Portadown, 1641: Memory and the 1641 Depositions

Abstract

The mass drowning of Protestants in Portadown is the defining cultural memory of the 1641 rebellion, yet it is a little known and highly contested incident. In this essay I return to the earliest recorded memories of the massacre found among the 1641 depositions to show how the Portadown drownings were represented by eyewitnesses as well as through rumour and hearsay; by survivors and by the bereaved; by refugees speaking within weeks and months of the event, to those recalling the event over a decade later. Identifying different ‘stories’ of the atrocity, and considering how they were shaped by time and circumstance, I discuss how a range of deponents diversely remembered the Portadown atrocity, and illuminate the tensions, inconsistencies and contradictions in their memories. By recovering part of the history of 1641 memories, I suggest that the 1641 depositions are a rich resource for memories of the rebellion but not its ‘facts’.

Building bridges? Remembering the 1641 rebellion in Northern Ireland

“…There is a significant memory culture of the 1641 rebellion in Portadown, as well as a vibrant local tradition of 1641 commemorations, due mainly to the notoriety of the mass drowning that took place in the town in the early weeks of the rebellion when a large number of Protestant settlers were thrown off the bridge to drown in the waters of the Bann (McAreavey, 2017). The strength of such local memories is largely attributable to the commemorative traditions of the Orange Order, founded in the nearby town of Loughgall in 1795 and established in Portadown a year later (Jones et al, 1995; Wolsey, 1935).…”