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From Castle to Cathedral - The Story of Lisburn
72 Plays1 month ago
Episode twenty-one of the new season of Pieces of History takes us to Lisburn, a city with a layered past and a living heritage.
My guest is local historian and tour guide Aaron McIntyre, who helps trace Lisburn’s story from its earliest settlements to the city we see today. We look at the debate around its pre-Plantation origins, the transformation of the seventeenth century with the Plantation, linen, and Lisburn Castle, and the great fire of 1707 that reshaped its streets and architecture.
Moving into the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Aaron explores the dominance of the linen industry, the rise of families like the Barbours, and the town’s political life — from the Volunteer Movement and 1783 election to the ideals of the United Irishmen. Finally, we reflect on modern Lisburn, how heritage balances with city life, and where its past remains most visible today.
This is more than just a walk through Lisburn’s streets — it’s a journey into how history, industry, and community shaped one of Ulster’s most significant towns.
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Transcript
Introduction to Lisbon's History
00:00:13
Speaker
Hello and welcome to Pieces of History. I'm Colin McGrath and in each episode explore both the well-known and the overlooked stories that have shaped our world. Today we're turning our attention to Lisbon, a city with a fascinating past that stretches from early settlement through fire, industry and politics right up to the present day.
Aaron McIntyre's Historical Passion
00:00:34
Speaker
I'm joined by local historian and tour guide Aaron McIntyre who takes us through the origins of Lisbon, its transformation in the 17th century, the devastation of the 1707 fire and the role the linen industry and local families played in shaping its identity.
00:00:50
Speaker
Together we'll uncover how Lisbon's history still leaves its mark on the city today. Well Aaron thanks very much for joining me. Before we kick off into the history of Lisbon could you tell me a little bit about your background, what first sparked your interest in history and how did that lead you on towards focusing on Lisbon itself?
00:01:10
Speaker
Yeah, so I was always passionate about history. Growing up, it was my favourite subject in school and our grandparents looked after myself and my siblings during school holiday times.
00:01:22
Speaker
So we were going to places is um all over the north and really sparked my interest going to Douglas Castle. and ultimately I went and did archaeology at Queen's and then did my master's through the University of Leicester Museum Studies so was able to carry that through and I've been very lucky to work in the likes of the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum, the Navam Centre Fort and also Clifton House in North Belfast so being able to experience a broad range of time periods, different individuals and really delving into some niche areas so ah that's really where my interest stems from and torturing
00:01:57
Speaker
my family as well. My grandparents were asked questions when was probably about nine or ten about the family history and so that's really led me to where I am today so have to thank my grandparents for lot of that.
Early History of Lisburn
00:02:10
Speaker
Before we kick off into the history of Lisbon, whereabouts is it situated within Northern ireland itself? Because there's there's a lot of people, maybe international listeners, have maybe never heard of Lisbon. um Could you maybe place us geographically where we are and then from that could you give us some of the early history of the town?
00:02:27
Speaker
Yeah, so Lisburn is situated about 10 miles from Belfast on the River Lagan and it sort of straddles the counties of Antriman down on the Lagan. So the early history of Lisburn is shrouded in mystery because there's not much archaeological evidence that remains.
00:02:44
Speaker
In terms of the traditional history of Lisburn, it starts 1609 when Sir Flick Conway is granted the lands of the O'Neills as part of his recompense for his involvement with the Nine Years' War under Queen Elizabeth I and then granted by yeah James VI of Scotland and James I of England.
00:03:03
Speaker
and um then goes right the way up to partition, Lisburn becoming a garrison town. And although those are important parts of the history of Lisburn, I've always been passionate about what is not in the traditional narratives, what history is hidden, what are we not talking about, and really challenging people's understanding of the past that is not black and white, you know, it is technicoloured.
00:03:27
Speaker
And so my undergraduate dissertation focused on the search for pre-plantation origin to Lisburn. So there's lots of evidence going back. if We have a number of rafts within the area.
