Magherascouse Irish: Machaire Scamha
Magherascouse Lough 2023
Magherascouse Location within County Down
Area	2.01 sq mi (5.2 km2)
Population	329 (2021 Census)
• Density	164/sq mi (63/km2)
Irish grid reference	J 44676 64696
• Belfast	9 mi (14.5 km)
District	Ards and North Down
County	County Down
Country	Northern Ireland
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	NEWTOWNARDS
Postcode district	BT23
Dialling code	028
Police	Northern Ireland
Fire	Northern Ireland
Ambulance	Northern Ireland
UK Parliament	Strangford
NI Assembly	Strangford

Magherascouse (MAGH-era-SCOUSE, from Irish: Machaire Scamha, meaning "Plain of the bare patch of rocks"^[1]) is a rural townland near Ballygowan in County Down,^[2] Northern Ireland. It has an area of 1286.45 acres (5.206 km²).^[3][4][5][6] It is situated in the civil parish of Comber,^[7][8][9] the Poor Law Union of Newtownards and the historic barony of Castlereagh Lower,^[10] located 2 miles south of Comber.^[11] It lies within the Electoral Division of Ballygowan^[12] which is part of the Ards and North Down Borough Council.^[13][14][15]

History

Before the early 17th century Plantation of Ulster, when many Lowland Scots moved across the Irish Sea to settle in Northern Ireland on lands granted by King James I to James Hamilton and Hugh Montgomery, the area of Magherascouse was sparsely inhabited by Irish Gaels. The townland was within the territory of Clannaboy inhabited by the tribe of Henry Caoch O'Niell the Blind, a member of the Clannaboy O'Niell family who was blinded in 1426 by the sons of Brian Ballagh O'Neill, his brother.^[16][17][18] In the Irish Rebellion of 1798 a man of the name, Nevin Kerns from Magherascouse participated in the Battle of Saintfield.^[19]

In 1837 farms were from 10 to 30 acres, the land quality was described as middling and rent was 21- 32 shillings an acre.^[20] On 10th September 1858 the B&CDR opened a railway line from Comber to Ballynahinch and it passed through Magherascouse, a nearby station being Ballygowan.^[21] Lord Dufferin sold the townland of Magherascouse to Robert G. Dunville in 1877, it was valued at £1,341 in 1881 and Mr Dunville still owned it in 1889.^[22][23] From the mid-19th century through the early 20th century the population of Magherascouse declined considerably as many people emigrated to North America or found work in Comber, Saintfield and particularly in Belfast. The railway line which passed through Magherascouse was closed by the Ulster Transport Authority on 15th January 1950.^[24]

Demography

The population of Magherascouse declined a considerable amount in the first half of the 20th century as people moved away and found jobs in nearby towns and cities like; Comber, Saintfield and particularly Belfast.

Education

Former Magherascouse Primary School 2023

Magherascouse has had three schools in its history, two of these schools were around during the early 19th century. After the Stanley letter, which led to the nationalisation of schools in Northern ireland, one of the schools became known as the Magherascouse School, this school was built in 1820 by Lord Dufferin for the benefit of his tenantry and existed at least to 1963. This school was typically a Presbyterian school, it had a new school building built around the late 19th century to early 20th century which was funded by Lord Dufferin, John Craigan was appointed Head Master in 1885 and was Principal there until at least 1918, after John Craigan the new Headmistress was Miss Mercer who retired when she turned 60, after Miss Mercer the Headmistress then became Miss Corrigan (later Mrs Jack), Miss Corrigan became burdened with leukemia and had to leave the school, a woman of the name Gladys McBride happened to be vice principal nearby in Ballykeigle Primary School and so she became the last Headmistress of Magherascouse National School before it was closed and put up for sale.^[40][41]

The other primary school was St. Mary's School, Burns's Cross, and was built in 1919 by Fr. Shields for the Catholic population in the area and to replace a school in Carrickmannon known as 'The Mill'. St. Mary's cost the Church £45 at the time to construct and was built almost entirely by a local man named James Mitchell who used voluntary labour to reduce the cost of construction, half an acre of land was donated by the Truman family who owned a farm there at the time. It was built out of locally quarried blue stone from Ballygowan. In the 1920s to the 1940s the Headmistress was Mrs McGaughey.^[42]

The third school building is the oldest of the three, it was described in 1898 as a 'hedge school' which existed long before the Magherascouse School. The school was decommissioned shortly after the Stanley Letter where it then was temporarily rented to a man named John Lyons as a private dwelling by Daniel McMorran, after this the building was finally demolished into a heap of rubble in the corner of a field possibly due to the building starting to collapse.

All three schools are now defunct, Magherascouse school now being a private dwelling and St. Mary's School is now rented as offices to the NHS and the third school was demolished.^[43][44][45]

See also

• List of townlands in County Down

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Magherascouse, County Down.