As Valentine’s Day approaches, thoughts turn to romance in all its forms, from joyful partnerships to hopeful longing, and even the occasional forbidden love. At Newry and Mourne Museum, stories of love- passionate, complicated, and enduring - are woven throughout our collections. This February, we’re sharing just a few of them.
One of the region’s most dramatic love stories is that of Mabel Bagenal, the youngest daughter of Sir Nicholas Bagenal and Eleanor Griffith, whose family made their home in Newry. Mabel’s beauty and grace captivated Hugh O’Neill, Earl of Tyrone, who sought her hand in marriage.
But her brother, Sir Henry Bagenal, fiercely opposed the match. Determined to prevent it, he sent Mabel to live with their sister, Lady Mary Barnewall, in Turvey, north County Dublin, and refused to release her £1,000 dowry, insisting she could never adapt to life in a Gaelic household. Love, however, found a way. O’Neill followed Mabel to Turvey, and together they eloped. On 3 August 1591, they married in secret, the ceremony performed by Thomas Jones, the Church of Ireland Bishop of Meath.
Mabel moved to Dungannon, but married life proved far from idyllic. Tensions between her husband and brother deepened, and rumours of O’Neill’s infidelities grew. By the winter of 1595, both Mabel and Henry were dead: Mabel in December of that year, and Henry in battle at the hands of an army led by O’Neill himself. Their love story remains one of the most poignant and complex in Irish history.
Among the Museum’s treasures is a rare illuminated address celebrating the fiftieth wedding anniversary of Peter Quinn, a respected Newry merchant and politician, and his wife Sarah, marked on 1 May 1885.
Quinn was a prominent figure: a Justice of the Peace for Armagh and Down, a board member of the Newry Navigation Company, and part of the committee that issued the prospectus for the Newry, Armagh and Enniskillen Railway in 1844. As a land agent and property owner with holdings in Drumbanagher, Tullyvallen, and Newry, he was well known in local civic life.
Peter and Sarah made their home at The Agency, Drumbanagher, raising a family whose story is preserved today through this beautifully decorated golden anniversary tribute, a testament to a long and celebrated marriage.
For generations, social events have played a huge role in helping couples meet. From the 1950s to the 1970s, dance halls and local clubs filled with the music of lively showbands and energetic skiffle groups, the latter famous for their improvised instruments, such as washboards. These nights out sparked more than a few romances across Newry and Mourne.
By the 1980s, Cupid’s nightclub had become the place to be. Known for being the first bar in Ireland to launch karaoke nights, it offered many a chance to impress (or mortify!) their potential sweetheart with a heartfelt rendition of a favourite song.
From heartfelt elopements to golden anniversaries and dancehall flirtations, love has always been part of our community’s story. This Valentine’s Day, Newry and Mourne Museum celebrates the dramatic, tender, and joyful romances that connect our past to the present.
