Between the years 1835 and 1850, Moville was practically all built as we see it today. I first set eyes on it in 1861, and I can see no difference between the general appearance of the town at that date and at the present day.

A few details will interest the inhabitants at all events. It was about the year 1831 that Mr. Grierson built the houses on the west side of Quay-street. He gave them at first such long gardens that had not the Rev. Samuel Montgomery stepped in the houses in River-row might never have been built. River-row was built about 1833. The house belonging to Mr. Elkin was for some time a Roman Catholic school. The field was then called Seafield, or Arkfield. Quay Street was called Whiskey Lane, from which a watch was kept by smugglers up and down the main road.

In 1832, there was certainly a steamer that plied regularly between Derry and Moville. In the "Derry Sentinel" for November 3rd, 1832, an enthusiastic account is given of the trip by the Moville steamer up the Foyle to Castlefin, navigation having become possible up to that point. It shows how small the steamer must have been.

In 1835, the landlord writes to his brother Robert in India to say that Moville is a changed place. "You cannot go along the shore without meeting numbers of people who reside summer and winter." Gortgowan seems to have been built about 1834 by one Jack Malone. In 1835, Mr. Galwey, the rector, lived there. Ravenscliff was built about the same time, and before 1835, a Mr. Colhoun resided there. In 1835, Mr. Corbet came into possession. There were no trees on the bank until 1836. They were then planted, and alas! for the Newpark view.

In 1839, the Fisheries Board of the Irish Society obtained a lease of the stone pier and the Anchor Tavern, and made the ice pond in Ballynelly Lane, covering an area of two acres. The site of the pond is easily discerned. Two ice houses were also made just below where Traceys Hotel stands. Besides ice from the pond, one shilling was paid for loads from the river. The Anchor Inn was then inhabited by Billy Gary, and he managed the ice business. His son built the house now occupied by the Royal Bank of Ireland, and it was called Gary's Hotel. It is also interesting to note that fishery troubles were known even in those early days.

In 1838, some Inishowen fishermen were prosecuted for illegal fishing, the magistrate being the Rev. Molesworth Staples, rector of Upper Moville. The rector spoke seriously to them, asking how they could bring themselves to break the law. Upon which one of the offenders answered - "Your Honour, it was yourself advised us to fish!"

Again in 1840 Lord Donegal claimed the sole right of fishing for salmon in the lough, and, I presume, without success. Salmon were very plentiful, and many seals followed them into the lough. At Carse Hall, near Limavady, the servants were compelled to request that they should not be fed upon salmon more than once a week.

Soon also, houses were being built in Main Street and Market Square, the stone being obtained from the quarry, which is now turned into a lawn tennis court. About the year 1840, Mr. Hempton began building the Church Houses. Nos. 1 and 2 were built before the others. In 1843, Captain Harvey occupied both houses, and broke a way through from on to the other. In 1847, Bishop O'Keefe, Roman Catholic Bishop of Derry, lived in No. 1, and No. 2 was the Parochial House. The window looking east in No. 1 was put in by Captain Harvey in order that he might see ships entering the lough. No trees or buildings then hid the view.

As I am so near Ballynelly Lane in my history, I had better forestall the building of "Sunnyside", which was erected much later. One day Mr. Macfarlane was on the roof doing repairs. Dr. Newell at the same time happened to be firing at some "crows" (they are really rooks). Unfortunately, he peppered Macfarlane, upon which there began an altercation, in fun, of course. Macfarlane vehemently protested. Said the doctor - "What right had you to be sitting on the roof of your house?" Macfarlane retorted - "Anyhow, I claim free doctoring from the man who peppered me." Replied the doctor - "If you behave like a crow you must be treated like a crow!"

The roads were, of course, being made hard. It is not necessary to name the surveyor, but the story is too good to omit, whether true or false. The great man, in order to save himself trouble, hired a car and was driven over the roads in order to test them. If he was not jolted, he passed the road. Naturally, the men who had the contract made it worth the car drivers while to avoid all doubtful spots!

THE YEAR 1856

I shall only weary if I enter too much into details of house building. It will suffice to say that in a map dated 1857 certain blocks of houses were not yet built. Bath-terrace practically non-existent, also the block in Main-street below the bank. Of course, Montgomery Terrace was not built. St. Eugene's Hall was erected in 1887, and Montgomery Terrace in 1884. The convent and the Parochial House were not built until 1862 and 1863. Limefield was not built until after St. Columb's Church was opened in 1858.

