Margaret
Lueg, the other -and better - half of the Newsbrowser team, took it
upon herself to research this notorious local outlaw. She writes:
When I did this research into the history of Cushy Glen in 2005, I had not expected there
to be so little hard evidence of his exploits, given the amount of
tales told about him locally. Most of these tales seem to have a
common source and have been embroidered and retold for 200 years.
Cushy Glen
Cushy Glen was a
robber and highwayman who was born in the parish of Magilligan and is
infamous in the Limavady area for robbing travellers on the mail
coach road from NewtonLimavady to Coleraine. He is reputed to have
murdered several travellers and dumped their bodies in the 'Murder Hole'
at the foot of Windy Hill. For 170 years the old coach road to
Coleraine was called the Murderhole Road, but was renamed Windyhill
Road in the 1970's. A section of the road can be seen below.
Cushy Glen,
according to the OS memoirs of 1834 lived with a gang
of robbers at the Murder Hole. It was here that he was shot
by James Hopkins. The OS memoirs also refer to the white
Tory Cave in which Cushy Glen, a noted robber with a gang of others,
resided. This cave was on the border of the parishes of Magilligan
and Dunboe. Further on the memoirs refer to 'The Robbers' Cave which
is the name of a limestone cavern on the cliffs at Gortmore.
Cushy Glen was
supposed to have hung around Bridge Street in Coleraine to identify
travellers worthy of robbing and he then followed them along the
lonely road over the mountain. (How did he do that? Must have had a
horse.) According to the OS Memoirs, James Hopkins of Bolea was one such traveller whom Cushy
tried to rob in 1799 but was shot in the attempt. James Hopkins died at
Bolea on 7 March 1853 aged 94.
The lower storey of James Hopkins' house in Bolea is still in use today as a shed.
Rev William Knox
was the minister of 1st Dunboe Presbyterian Church from
1765 until his death on 29 August 1801. He lived in a house called
“Fairview” overlooking the village of Articlave.
Tradition has it that he ministered to Cushy Glen after the robber
was shot by James Hopkins.
The late Sam Henry
wrote a poem about Dunboe with the following lines:
So to the highwayman good William Knox
With eyes
blindfolded, saved him from the shocks
That death still
batters on the sinning soul
And pointed him
the way to heaven's goal.
Sam Martin's
Historical Gleanings refers to Paddy Cushy Glen – a noted
robber who lived at the Back Strand, afterwards removed to the
Murderer's Hole on the road between Limavady and Coleraine. He had a
brother called James Cushy Glen who was executed in Derry for
stealing 3 bullocks, who were the property of Mr Hughy.
There is a tale that James may have been
walked in chains from Limavady to Derry to be hanged.
Memoirs of the
Coleraine Knoxes written down by R Kyle-Knox: (unpublished papers)
'That night two
masked men called on my great-grandfather at his house. They told him
he must come and visit a dying man but he must consent to be
blindfolded. After some hesitation he agreed to their terms and went
with them. He was absent three days leaving his family in greatest
consternation. On his return he was brought back blindfolded as
before. He never knew himself where he had been, but he told them he
had spent the time at the bedside of the highwayman Cushy Glen and
had closed his eyes after his death.'
Pat Cushy Glenn -
sources Londonderry Journal -21 March 1780 and 24 April 1781
The
Derry Journal, previously the 'Londonderry Journal and Donegal and
Tyrone Advertiser' is one of Ireland's oldest newspapers having been
established in 1772. In its pages are documented the life of Derry
and its hinterland from the late 18th
century. The following
advertisement appeared in the Journal dated 21 March 1780:
'Joseph
Smith and Pat Glenn accused of being accessories to the murder of
John Kelly late of Aughill, Tamlaghtard (Magilligan) will surrender
ourselves to the next Assizes'.
However, it
appears that Pat Glenn failed to turn himself in and went on the run,
as revealed in a subsequent advertisement dated 24 April 1781.
'John Church (and others who are not
named) of Coleraine offer a reward for the apprehension of Robert
Jack, Bernard Dogherty, John McCoy, James Miskimmen, Bryan McNogher
and Patrick Cushaglen, who are accused of murdering John Kelly in the
parish of Magilligan'.
Here we have Pat
Glenn and Patrick Cushaglen used interchangeably in a contemporary
source, thus adding substance to the oral history.
