17th-century memorials in north-east County Down

The following memorials exist or are known to have existed in north-east County Down (essentially the area covered by the present day North Down and Ards Borough Council). Most of the inscriptions were published in the Ulster Historical Foundation's Co. Down Gravestone Inscriptions series, edited by R.S.J. Clarke and issued from 1966 onwards. Some of the inscriptions were previously published in the Ulster Journal of Archaeology (UJA) and in the Journal of the Association for the Preservation of Memorials of the Dead in Ireland (JAPMDI).

The Makie tombstone in Whitechurch graveyard, Ballywalter (pictured right), is a good example of a seventeenth-century memorial. It is undated but is certainly of the 1600s. The inscription is in raised Roman capitals, running round the edge and continuing across the centre. Below are the arms: in chief two ravens pendant from an arrow fesswise and in base a lion passant. Between is a hand or a glove. These resemble the arms of the family of McKie of Bargaly, County Kirkcudbright. Round the arms are the initials T MK and A MB.

Image: Makie stone, Whitechurch, Ballywalter

Whitechurch Ballywalter unk reduced