Kiltennel A History
From the Fishermans Walk to the Bachelors Walk and beyond
Long before Courtown Harbour was built, Kiltennel has been a hive of activity. As you walk down the Burrough Road, crossing over the footbridge and on under the trees you pass by a number of areas with a hidden history.
Picture taken in 1923, showing the immense dunes that have since disappeared
The Cricket Pitch
As you walk down begin the Kiltennel Trail walking into the brush path beside the road. You will soon pass a wide open meadow area. The is known locally as The Cricket Pitch.
It was said to have been Irelands first and only circular Cricket Pitch and was created as a leisure facility for The Stopford Family of Courtown House, the Anglo Irish Landlord of this area.
It was used up until they departed in the 1920s. It then became a popular camping spot during the period of the 1930s to 1960s.
Today it is close to disappearing into the sea and so in an effort to protect it it has been planted with native Irish trees and dune grass.
So should you walk across it, please take care to avoid the re-wilded areas!
The Remnants of the original harbour
Photos Courtesy of Owen Dunbar
Reaching the end of the Burrough Road, before you cross the footbridge, take a moment to step out onto the beach. Here is the original outlet for the Ounavarra River before Courtown Harbour was built.
In 2024, after a storm, Kathleen roared through, and some of the sand was washed away to reveal old timbers, which many initially assumed were parts of a long-abandoned boat. But it was soon explained by a local history group as the last remnants of an old wooden footway and fisherman walk that stretched across the river and bar to the dunes to Ballymoney and Tara Hill.
By using this old right of way they didn't have to trespass on the Courtown Estate.
The timbers seem to have been preserved by a layer of bluey marl and sediment that was washed down the river over the year's that blocked out oxygen that would normally leads to the decay of this oak planking and round upright poles structure that probably dates from the early 1800s and possibly before.
As a famine relief system, a canal was blasted and dug through solid rock that diverted the Ounavrragh away from the bar and down the channel into the harbour or basin as most of us called it.
In heavy flood the river often reverts to it's natural course out over the bar and into the sea.
The Footbridge
Photo Courtesy of Owen Dunbar
Heading back onto the trail you will cross over the river using the the Footbridge.
This bridge would have replaced the old wooden footbridge and the old right of way. Built or placed here sometime around 1916. it was a popular spot for courting couples attending the local dancehall or The Ballroom back in the 1950s and 60s!
Lady Charlotte’s Well
Photo Courtesy of Owen Dunbar
Lady Charlotte’s Well comes with a rather sad story. Lady Charlotte was born in 1799 and married the 4th Earl of Courtown. It was sad she was a beautiful, charming and kind woman, who gave birth to two boys, Barrington and James who would later grow up to be the 5th Earl.
But sadly she contracted TB and while visiting Rome to “dry out the lungs” she sadly passed away at the very young age of only 28.
Her heartbroken husband built a small museum in her memory. Filling it with some of the treasures they had collected during their time together.
All that remains of the building today is the old well.
Fed from an underground spring, drinking the water is not advised due to its proximity to Courtown Golf Club and golf clubs in general, standard usage of weedkiller and fertiliser
The Hazel Glen
Reaching the end of the Woodland Trail and before stepping out onto the Beach, you will reach the Hazel Glen. The stream the cuts through the land here is a low and small one, but take a moment to notice how deep the gorge is, once this tiny stream was a roaring river!
The Hazel Glen is now a Coillte Plantation and the Hazel Trees that grew here have since been replaced, but thanks to efforts by Seal Rescue and Courtown Community Council, if you look off to the far side you will see Hazel Saplings growing well!
This area marked an unofficial boundary of Lord Courtowns Estate and Fishermen from the village of Ballymoney would enter the woodlands near here.
The Fishermans Walk
Returning towards Courtown your path leads you on the edge between the trees and sand. the path has become a little trickier in recent years due to erosion but still for the most part manageable!
This path was the route taken by fishermen living in and around the small village of Ballymoney. Each day they walked to the original opening of the river to take their boats out. Their primary catch was cod, which was sold and transported via train to Dublin.
There are many stories of smugglers, shipwrecks and hidden caves and passages along this coastline, who knows what the sea could reveal in time!
The Burrugh
Zoom in and look closely, you can just barely see some paler grey structures in amongst the dunes
As you return to Courtown Harbour, it may surprise you to learn that this part of the walk once extended approx 3 acres out into the sea. About 100 years ago, walking this road, you would not have been able to see the sea., and it wasn’t just the dunes that many of us remember from the 70s and 80s, but also houses!
Small wooden summer houses, were scattered here among the dunes and trees, and many families have memories and stories from those days. Apparently it wasn’t unusual for people to rent out their homes and the whole family would move into these wooden cabins for the duration of the summer season.!