944. He is buried at Arnhem (Oosterbeek) War Cemetery in The
Netherlands.
Detail of the interlaced carving on the
James McLean memorial

'In Memoriam William Emelius Praeger' d. 1881


The last name on this stone, though worn and hard to read, is Sophia Rosamund
Praeger (1867-1954). Many archaeologists will recognise her chiefly as the younger
sister of naturalist Robert Lloyd Preager, author of The way that I went: an
Irishman in Ireland. However, she was a remarkably talented illustrator and
sculptor in her own right, and the NIVAL Artists Database notes that Her work
played a significant role in the late Victorian and early twentieth century Irish Art
World. She was a native of Holywood and for many years had her studio in Hibernia
Street in the town. She was initially educated at the Slade School of Fine Art, but also
studied in Paris. She wrote and illustrated more than twenty five childrens books,
along with providing illustrations the Irish Homestead, designs for Gaelic
League pageants and the Irish Women's Suffrage Federation. Today, she is best
known for her work as a sculptor, with pieces on permanent display in the Ulster
Museum, and the Carnegie Library on the Falls Road, Belfast. Regular readers of this
blog may also remember that she provided the figure carving for the Campbell
College WWI memorial. The Johnny the Jig playground where Chapples Minor
were enjoying themselves as I wandered the graveyard is named after a sculpture
by Praeger on the street outside (the original is in the North Down Museum in
Bangor). She gave this statue of a young boy playing an accordion as a gift to the
town in 1953, to commemorate a local member of the Boy Scouts, Fergus Morton,
who was killed in a road traffic accident while participating in Bob a Job week, the
previous year. Im no art historian, but I cant help but feel that this gravestone
initially designed to commemorate her father is likely to be her work. To my mind,
at least, there are some strong similarities between her known works and the figures
of Hope and Memory on either side of the inscribed panel. Although limited to
online sources, I can find no reference to this piece as being by her. If this is a
Praeger, it is truly a shame that a work by one of Northern Irelands leading late 19th
and 20th century sculptors is being allowed to quietly decay in this way. Further
examples of her work may be seen here (adapted from the NIVAL Artists Database).
Praeger memorial. Detail of Hope figure

Praeger memorial. Detail of Memory figure


Praeger memorial. Detail of inscribed panel

Dunville family monument


The Dunville family fortune came from a successful whiskey blending and tea import
businesses. Although the company went out of business in 1936, bottles of their
whiskey are still available if anyones wondering what to get me for
Christmas/Birthday etc. just sayin
Overview of the Priory

Selection of gravestones

The Priory from the south-east


Praegers Johnny the Jig
As I always say in these types of posts I do hope you enjoy the images, but I also hope
that they will inspire you to come visit the sites for yourselves whether youre coming
from afar, or are local!

3D images >

Note:
It was only in doing some follow-up research for this post that I realised that one of
those buried here was Sir Joseph Larmor (1857-1942). He is chiefly remembered for
his opposition to Einstein's Special Theory of Relativity along with arguing against the
notion that space is curved. Early in his career he taught physics at Queens College
Galway (now NUIG) where a lecture theatre is named in his honour. I remember it
chiefly as a place I was forced to sit, listening to long, rambling lectures about
metaphysics. Interestingly, there is a crater on the dark side of the
moon named Larmor in his honour. To the best of my knowledge, it has not been the
venue for any lectures in philosophy.

Resources:
Placenamesni.org
NI Sites & Monuments Record
Discover Northern Ireland
History from Headstones
Wikipedia Page

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