The Coronation Chair of the O'Neills of Castlereagh

J. Stirling Coyne & N. P. Willis
c. 1841
Volume II, Chapter I-5 | Start of chapter

Before quitting Belfast, we were shown the site of a very curious piece of antiquity—the coronation-chair of the O'Neills of Castlereagh. It originally stood on the hill of that name, within two miles of Belfast; but after the downfall of the family, it was thrown down and neglected, until the year 1750, when it was removed to Belfast, and built into the wall of the market-house. On the taking down of the market-house a few years ago, it again changed its quarters, and is now in the possession of a gentleman named Walker, of Rathcarrick, in the county of Sligo, where it is preserved with the care due to so interesting a relic. The chair is very rudely constructed, and made of common whin, or gritstone; the seat is lower than that of an ordinary chair, and the back higher and narrower. These inaugural chairs were sometimes merely large stones, in which the impression of two feet were sculptured, and they were anciently placed in some elevated spot in every principality or lordship.

Departing from Belfast, we took the coach for Drogheda; it was well horsed, and driven at ten miles an hour. There was something very graceful in the shape of the hills and the general outline of the country, though the scantiness of wood was a great drawback to its beauty; scarcely a tree was to be seen, except in the vicinity of gentlemen's seats: this remark, however, is not so applicable to the southern as to the northern counties: in the former, the very great number and extent of the new plantations show an awakened attention to the subject, that promises soon to remedy the deficiency.

We entered Drogheda through a row of mud-cabins, which extends nearly a mile from the town. The interior of it contains several good streets and excellent houses; but in the more ancient parts the buildings are all huddled together, so as to be under the protection of the walls, without much regard to regularity or convenience. In Drogheda, we could perceive a marked difference between the population of Ulster and the southern provinces: the air of comfort which distinguishes the appearance of the northern peasant, had been gradually diminishing since we left Newry behind; but we could observe an increasing careless gaiety in the countenances of the people as we receded from the "black north."