00:03:41
Speaker
We have a number of um historic sites. The likes of Blairs Old Cemetery was a church from about thirty at least 1306. And also Kilrush, which is just across the river from the Civic Centre where the council meets. It goes right the way back to those early papal records of the taxes being paid. So um as early history is shrouded,
00:04:05
Speaker
in a number of layers, but um I've enjoyed slowly peeling those back over the years and exploring that in my dissertation. So if we slightly move a century or two later, um so the 17th century seems to be a turning point with the plantation and the linen industry starting to thrive as well, obviously in Belfast and Lisbon Castle being built.
Cultural Evolution and Linen Industry
00:04:28
Speaker
Can you give me a bit of um background towards those kind of three key areas within Lisbon? Yeah, so when Sir Flick Conway is granted the lands of Colota and the area that we know today as Lisburn, he plants um essentially a plantation town called Lisnogarvie from the original Irish Lisnogarvie, which translates to Fort of the Gamesters or the Gamblers.
00:04:52
Speaker
And um they have a long association with Irish traditional culture and... um Although there were a number of Welsh, Scottish and English um individuals brought over to the town, we also have evidence of the native Irish living just outside the walls of the town, they would have been earthen walls. um There's some interesting evidence um of the wood cairn, as they were called by the planters, um coming in and raiding the houses and fleeing into the woods.
00:05:22
Speaker
So a lot of protections were built up, and the castle as well. which was essentially a manor house, not really a castle um in the traditional sense. And it really was the sort of heart of the ah town itself. The Conway family lived there and right up until 1707 when there was a massive fire and that destroyed the castle. The only surviving buildings really within the town were the original market house where the museum is today, for those who know Lisburn.
00:05:49
Speaker
And um That um really led to the layout of Lisbon as we know it today. the streets were rebuilt. You have the Castle Street, Bridge Street and Bow Street as the sort of core heart of the town, which you can still walk those same streets today and it's almost the same footprint.
00:06:08
Speaker
in terms of the growth of lispern as a sort of industrial hub we have a lot to thank of from the french huguenots who were protestants who fled from france after the edict of nonce was redacted and they saw sanctuary um in the british isles and ultimately a number of them came to lispern and really spearheaded education within the town there was a french hugono church and they were involved with sort of setting up the linen industry um that Lisburn's famous for.
00:06:38
Speaker
You also have a number of other families, so the likes of the Coulsons, their damask weaving ah factory was at the bottom of Piper's Hill, and they ended up producing items for a number of monarchs over the years. It was what some of them were sought after woven damask from this island, being sent over to the royal residences to...
00:07:00
Speaker
um those manor houses and the barons looking for um irish linen to have on their tables as their centerpieces and in terms of some of the other families you see those who work their way up so the barber family who a lot of people will be familiar with from barber threads They come over from Paisley in Scotland and set up a plantation and they then expand their reach right across the world. They move their factory from Plantation in Lisburn out to Hildon, where the remnants of barber mills still stand today.
00:07:32
Speaker
And it was there that they were making threads um for everything, um you name it, right up to the First World War where they were making ah parachutes as well for the war effort.
00:07:44
Speaker
So the barbers are probably one of the the key families that really stand out because of their longevity from the 1700s right the way up until um more recent decades, whenever the factory finally closed. So a lot of people on Lisburn, even today, will talk about their family's involvement or their involvement at working for Barber Threads.
00:08:05
Speaker
One of the things I suppose in history we we always read about and the archives are are filled with is the stories of the you know the the rich and the the famous of the of the time. Do we have many details about what life would have like for people who worked in barbers mills, for example?
Working Class Life and Philanthropy
00:08:22
Speaker
I think when it comes down to it the voices that survive in the archives are not necessarily the the working class. It's the factory log books, the letters between the landed gentry, the factory owners, their interest in politics and what was going on in the world.
00:08:38
Speaker
But there are some memoirs that were written by people who had worked in barbers and there for more recent decades, but they do give an insight until into what it was like to work in those factories.
00:08:50
Speaker
And I think you can go into the newspaper reports, you can see people talking about the accidents that happened and um some of the stories that come out of that. and the Lisper Museum and Irish Linden Centre done a fantastic project looking at the oral history associated with Hilden Integrated Primary School which was set up by the Barbers they were quite a philanthropic family um they set up the school they were um some of the first to have good quality housing for their mill workers and you can still see that if you go down around Hilden today
00:09:24
Speaker
so um In terms of those stories, those have been passed down, but um they're absent from some of the archival sources that you've mentioned. Could be fantastic PSD in there for someone, I reckon, someday, Aaron.
