Millquarter Cottage, Killard, Co Down

In 1954 my parents bought this cottage at Killard, opposite the narrows at the entrance to Strangford Lough. They paid £50 for a ruin, with no electricity, no mains water, no phone.

I assume this was an attempt to avoid repetition of the problems at family holidays at Coney Island and Rostrevor in the previous 2 years.

There was a lot of building work, which being the eldest, I was set to work on - dry stone walling was something I had to learn, but did not enjoy. Father had the habit of telling me to do an easy job like "Feed the cat" and follow it up with "..and whilst you are at it, build a hundred yards of dry stone wall"

I see from modern Google satellite photos, that the current owners have bought more land, which gives the cottage a bit more breathing space

These photos give an idea of what it looked like after a few years with a porch and inside toilet added to the original building. The modern photo above left shows little has changed in the view.

 

 

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