Welcome back to our series of “A Day In The Life”.
Snippets of what life looked like on a typical day in Hanna’s Close.
This story is all about William John, the bachelor who lived at Hanna’s Close
and who’s cottage still bears his name.
William John Hanna was a bachelor who lived in the cottage at Hanna’s Close which still bears his name. It is thought that he was born in this cottage and continued to live there well after his parents died. He was a farmer and owned 2 fields surrounding the Close which were known as ‘William John’s Hill’ and William John’s Home’. He kept hens and grew crops such as corn and potatoes. The corn was used for animal feed for his horses after it was bruised at Walmsley’s Corn Mill, which is now called ‘The Green’. The rest of the corn was milled into oats for porridge and to feed his precious hens. He had a large back garden called ‘The stackyard’ where he grew his vegetables and kept his hen house. It is said that his hens recognised his voice and when he would call them all in each night they came running in even if they had mingled with the neighbours hens throughout the day.
William John was known for being a quiet, shy and reserved man who enjoyed his own company. As a resident of Hanna’s Close he would have helped his neighbours with their farms especially at harvest time in October when everyone worked together to get their crops gathered in before the winter. In the autumn, as was the custom, William John would likely have taken on a young labourer at the hiring fair. The fair was held in the lower Kilmorey Square and stretched along Greencastle Street in Kilkeel. Families would put forward their sons for hire to local farmers for farm labouring. They received 1 shilling per day and this money was sent home to the boys’ family to help with the running of the house. The boys would have been given meals and a place to stay during the 6 month tenure. The main duty was harvesting and field preparations for the next spring planting year.
The October fair day was locally known as ‘ The Hal Eve fair’ and was one of the biggest fairs of the calendar year. There would be lots of local produce for sale including apples, vegetables and poultry. Hundreds of local families from around Mourne would descend on the town square to enjoy the day. The bars and eating houses would have been packed to capacity with locals mingling and getting the latest craic.
”The corn was milled into oats for porridge and
to feed his precious hens.”
William John lived at the Close for approximately 30 years after which he sold his house and fields to his neighbours Willie and George Hanna. William John then bought a house and farm in Ballinran and expanded his business in farming. A few years later he sold his farm to the Parkes family and he moved down the country towards Seaford where he bought an even larger farm. Little is known of what happened to him after that but it was said that he became quite a wealthy man.
George (Norma Fishers father) and his brother Willie Hanna then rented out William John’s cottage on a annual basis to summer visitors which were distant relatives of the Hanna clan from Scotland. The visitors were always invited to the annual ‘Ceilidh’ held in the Close Barn. The event attracted a lot of locals to enjoy the accordion and fiddle music along with the food and drink on offer.
Unfortunately the cottage fell into disrepair after the war years in the 1920’s and was subsequently restored in 1995 to its former glory to a two bedroom holiday home. The thatched cottage and two field’s still hold William John’s name thus keeping his memory alive to this day.
If you would like to experience a stay in William John’s, please book through the link below.
We would love to welcome you!
BOOK HERE – WILLIAM JOHN’S
We hope you enjoyed reading the story of the man behind the name of this cottage at Hanna’s Close.
Keep an eye out for the next blog in our series, we look forward to sharing it with you!
Thanks for reading!
The Team at Hanna’s Close