00:09:37
Speaker
Yeah, there's there's so much that hasn't been explored. And when it comes to the history of Lisburn, there's a few people that have approached me saying, you know, could you recommend a book for the history of Lisburn?
00:09:48
Speaker
And there are great books on certain aspects of Lisburn's history, certain time periods. But in terms of an all-encompassing book or um sort of a wider interest piece, that's still to be written.
1778 Volunteer Movement
00:10:00
Speaker
So if there's anybody out who's looking to do that.
00:10:03
Speaker
We're slightly moving the 1700s now. So Lisbon, like you said, was was alive with politics and ideas. So what was the significance of the volunteer movement all in 1778 in the time? And for some of those people who aren't familiar with it, could you give us a bit of background as well?
00:10:21
Speaker
Yeah, so in 1778 there was a man called John Paul Jones and he was Scots-American and he sailed his privateer, the Ranger, into Belfast Lock and this was during the American War of Independence and um he essentially attacked a British warship and managed to be very successful in that attempt.
00:10:44
Speaker
And there was a fear that if the Americans could come across the Atlantic and do this, what was stopping the French coming an even shorter distance during that time period?
00:10:55
Speaker
So it was felt that private militia essentially should be set up. And it was the the merchants, the businessmen, ah the sort of middle classes that came together to set up what became known as the volunteers in order to protect um the island from any threat of foreign invasion.
00:11:11
Speaker
and Lisburn has quite interesting connections to John Paul Jones because one of the um army, sorry, one of the naval officers who was killed during that battle was actually the son of the minister of Lisburn and he was a man called William Dobbs and he had recently been married, he had been visiting his family at Castle Dobbs at Carrickfergus and when he heard news of this attack um he went and joined the battle but unfortunately lost his life.
00:11:40
Speaker
But it was said that John Paul Jones actually cared for him in his final hours and wrote to his family after his death. So ah quite an interesting time period. And if people have the opportunity to visit Lisburn Cathedral, there is a beautiful um memorial to William Dobbs ah featuring a carved scene of the actual battle.
00:12:00
Speaker
But the volunteer movement spreads right across, really set up in Belfast. The likes of the Joy family were heavily involved, who'd set up the Belfast newsletter, and they used their newspaper to sort of promote these so of some radical ideas as they would have been then.
00:12:16
Speaker
ah But ultimately, as with all things in Irish history, there's a split. um there are those volunteers who think that things are moving fast enough and um it's very simplistic to say but the more radicals then would ultimately go on to find the likes of the society of united irishmen but the volunteers themselves were fascinating movement in their own right they were involved with um and trying to influence politics and this burn again stands out in this regard um 1783 an election
00:12:50
Speaker
the borough of Lisburn and two of of the senior figures within the volunteer force within Lisburn were put forward as essentially the people's candidates against the landed interest. And unbelievably for that period, they won.
00:13:05
Speaker
Um, they were literally chaired through the streets, bonfires were lit in Market Square. And, um, it was the first time that Lisburn ever had, um an independent MP outside of the landed interest.
00:13:17
Speaker
And, um, William Sharman was one of those who was elected and he was the father of William Sharman Crawford, who was very much known for his tenant rights activity as an MP down in Crawfordsburn.
00:13:30
Speaker
and And that's where the i name comes from, the Crawford family. And the other character who I am absolutely fascinated by, who was elected at that time period, was a man called William Todd Jones.
00:13:42
Speaker
And he was from the established church. He was Church of Ireland, but um he stood with the volunteer movement. he He wrote a series of pamphlets um encouraging support of Catholic emancipation.
00:13:54
Speaker
in an era where this really wasn't talked about he was one of the first pioneers of catholic emancipation when the united irishmen are formed he's there some of the early meetings down in dublin arguing that until you have rights for catholics there's no point in fighting for more rights for protestants because unless people are equal um and going forward then it's it's not worth the effort.
00:14:18
Speaker
um He ultimately loses his seat. The landlords come together, they use bribery, um threats of violence, threats of people losing their job, and ultimately William Todd Jones is unseated alongside William Sharman, who had decided not to stand for re-election.
