Summerhill Village

 

Old Drogheda Society

 

Sunday 22nd June @2:30pm Summerhill: Anthology of Place by Caroline Kane. 

Despite being a small village, the historic narrative of Summerhill Village touches on many key events in Irish and indeed international history.

This story begins with the settlement of the Lynch family who were of Anglo-Norman descent, in the mid 15th century. They moved here as tenants to the Wesley family of Dangan, as guardians to the Pale boundary and the lived here until 1642 when their lands were confiscated by Cromwell.

Nearby Dungan Hill was the site of a decisive battle where Cromwell's forces gained advantage over their opponents. Summerhill eventually ended up in the ownership of Arthur Langford and later the Langford- Rowley family.

It was these land owners who were responsible for the building of what was believed to have been the biggest Palladian style mansion in Ireland in c.1732.

One of the most famous visitors to the house was the Empress Elizabeth of Austria who leased the house in 1879 and 1880 because of her love of hunting and to escape from her unhappy life at court. 

In 1842 the village green in Summerhill was the location for a large repeal of the Union meeting and the content of this meeting gives an interesting insight into the most prominent social issues at the time. 

This house was one of the first of the 'Big Houses' to be burned down by the IRA in 1921 and the reasons for this action remain a cause for considerable debate to this day. 

Caroline Kane graduated with a diploma last year from the BA Local Studies course in NUI Maynooth, having entered as a mature student in 2011. She has a lifelong passion for Irish history and heritage and is now preparing to commence work on her final thesis.

All welcome - assemble outside Shaw's Pub at 2.30pm.

 

Old Drogheda Society - History, Archaeology & Heritage

Millmount, Drogheda, Co. Louth, Ireland. Tel. 041-9833097