Newry's Seafaring Past Preserved in Extraordinary Model Collection

Newry Maritime Association has received the donation of three incredible models of Newry connected ships from a Lisburn model maker, and today they found a new home when they went on display at Newry Library.

John McAleavey, 82 has spent over forty years making models of ships and Newry Maritime Association were overjoyed to receive the generous gift of models of three ships that were owned by Newry based Joseph Fisher and Son's. The Ulidia, The Pine and The Portadown will be displayed in the heritage area of Newry Library.

For John the models can take about six weeks to make from a solid block of wood with wood cut to size for boat features. The level of detail is quite extraordinary.

John himself went to sea when he was 16 years old with Canadian Pacific Steamships on the Empress of England. Seafaring was certainly in the family, his grandfather worked on the Joseph Fisher and Son's ship, Portadown in 1914.

James McAreavy from Newry Maritime Association couldn't believe his eyes when he went to look at the models. "I was just totally taken aback when I saw the level of detail and the work that John had put into these models. I couldn't believe it and anybody that has seen them from we got them over a month ago, the first thing they comment on is the level of detail. Absolutely fantastic and a real credit to John. I really want to thank him for his very kind donation and also to thank Chris Cassidy, the heritage officer who readily agreed to have them here in the library on permanent loan."

"We've done a lot of work with Chris Cassidy. Chris is very much involved in the promotion of local history and has a great relationship with the community and voluntary sector here in Newry, and we're very fortunate to have him." he added.

Speaking of the Maritime Association James explained "We are a voluntary group that's given to the preservation and active promotion of the history of the Port of Newry, and very important to the history of the port is the firm of Joseph Fisher and Son's".

James gave a background story to the three ships depicted in the models explaining that every ship has a story. "It's very appropriate that we have them in Newry because they are so relevant to the port. Every ship has a story - The Portadown was built in 1900. One of the captains on the Portadown was a man called Patrick Leo McCourt, and he lived in Fisher's Row in Bridge Street. He was a lifetime Seaman, but he had a son of the same name, Patrick Leo McCourt, who was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross at Normandy, 1944 for heroism. He was the captain on a ship called the Wallace Rose, and he was involved in the move across the channel when two and a half million men were moved over to Normandy, and that was the beginning of the end of World War Two.

"Captain McCourt landed valuable equipment, and he held the line for four days under heavy German fire and withdrew safely, and he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross." Tragically Captain McCourt was to lose his life on the Wallace Rose 10 years later in the Thames when a Swedish coaster collided with it in fog.

James continued "These ships here are 400/500 tonne capacity.The Ulidia was built in 1903 and she was nearly 5000 tonnes. She was built by John Redhead and Company in Souths Shields, and was deployed as a foreign going vessel in the Baltic, Mediterranean and journeys like that. Fisher sold her in 1916 and she went on to different owners, and eventually she was wrecked in 1948 after a career of 45 years." Because of its size it was the only ship that Fisher's had that never came to Newry.

Lastly James talked about The Pine. "The Pine was built in 1907 and it was deployed on the home trade around Britain and Ireland and at that time, Fishers done a lot of work in northwest Europe, for instance they used to take cargos of herrings from the Orkney Islands to Hamburg in Germany. They would have taken timber from the Baltic back to England, anything literally, that could be put into the hold of a ship Fishers would take it." he explained.

James explained that the Newry that we have today is built on the foundations and the prosperity that was generated from the port.

"The catalyst for the development of the port was the building of the Newry Canal in 1742, and that gave us a gateway literally to the world. Newry was a hub of global trade. We had mills, we had glass works, we had tannery's, distilleries and along with that the canal increased Newry's hinterland. Where a horse and cart could move three or four tonnes a day, once the canal was opened we had a hinterland that took us into mid Ulster and then when you got to Lough Neagh, It was like a motorway service area - you had the River Bann in front, You'd the Lagan Canal to the right and the Ulster Canal to the left. We had raw materials going out, finished goods coming back, merchants added value to it and Newry became a hub of global trade" he said

Joseph Fisher established the business in 1852 and they traded in Newry for the next 110 years. James added "Many, many families, including my mother's own family, was reared on the money that was generated from the wage packets, either at sea or landslide."