In the Belfast
Newsletter, (online database) a similar advertisement with additional
names appeared in the edition dated 29 May – 1 June 1781. John
Church of Coleraine was offering reward for the apprehension of the
following men for the murder of John Kelly of the parish of
Magilligan – Robert Dougherty, Bernard Dougherty, Jack
Dougherty, John McCoy, James Maskimman, John Maskimman, Bryan
McNagher and Patrick Cushyglen. Mention was made of 'daring violent
outrages'.
Bernard Dogherty
was subsequently apprehended and imprisoned but escaped, as noted in
the Derry Journal of 12 March 1782.
'reward
offered by Michael Ross, William Lenox, Sheriffs, for the
apprehension of the following who escaped March 5 from Londonderry
jail – Bernard Dogherty, shoemaker charged with murder,
formerly resided at Newtownlimavady aged about 35 years . . .'
Patrick Cushy
Glenn remained at large until he was shot by James Hopkins at the
Murder Hole Road some years later.
The Murder Hole and the Ram's Horn
Tradition has it
that Cushy Glenn held up the Coleraine stagecoach near Sconce Hill,
robbed and murdered the passengers and dumped their bodies in a hole
near the old coach road. This road was then known locally as
the Murderhole Road. The road officially became Windyhill Road in the
1970's.
Several tales
about Cushy Glenn revolve around a small house on that road near the
junction with Bolea Road. It was occupied until about 50 years
ago by Gilbert Purcell, a shepherd with Grange Park and had two magnificent ram's horns – one on each gatepost.
Stories tell of the house having been Cushy's home, a roadside inn, a
hotel and various other fanciful things. Some local people (of
normally great common sense) are convinced they have 'seen things' in
the vicinity of the house. Incidentally, the area is very isolated,
surrounded by shadows and trees, through which the Windyhill wind
moans and whistles – and that's on a bright sunny day.
Cushy's wife
Many tales refer
to Cushy Glenn's wife aiding and abetting him in his dastardly deeds
– helping him to bury the bodies, encouraging him with wifely
inquiries such as 'Did you get him Cushy?' and generally being a real
bad lot.
However,
it appears that she did exist and remarried some time in 1807. In
the marriages section of Belfast Newsletter dated 11 December 1807 are the following thought-provoking entries:
-MARRIED-
At Newtonlimavady, Miss Mullin, of Scrugan, near Dungiven, to Mr. Samuel Birnie, late merchant, Newtonlimavady
Mrs. Cushie Glen, widow of the late Mr. Patrick Cushie Glen, of the Murder-hole, to Mr. Wm. Lecky, nailer, Newtonlimavady.
A few days ago, Mr. Robert Glen, of Ballyfrench, to Miss Miller, of Ballyhalbert.
On
Monday last, Mr. John Logan, of Centry-hill, near Castlereagh, to the
agreeable Miss Ann Richardson, of Ballytrim, near Killileagh.
An interesting
twist in the wife tale, is that Cushy Glenn and his brother 'lived
with a woman and a whole bake of wains' up the mountain somewhere.
The brother was hanged for stealing bullocks and Cushy was shot by a
local farmer. A Presbyterian minister was called to treat Cushy for
his wounds and somehow in the tale, the minister's wife took pity on
the 'poor wains', bringing them food and eventually taking one of the
girls to work in her house. The girl grew up honest and hardworking
and changed her name to be rid of her beginnings. Probably married a
prince, too.
---o0o---
For
the written facts and many of the references quoted I am indebted to
Mr Bobby Forrest and Dr Hugh Mullin, both of whom were most helpful
in supplying papers and pointers to information. Other anecdotes have
been supplied by my mother's family who used to live in the Bolea and
Stradreagh areas and from relatives of other families from these two
townlands.
Sources:
- Ordnance Survey Memoirs of Ireland (written down in 1834 from verbal accounts of the areas surveyed)
- Genealogical
extracts from the Londonderry Journal 1772-1784: Donald M Schlegel,
Baltimore 2001 (reprint – Genealogical Publishing Company)
- Belfast Newsletter
Index, 1737-1800 online at http://www.ucs.louisiana.edu/bnl/
Further reading:
- Dr Mullin's papers
are available to view in Coleraine Library
- Who Shot Cushy
Glenn? by Jacqueline McAlister – Journal of Coleraine
Historical Society 2000
Stories of Highwaymen in Irish history and folklore:
- An Illustrated History of Limavady and the Roe Valley by Douglas Bartlett
- The Irish Highwaymen by Stephen Dunford
- From Glen to Glen (Roe Valley Tales Re-told) by Mary Ellen Hayward
- Stand and Deliver - Stories of Irish Highwaymen by Jim McCallen
---o0o---
And finally here is a link to Margaret's own website of oil paintings.
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