Map of R. Johnston Estate, Kirkistown and Ratallagh, Co. Down, 1791.
This map of the Johnston estate at Kirkistown and Ratallagh includes a list of tenants and rents on the bottom right corner.
Adkeen Rath + Old Church on Castle Hill
On a hill projecting as a peninsula into Strangford Lough, in the townland and parish of Ardkeen, stands the old motte and later castle of the Savage family. The church yard and building on the south slope probably dates from the late thirteenth century.
1762 - 1870 Church Wardens, Christ Church, Ardkeen Diocese of Down, Church of Ireland
Excerpt from pages 107-111 of the book Diary of a Country Parish: Christ Church - Ardkeen Diocese of Down by Rev. Cannon Frank W.A. Bell, M.A., B.D., circa 2001.
Description of County Down Prior to Scots Settlement Quoted from Two Centuries of Life in Down 1600-1800 by John Stevenson, 1920.
Published in 1920, John Stevenson's Two Centuries of Life in Down 1600-1800 is a detailed description of local history and life in County Down. I've extracted a description of Down prior to the Scots settlelement found on pages 20-25.
This is not the complete list although I believe I have extracted all the renters from the Ards.
Irish Famine + Ardkeen Relief Committee, 1847
The following images are excerpts from the Famine Relief Commission Papers, 1845-1847, (RFLC3/2, Incoming Letters: Baronial Sub-series) which document the subscribers to the Ardkeen Soup Kitchen on March 27, 1847. You will note many local family names including McMaster, Young, McCormick, Coulter, Echlin, Donan, Bailie and Savage.