County Down lecture series from PRONI

From PRONI (www.proni.gov.uk) in Belfast:

LECTURE SERIES: Up Down; Stories that make a country.

Between August and October 2015 PRONI will be delivering a series of lunchtime talks bringing new insights into the events and works that shaped the people of County Down.

26th Aug – Philip Donald – Pure water for a thirsty Belfast: the need for a reservoir in Silent Valley
‘As the city of Belfast expanded during the 19th century, the population needed further sources of water. By the 1890s it had been decided to bring water from the Mourne Mountains via a pipeline and a reservoir formed in the Silent Valley. The needs of the city were initially met by water piped from the Annalong and Kilkeel rivers. The great civil engineer from Carrickfergus, Luke Livingston Macassey, consultant to the Belfast Water Commissioners, dominates the story of the search for water.’

2nd Sept – Ian Montgomery – Describing the Ards in 1683: the William Montgomery manuscript revisited

9th Sept – Philip Donald – Building the Silent Valley Dam, 1923 to 1933: Setting the Record Straight
The Silent Valley dam was first proposed in 1891 but carrying out the work was held up till after the First World War. The great dam became one of the first major works undertaken by the state in Northern Ireland. Major problems occurred in the excavations for the cut-off trench, and though an arbitration held in 1926 effectively resolved matters, it happened that the reputation of Frederick W. McCullough, design engineer, suffered in the years after his death in March 1927. : ‘This talk tells the complete story of the construction of the Silent Valley dam and re-appraises the parts played by the engineers and others who were involved.’

16th Sept – Sandra Millsopp – ‘A favourite watering place’: the development of Bangor as a Victorian Seaside Resort

23rd Sept – Lorraine Bourke - Another time: photographs of the Stewart family, marquesses of Londonderry

30th Sept – Allan Blackstock – The rising of 1798 in County Down

7th Oct – Tom McErlean – Nendrum Mill, Strangford Lough (619 AD): the oldest excavated tidal mill in the world

14th Oct - William Roulston – The Family Plot: Historic Graveyards of County Down

21st Oct – John Moulden – ‘The tune we played was the Protestant Boys’: songs and the battle of Dolly’s Brae, 1849

(With thanks to the PRONI Express)

Chris

For details on my genealogy guide books, including my recently released Discover Irish Land Records and Down and Out in Scotland: Researching Ancestral Crisis, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html.