THE REV. SAMUEL MONTGOMERY'S APPREHENSIONS

A letter of my uncle to his brother Robert, written in 1857, will certainly interest our inhabitants. He is gloomy about the future of his beloved Moville; upon which it may as well be made known that he had spent £5,000 between 1832 and 1870. Unfortunately, a large portion of this had been borrowed by mortgaging his property, and to a large extent, the present proprietor has had the privilege of paying off those charges by surrendering the whole of the proceeds of the Ballynelly farms.

I now summarise the contents of the letter to Robert in India. My uncle was the gentlest and most retiring of men. I remember one of the "mountain men" talking of "Wee Sam Montgomery." On each side of his property were capable businessmen, with influence in high quarters, whereas my uncle was a very retiring parish priest.

At Greencastle, he says, Sir Arthur Chichester had obtained £7,000, through the influence of Sir Robert Ferguson, for a fine stone pier. Moville would be attracted in that direction. Moville, moreover, had no adequate wharf, nothing that would suffice for the winter months. At all costs, he must spend money in Moville, also rebuild the Market House, provide land for houses, and above all things, build a wharf! This is the first notice about the present wharf, and, indeed, it was full time that my uncle took action.

Mr. Haslett, manager of the Belfast Bank in Derry, possessed of great energy and rightly prominent as a high minded public man, naturally wished to improve his property, which came up to his side of the Moville River; he had purchased the church lands, and had big plans in readiness.

Besides the erection of the stone pier, he had been able to get a railway surveyed from Derry, but ending at the stone pier. It was he also who, with Government help, changed the course of the Derry road. He cut through the ancient "fortification" built the fine bridge over the glen, and altogether saved the abrupt descent to Carrownaff House. He then published a map, which revealed his dreams. At this time, he was living in the house in Moville lately known as the rectory, and called in his time Hazelbank. He now left Moville and settled at Carrownaff, making the house what it is today. But the map! I look at it with admiration.

On it are depicted three roads, one above the other, extending from the glen to the Moville River, with three other roads connecting them. The whole ground is laid out in houses, with gardens; four churches are depicted, besides halls. In Carrownaff Avenue, seven villas are plotted; opposite the stone pier, a fine hotel is depicted. My poor uncle! No wonder he trembled in his rectory at Ballynascreen. The sequel is surprising.

Nothing happened. Some say that just about the year 1860, the boom in Moville came to an end. Houses were built in our town, but nothing more was needed. There is something prosaic about the explanation. I suggest another, far more romantic. Mr. Haslett destroyed that ancient "fortification" and ejected a family of fairies who had dwelt there perhaps for 2,000 years. They determined to have their revenge, and lo! the result.

THE WHARF

My uncle spent £2,000 upon it, and it filled his thoughts for years. I have a vast bundle of his papers setting forth his hopes and perplexities. Suffice it is to say that after studying many schemes and applying to several engineering firms, he decided to buy a brig in Deny, 90 feet in length.

The following letter, written by my uncle to Captain Coppin, will reveal his simple goodness: -"My dear sir - I am acquainted with matters concerned with the sea, but I believe you to be an honest and honourable man. I am willing to pay you £335 for the ship, bringing down the ship, fixing, piling, and securing it according to your plans."

Then followed details, which need not be mentioned. It was brought down to Moville by Captain Coppin and placed in position, and filled with stones weighing not less than half-a-ton each. He only paid 4s for each stone on delivery at the wharf. It may be of interest to know that the brig in question had been wrecked at MacGilligan, and contained 50 tons of wheat. This Mr. Anderson bought cheap, but the cattle would not eat it since it had been too much impregnated with salt water. Of course, the old ship has long ago disappeared, but the stones are there still.

In 1861, I remember the "Ardentinny" as the Moville-Derry boat. She afterwards ran the blockade into Charleston, and was eventually lost. In 1870, the "Balmoral" was our steamer. In 1875, the Harbour Commissioners accepted the wharf as a free gift from my father, since it was no longer possible for a private individual to keep the wharf in repair. I conclude this story of the wharf by a circumstance which I remember well. Before the wharf was surrendered to the Commissioners, it was suggested that a toll should be exacted from all who used the wharf, car drivers and servants being excepted. Consequently, one day the people of Moville discovered a wooden barrier erected before the entrance and a toll demanded. There was great consternation. Then the Moville people took the law into their own hands. The whole obstruction was torn down and the timbers were "thrown into the tide."

My father was privately amused. A man who had been in public life as long as he had been knew that whatever a man's legal rights may be, he must not go against strong public opinion, unmistakably expressed.