Portaferry retains much of the character of an historic coastal town, and the famous ferry crossing with Strangford is a highlight when visiting.
Portaferry Castle was built by the Anglo-Norman Savage family in the 1500s, but was in ruins when the Scots settled here in the 1600s. Jean Montgomery married Patrick Savagein 1623, and her brother Sir James Montgomery renovated the castle as a wedding gift.The town developed into an important port, and a ferry charter was granted.The Savages, later the Nugents, remained as major landownersin the area until the 1970s.
Ancient Templecranny Church and graveyard contains the family grave of Bishop Robert Echlin,originally from Fife in Scotland, who lived at the Abbacy at nearby Ardquin. 1798 Rebellion fighter James Maxwell is also buried here. During the Rebellion an attack took place on Portaferry Market House, which still featuresthe Savage coat of arms. Portaferry was one of the first Presbyterian congregations in Ireland, dating from 1642. The current Portaferry Presbyterian Church was built in
1841 in the Neoclassical style. It is now ‘Portico’, a visitor and heritage
centre. A blue plaque to Rev William Steele Dickson is on the building. A renowned leader of the United Irishmen, he was arrested in 1798 on his way to co-operate with the ‘United Scotsmen’ movement in Scotland.
Two miles east of Portaferry is Quintin Castle (a private residence but visible
from the road and shore). It was also owned by Sir James Montgomery in the
early 1600s. He was killed by pirates in the North Sea in 1652 - one of whom was called Smith. It transpired that he was one of Montgomery’s tenants from Quintin Castle.
In 1731 Dean Jonathan Swift, author of Gulliver’s Travels, wrote A North Countryman’s Description, about Ulster-Scots sailors from Portaferry arriving in Dublin.
