Christmas Wishes to all our Members

Wishing members of the Lecale & Downe Historical Society and their families a peaceful and restful Christmas.
We look forward to the first meeting of 2026, which will be held on Thursday 29 January at 7.30pm in Down County Museum. The speaker will be Paul Clements.

In this illustrated talk the writer and journalist Paul Clements will speak about the year he spent living in a cottage in the Montalto woods of County Down. His talk reflects aspects of the 260-year-old history of the mansion house where five dynasties have lived, and which was the scene of the Rebellion by the United Irishmen in 1798. The talk will also consider the changing seasons, wildlife, and the woodland flora recorded by Paul in his journal. This is a local study of historic change in one place, and reflects how the Montalto estate has become a magnificent 21st century showpiece garden that is once again as compelling as its past and worthy of the 18th century heritage from which it
stems.