Castledawson

EDITED EXTRACTS FROM THE TOPOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF IRELAND, 1837

CASTLEDAWSON, or Dawson's Bridge, a market and post town, partly in the parish of Ballyscullion, but chiefly in that of Magherafelt, barony of Loughinsholin, County Londonderry; 28 miles north-west of Belfast.

This place derives its name from its proprietors, the Dawson family.

On the planation of Ulster, the eight townlands of Moyola were granted by JAMES I to Sir Thomas Phillips, whose sons sold them, in 1633, to Thomas Dawson, from whom they descended to the Rt Hon George Robert Dawson, brother-in-law of the Rt Hon Sir Robert Peel Bt.

The town appears to have assumed its present form and name in 1710, during the proprietorship of Joshua Dawson, Chief Secretary for Ireland, and for many years MP for Wicklow.

The Mansion House, Dawson Street, Dublin, was erected in 1710 by Joshua Dawson, who sold it to the Dublin Corporation in 1715 for £3,500 (equivalent to about £650,000 in 2025).

Castledawson is delightfully situated on the two sides of the River Moyola, over which is a handsome stone arch, erected by the Dawson family, and from this circumstance the town derived its former name of Dawson's Bridge: consisting of two principal and some smaller streets, containing, in 1831, 129 houses, many of which are large and well built.

Main Street, Castledawson (Image: Green Collection/NMNI)

Here are extensive cotton twist mills, built in 1803, and furnishing employment to about 100 persons in the buildings and about 800 in the adjoining parishes.

Near the town are large flour and oatmeal mills; and in several places in the neighbourhood are factories of course earthenware, bricks etc, and a bleach-green in which 800 pieces of linen are annually prepared for the London market.

The market is on Saturday, and is well supplied with every kind of provisions; and in the season great quantities of grain, pork, and butter are purchased here, principally for the Belfast merchants: the market-house and grain stores are extensive and well built.

Fairs are held on the last Saturday of each month, for the sale of linen cloth, yarn, cattle, pigs, sheep, and pedlary.

The eight townlands of Moyola were, in 1712, erected into the manor of Castledawson, with extensive privileges; and a manorial court is held monthly by the seneschal, in which debts to the amount of £20 are recoverable.

Petty sessions are held every alternate week; and there is a constabulary police station.

The soil in every part of the neighbourhood is fertile, and under an excellent system of cultivation.

Coal is found, but no attempt has been made to work it, the seams being too thin to pay the expense, while turf is abundant.

Nearly adjoining the town is The House, the residence of the Rt Hon George Robert Dawson, situated in a beautiful demesne, in which is an ancient avenue three miles in length, opening to a magnificent view of Lough Neagh, to which it extends.

Historic OS map of Castledawson ca 1830. Click to enlarge

On an eminence close adjoining the town stands a beautiful and lofty obelisk, erected by the Earl Bishop, to commemorate the virtues of the Dawson family:-

"A superb proportion square column of chiselled stone, rising to an elevation of about 60ft, surrounded by a little grove of fir trees. It tapered towards the top surmounted by a hollow ball of copper, rising slightly above it".

This great monument, erected in 1795, stood for 44 years until it was blown down during the Night of the Big Wind, 1839, and was never rebuilt.

In History of Methodism in Ireland, dated 1888, page 270, 

"At Castledawson the services were held in the house of Mr James Morrow, but in less than six months an attractive chapel was built. An obelisk stood on the ground, and was turned to good account, the base forming a porch, and the shaft a sort of spire, which soon afterwards was blown down."

There are several other handsome houses in the town and neighbourhood, the principal of which are Fairview, seat of R Henry; Rowan's Gift, of Captain Crofton; Millbrook, of A Spotswood; Mount Aerial, of S J Cassidy.

The parish church is small, but very neat; it stands on the western side of the river Moyola, in the parish of Ballyscullion.

Image: Green Collection/ NMNI)

The former church was built in 1710, by Joshua Dawson MP, and having fallen into ruin some years since,  the present structure was erected by the Rt Hon George Robert Dawson, by whom it has been beautifully ornamented; on a brass tablet in an ancient carved oak frame is inscribed the genealogy of the Dawson family; it has also a beautiful stained-glass window.

There is a large meeting-house for Presbyterians.

A school for boys and girls is supported by subscriptions; and at Hillhead is a school supported by the London Hibernian Society.

Of the castle built by Thomas Dawson, Deputy Commissary in the reign of CHARLES I, and which stood in the demesne near the church, little now remains, but the foundations of the walls and terraces are traceable.

The castle built by Joshua Dawson in 1713 is now in ruins.

Ancient urns, ornaments of gold, spears, celts, and other relics have been found here.

In the neighbourhood are some bogs, 30 feet deep, in which four separate layers of timber are imbedded: the lowest is principally oak, in a very sound and perfect state; the next chiefly yew, the third fir, and the uppermost birch, hazel, hawthorn etc.

Nuts, acorns, and the cones of fir are frequently found in these bogs, in very perfect condition.