Thanks to James M Carlisle for this stunning photo of Carlingford Lough taken from Omeath. James is a retired civil engineer originally from North Wales but living in Carrickmacross for over 20 years now. James loves to walk extensively in the Mournes and the Cooley Mountains and we love seeing his beautiful photography. You can follow James on Twitter @JamesCarlislef1 and Instagram @mckenzief1.
Nestled between the Cooley Mountains and the shores of Carlingford Lough and opposite Warrenpoint, Rostrevor and the majestic Mourne Mountains, Omeath is a small village between Carlingford and Newry.
The ancient inhabitants of Omeath were known as the Aighneacha and the ancient name of Carlingford Lough - Cuan Snamh Aigeach would appear to be derived from the tribe who inhabited Omeath. It consists of 10 townlands - Ballyoonan, Ballinteskin, Corrakit, Tullagh, Ardaghy, Bavan, Lislea, Cornamucklagh, Knocknagoran and Drummullagh. Omeath has a rich cultural history and was home to many poets, the most well known being Séamas Dall Mac Cuarta. It was a noted Irish speaking area and one of the oldest records of Gaelic football from this era is a poem as Gaelige which translates to "The match of Bavan Meadow". It was played around 1750 and was written by Redmond Murphy, at a time when Irish was widely spoken in the Omeath area. The Irish college Coláiste Bhríde was set up in Omeath in 1912 by Eoin Mac Neill. Coláiste Bhríde was a summer Gaelic college inaugurated in 1912 until it moved to Rannafast in Donegal in 1926. Padraig Pearse visited the college on a number of occasions, and it is believed he wrote some of his famous oration for the funeral of O’Donovan Rossa in Omeath. The last native speaker of Omeath Irish was Anne O’Hanlon who died in 1960 aged 89.
Omeath was a favourite resort for Northern Ireland day-trippers during the 60s and 70s and was often packed out at weekends. The arrival of package holidays and cheaper flights gradually saw the decline in this trade. A small passenger ferry which had been operated by the same family ran for over 100 years between Warrenpoint and Omeath during the Summer months and the infamous Mulligans corner shop at Omeath crossroads opened on July 4th, 1952 and sells everything from souvenirs to ice cream cones and is still on the go - ready to celebrate 70 years of business this July.