The Harbour, Donaghadee, Co Down

The Harbour, Donaghadee

A largely intact late Georgian harbour of national interest, built between 1821 and approximately 1834. The harbour comprises two piers constructed in Anglesea limestone with bases and outer sea walls of local stone, together with an 1834 lighthouse on the south pier and an original pier crane.

Donaghadee has served as a haven for shipping for centuries and was an important point of communication between Ireland and Scotland. The first modern harbour, constructed in 1626 by Hugh Montgomery, lord of the Ards, fulfilled a royal warrant restricting travel between the Ards and Scotland to the ports of Donaghadee and Portpatrick. This original pier, described by Walter Harris in 1744 as 'a curving quay about 400 feet long and 22 feet wide built of uncemented stone', was sited at the end of The Parade and curved towards the south end of the present north pier. It was improved by the local landlord Daniel De la Cherois between 1775 and 1785, and remained in use until dismantled in 1832, some time after the new piers were completed.

By the early nineteenth century, the advent of larger ships and the establishment of HM steam packet service between Donaghadee and Portpatrick required a new harbour of greater depth. Work on the present harbour began in August 1821. Initial plans were drawn up by John Rennie, a successful engineer whose previous works included Waterloo and Southwark Bridges over the Thames. Rennie died in November 1821 and was succeeded by his son, later Sir John Rennie, who was assisted by David Logan, a Scottish marine engineer of some repute. The south pier was completed by the end of 1825, followed by the north pier, with the lighthouse finished in 1834.

The south pier, roughly 277 metres in length, extends from the line of The Parade and is connected to a promontory. It is built up on its outer face from local stone blasted from the sea bed, with V-jointed Anglesea limestone forming its smoother inner face. It is sheltered by a partly stepped high rampart on the seaward side and has several sets of steps cut into the inner face to allow access to boats. Roughly halfway along the pier on the seaward side of the rampart stands a fairly recent-looking lookout post. The pier culminates at its end in a circular bastion on which stands the lighthouse. Limestone capstans for tying boats are distributed along the pier, with a small crane positioned roughly halfway along on the inner side.

The north pier, roughly 250 metres in length and a mirror image of the south pier in plan, is readily accessed from the rocky shoreline at low tide but cut off from land at high tide. Because of its position and current lack of use, its limestone path is now largely covered in grass, moss and weeds. Like the south pier, there are two pairs of stone steps cut into the inner face, but there are no posts for tying boats or other attachments.

Almost immediately after completion of the new harbour, questions arose about the efficiency of the Portpatrick-Donaghadee packet service, particularly regarding Portpatrick's natural deficiencies as a port. Faster steamships and the advent of railways meant that alternative routes such as Belfast-Loch Ryan and Larne-Stranraer became faster, more reliable and financially more attractive. Despite government promotion and Treasury sanction for a rail link to both towns and further harbour improvements in 1856, it became increasingly clear by the early 1860s that the route had been surpassed elsewhere. By 1867, official sanction for the route was abandoned and Donaghadee Harbour was thereafter used only by fishing boats.