00:14:36
Speaker
and seven in the 1790s and um ultimately William Todd Jones then goes on to be arrested for his views and his speaking out against the government in 1803 and is imprisoned without a trial Cork until
Cathedral's Religious Significance
00:14:52
Speaker
1805. So a fascinating character who is very much not known in the history of lispern and somebody who i think a biography definitely should be written about um he passes away 1818 so he doesn't live to see uh catholic emancipation being granted but uh daniel o'connell references him time and time again for his work um during his campaign in the 1820s so um definitely a character who's worth more research
00:15:21
Speaker
I initially went on your walking tour a few months ago. It was obviously fantastic and you um were able to go through with the group some of the key monuments in and places and events that happened to the last number of centuries. And of the key buildings is the actual Lesbrun Cathedral. Could you give us a bit of a background about the Lesbrun Cathedral itself and some of the families that lived around there?
00:15:43
Speaker
In terms of the cathedral itself, um it started out as essentially a private chapel for um the Conway family in Lisburn Castle.
00:15:53
Speaker
And they were very much um using that as their own place of worship. And ultimately it then became the um church for the town itself. Lisburn has had numerous battles and riots over the years.
00:16:09
Speaker
and in 1641 the town was destroyed for the first time with the Irish retreating from the town they set fire to it during that rebellion and later in the whenever you had the whenever you had the um of Commonwealth and Oliver Cromwell rampaging through Ireland, the people of Lisburn stay true to the Royalist cause and then that's how we went from having a small church to having Lisburn Cathedral.
00:16:40
Speaker
It was granted a cathedral status in 1662 by Charles II whenever um he gained the throne after um that we blip in english history in terms of the cathedral that we see today um that would have been built after 1707 with the fire and all a lot of the buildings were destroyed at that point including the castle the church as i said earlier only the market house survived but It's been a key place of worship for so many families over the years and Lisburn has always been quite diverse in terms of the religious makeup within the town.
00:17:17
Speaker
There um were Quakers, dissenters, obviously Church of Ireland, um Roman Catholics and the graveyard at the cathedral was used for people of all faiths um in the early days so and then you have different churches opening up over the years with their own graveyards as well.
00:17:33
Speaker
So it really was the focus for people of all faith not just the church of ireland within the town a number of people as you mentioned have who've lived around sort of the edge of the cathedral grounds have been so influential in belf or in the history of lispern yeah have um the building on Castle Street was purchased as the rectory and it was in there that Henry Munro who was a United Irishman ah was given his last communion before going to be executed and the family kept the table that he had taken his last communion at as well as the glass that he'd drunk from even though they were Church of Ireland and opposed to 1798 rebellion
00:18:14
Speaker
So fascinating history all around that site. but um It was within the vicinity of the Cathedral on Castle Street as well, where there were attempted assassinations in the 1790s when political tensions had happened.
00:18:28
Speaker
really sort of started to rise in the lead up to the 1798 rebellion and the likes of the reverend Philip Johnson who was the church of Arganficar at Dariaki. um He was, well they attempted to assassinate him because he was one of the magistrates that was involved in persecuting the United Irishmen societies.
00:18:46
Speaker
So fascinating history and that That radical edge and the sort of political violence goes right the way up into the 1920s. I'm happy to talk about the Gilmore and the Conley families if you... Oh, yes, please do. That was going to be my next question, Aaron. So, yes.
00:19:04
Speaker
yeah So as you mentioned earlier, and front if you're standing in front of the cathedral, um it's a lovely wide entrance today. and wasn't always that way. It was a small um single trackway into the cathedral ah because there was another house since being demolished.
00:19:21
Speaker
and um in that house was the family of the Gilmores and the Connellys. And Edward Connelly, who would have been the patriarch of the family, had been born in Lisburn and he went to Belfast, set up as a plumber, but he was arrested in 1867 in Belfast for his involvement, or I should say alleged involvement, with the Fenian movement at that point in the Irish Republican Brotherhood.
00:19:47
Speaker
and um he was put in prison but then got out and continued on with his plumbing business but he was always very vocal in terms of nationalist politics he spoke on home rule platforms he was a really key figure in the home rule movement um looking to have a parliament in dublin so that irish people were electing irish mps to represent them but he takes the Aunty Parnell side whenever ah Parnell is exposed for having the affair with Kitty O'Shea.
