A Short History of Downshire Road Presbyterian Church, Newry
1761 - 1944
Rev. Nathaniel Small (Present Minister)

THE OPEN WINDOW: An Annual of Literature and Popular Year Book

Mr. M. J. Magee

     No apology is necessary for introducing Mr. Magee's portrait in The Open Window!  Since his participation in the public life of our Town - and it is of very recent date -
he has rendered the community signal service.  His work as Chairman of N.R.C. (No. 1), in connection with the co-operative movement, alone would entitle him to the hearty
thanks not only of the farmer, but of every resident in the County. Gratitude has, however, a wider basis: when the unfortunate mistake of reducing the Union Clerk's estimate
for 1896 was made, it entailed the loss of almost £700 a year on the Union (since that became the standard financial year in connection with the Agricultural grant). Several
unavailing efforts to remedy matters were made. It remained for Mr. Magee, by his individual effort, to recover the lapsed sum.* Through his influence, too, the Down County
Council (of which he is a member) raised its contribution to the Newry Fever Hospital from £200 to £400 per annum; and if ever the contemplated railway from Newry to
Newcastle become an accomplished fact, we will have Mr. Magee is great measure to thank for that also. No one can dispute Mr. Magee's services, and it is very gratifying
that this feeling culminated during the year in a public testimonial. This took the form of a beautifully illuminated address and purse containing 100 guineas.
     That Mr. Magee has decided to use his ability (which is of a high order) for the benefit of his native town is evident, and deserves the utmost commendation, especially in so
young a man.  In doing so he has entered on a by-no-means east career. In pursuance of it his motives will, from time to time, be assailed, and his unselfishness......
(I'm afraid there was only this one page, sorry - Mary)
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* The misapplied zeal of the Guardians in power reduced the estimate for '96, consequently when the New Local Government Act came into operation, the Newry Union only
received half of the reduced amount, instead of half the originally fixed amount. Mr. Magee, after long and arduous effort, induced the authorities to amend, by taking as the
criterion the actual expenditure of the year, instead of the mistaken conjectural calculation of the Guardians. This resulted in half of £1,297, in addition to the amount already
decided upon, being allowed - a clear gain of £648 10s. per annum.
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on back of the above page...

Part II. - Local - Reading and News for Home and Abroad
An Historic Tale: A Faithful Steed and a Devoted Wife
A Newry Relic of '98

     In the great volunteer movement of last century Newry played an important part, and to the Society of United Irishmen, founded in Belfast in 1791, Newry also contributed
her contingent, In this connection we find it recorded that on the "28th of May, 1797, the following persons from Newry were brought to Belfast in a coach-and-four, escorted
by a detachment of the 22nd Light Dragoons, viz.:- Messrs. John Gordon, David Lawson, Isaac Glenny, Thomas Morris, Luke Babe and John Walker.  Mr. Glenny has since,
we hear, been admitted to bail and Mr. Gordon expects also to be liberated upon the same terms."  Four days later we are informed by a Belfast correspondent that, "since our
last the following prisoners have been brought into the Artillery Guard-room, viz.:- Peter Leacy, William Reilly, James Jones, Robert Brown, and Robert Maxwell, from Newry;
and Hugh McEvoy, Edward Fagan, Matthew Savage, Laurence McEvoy, and Stephen Byrne, from Sheepbridge - all charged with seditious practices." Immediately upon his
arrest, the wife of Mr. John Gordon, well knowing the summary manner in which justice was administered in those troublesome times, and being ardently devoted to her husband,
 at once mounted her horse and started in pursuit of the escort which brought him and his fellow-prisoners to Belfast. There, we are told, she arrived close upon their heels, never
having drawn rein, nor partaken of refreshment, from the moment she left her residence at Templegowran till she arrived in Belfast, where she took steps, which proved successful,
for the vindication and release of her husband. With the poor steed, however, it fared very differently - next morning he was found a corpse. The memory of such a faithful servant
was not, however, destined to perish. Mrs. Gordon shortly afterwards returned to Templegowran, accompanied by her husband and the tail of her gallant steed. Mr. Gordon
remained at Templegowran up to his death, at the age of 84 years, on the 22nd March, 1833.  Anne Gordon, his widow, survived him, and died in July, 1840, aged 80.
     As for the "tail," it has, so far as we can ascertain, been faithfully preserved at Templegowran up to the 14th of December, 1898, when it was presented to me by Mr. R. Cooper
the present occupier of the interesting old spot.
                           FRANCIS C. CROSSLE
[We present our readers with a photo, of this historic tail. Dr. Crossle has had it placed in a neat frame, and the record of the event printed that it may be read through the glass, and
will present it to the Town Commissioners for preservation in the Board-room of the New Town Hall. The tail is in an excellent state of preservation, and bound at the top with a fine
leather band. It was a gallant ride. Templegowran lies east of Newry, about two miles, and Mrs. Gordon, who was then about 37 years of age, had to cover 32 Irish miles without
halting for a single moment.]