Latest News Items …

Venue: Saintfield 1st Presbyterian Church Hall
Time: 11.30 am to 4.00 pm
Tickets: £10 (including light lunch)

Details of the plans for Francis Hutcheson Day and how to purchase tickets can be found HERE.

I am from New Zealand and my cousin Shelley is from Canada and together we have been researching the Sloan family of Ballyrush, Comber. We were fortunate to be able to come to County Down last September and meet all our relatives in Comber. Now we are researching the families that the Sloan’s married into and for the Saintfield district we have two families.
The first is the DALES/DEALS family of Tullywest and Carricknacessna (Craighy or Craignasasonagh). Hugh Dales married Maria Sloan in 1846 at 2nd Presbyterian Church in Saintfield. It is understood that Hugh Dales lived in the House and farm that the McKees were killed in in the 1798 Rebellion (from the book “A History of the Descendants of David McKee of Anahilt”)We would love to have some idea prior to 1824 of the family, which we think we may have some record of from the Freeholders at PRONI, viz: Hugh Deals 1769 had three sons at Tullywest – James, William and John. James went to Carricknacessna sometime little time before or just after 1824. So anything on this family would be wonderful.
The second family is the SMYTH family of Lisdoonan, William Smyth married Elizabeth Sloan circa 1830’s. This family worshipped at the Reformed Church of Knockbracken. I know that William Smyth died in Ardstraw, County Tyrone at his daughters place in 1893 aged 93yrs, but we cannot find where Elizabeth Sloan/Smyth died.

Cheers and thanks for any help given. Jo-anne Sunbeam

[If you can help with this search you can either add a Comment to this post or email: info [at] discoversaintfield [dot] com.]

The Gran Fondo Giro d’Italia passed through Saintfield on Sunday 21st June 2015.

Watch a video of them passing by HERE.

Some photographs of the Gran Fondo can be seen HERE.

Ballygowan Vintage Club had its annual Saintfield Road Run on Thursday 18th June.  A varied collection of tractors, cars, motorbikes and lorries took part, driving along country roads before parking up in Saintfield’s Main Street.  The event was in aid of Marie Curie Cancer Care.

Photographs of the Vintage Run can be seen HERE.

Ten members of the Saintfield Development Association visited the CES Quarry Products Ltd business at Doran’s Rock, just outside the village, on an unseasonally cold, wet and blowy 1st of June. We were the guests of Stephen McDougall (SHEQ Officer) and Ian McDougall (Production Director) of CES, whose family have run the 70 acre quarry business for over 40 years, with over 50 jobs dependant on the operation and using local suppliers and services.

Information about the quarry and photographs taken during the visit can be found HERE.

Open+Direct staff volunteers visited Saintfield today to help Saintfield Development Association prepare for this year’s Saintfield In Bloom and Translink Ulster In bloom competitions, and Best Kept Town award (which is sponsored by Open+Direct). You can see some more photographs of the volunteers at work HERE.

Photographs taken at the Mike Snowden talk on his restoration of the Erddig National Trust property can be viewed HERE.  The talk was organised by the Green Saintfield Committee of Saintfield Development Association to raise funds for Saintfield In Bloom.

Saintfield Development Association held its Annual General Meeting in the recently opened Rowallane Community Hub.  Officers for 2015/16 were elected and the guest speaker was John Reid who produced the Saintfield Landscape Masterplan for SDA. Some photographs from the evening can be seen HERE.

Saintfield Development Association organised another Litter Pick, supported by Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful and Newry, Mourne and Down District Council.

Saintfield’s Litter Pickers were out in force, with twenty-four volunteers collecting 30 bags of litter from our streets in just two hours.  See how they got on HERE!