00:20:16
Speaker
And when he passes away, his family then return to Lisburn. So his widow and their children. And um it was in this house that they had um their apartment upstairs. And they also had wee sort of restaurant and confectionery store down below.
00:20:33
Speaker
And in the 1920s, with the rise in political tensions, District Inspector Swansea was brought up from Cork to Lisburn after he was alleged to be involved um in the murder of Thomas McCartan, who was the Lord Mayor of Cork.
Anti-Catholic Riots and Modern Impact
00:20:51
Speaker
and they felt that this one would be a safer place for him but he was targeted by the IRA ah from Belfast they came up and he was shot just outside the Cathedral where Shannon's Jewelers is today in Lisburn and that released a wave of anti-catholic violence within the town and the Conleys and the Gilmores were um attacked at that point and their shot was ransacked and the widow of Edward Connolly, Isabella, she had to flee through the cathedral graveyard and out the back of their premises in order to get to safety.
00:21:29
Speaker
But her two sons, um who were not at home at that time, Willie and Edward, ah they didn't come back to Lisburn. They stayed in Belfast and then ultimately moved with their mother down to Dublin.
00:21:41
Speaker
But later 1920s they decided to do a campaign and to buy the remains of the house for the cathedral in order to widen the entrance. And that's how, with the demolition of the Conleys premises, we get the entrance that you see today. So the 1920s really do shape Lisburn and the Lisburn we see today.
00:22:04
Speaker
I suppose my final question would be whenever you're you're walking about yourself or your you're doing a walking tour, are there any particular um like landmarks, commemorations or traditions that you see in the city now that still remind you of some of those people, places and events that have happened over the last 400 years or so Yeah, for me, when you're walking around Lisburn, there's some historical signage pointing sort of the key events.
00:22:31
Speaker
But for me, it's just going around and looking for the small details. i always encourage people when they're walking in any town or any city to look up, look past the plastic facades of you know the nail bars and the barbershops that have opened up.
00:22:45
Speaker
And I just love looking at the original architecture and going, I wonder who lived there. And then going in and digging out the story. And the walking tour of the Jubaron, on Railway Street, there is a very innocuous building, now a bridal store.
00:23:01
Speaker
But when you dig into the history of that, it was a hotel. And that's where the teacher from the National School was. He was a fluent Irish speaker who'd come up from Sneam in County Kerry and was involved with the Gaelic League.
00:23:15
Speaker
And for me, it's uncovering these hidden stories that would never get a blue plaque. but um when you dig into it they are fascinating and Michael Hussey was the name of the teacher he didn't return after um he passed away in Lisburn he was buried by the local people in the graveyard at the back of the Roman Catholic Church up in Chapel Hill um and it's one of the most beautiful headstones in the graveyard so for me it's the small details and
00:23:46
Speaker
Sometimes the stories that come into my mind when walking past places aren't even up about the building themselves. You know, um going past the railway station, there are so many stories that could be told about there in terms of the soldiers who came and went, the the personalities of celebrities going back into the Victorian era who stopped in Lisburn.
00:24:12
Speaker
But the one story that I always think of going past there is of a wee dog who was found in the wreckage in 1916 in Liberty Hall. And that wee dog was rescued by a soldier from Lisburn and brought back on the train. And the wee dog was called Rebel.
00:24:29
Speaker
So again, not going to get a blue plaque, but fascinating insights into our heritage that unless you're digging into the archives, you would never know.
00:24:40
Speaker
That was Aaron McIntyre sharing his insights into the history of Lisbon, from its beginnings and turning points to the ways its past remains visible in the modern city. A huge thank you to Aaron for guiding us through a story that blends heritage, resilience and community.
00:24:54
Speaker
If you'd like to explore more about Lisbon, its landmarks and its legacy, there's still plenty to be discovered by walking its streets with the past in mind. make sure to subscribe and rate Pieces of History history on iTunes and Spotify.
00:25:08
Speaker
You can also reach out to me at piecesofhistoryatoutlook.com or follow the podcast on Instagram and Facebook at Pieces of History. Thanks for listening.