Status : Closed
(near Lough Neagh)
[Photo: McIlroy’s (The Horseshoe Inn).]
Where it now stands, once stood a Blacksmith shop and Spirit grocery. The licence is well over a 100 years old but this solid building is very much older than that, as a stone embedded ever the main door states EST. 1620. and a look at the thickness of the walls will convince the sceptic. Inside there is an interesting collection of Toby Jugs, and Beakers hanging from the ceiling above the Bar and look out for two ornamental Po’s: the flowered one is well over 100 years old. There is a fine Mahagany counter here and it is unusual to see a few of the little ‘Four in a row’ games sitting on the tables. Look out for a most unusual stained glass cartwheel window. Around the walls are framed little sayings like ‘May your roof never fall in and those beneath never fall out’. There is an unusual hanging sign ‘Last Pub 897 Km’. Seemingly an old customer who had emigrated to Australia sent this one back. There is also a 1956 Price List, Rum, Whiskey and Gin …5/- per glass, Lager …1/4, Beers …1/5, Irish Stout …1/2 and Draught Porter 1/6 per pint… Aah those were the days.
Mrs McIlroy tells a lovely little story about the previous owner Mrs Horner.
After selling the premises she told Mrs McIlroy never to pull down the wall to the right of the fire for embedded in it seemingly is a Holy Statue which brought her tremendous luck, like winning Spot the Ball and £27,000 in the pools. Although this charming little pub is the local for farmers and eel fishermen (Lough Neagh is only a stone’s throw away) it also gets a fair spattering of tourists from as far away as America, Europe and not so long ago the direct relations of John (Jack) Balance from Auckland called in for a chat. John was born in Ballypitmave, Glenavy in March 1839, the son of a Quaker family. He emigrated as a young man of 26 to New Zealand. He became Prime Minister (Liberal) in 1881 and died in office 12 years later. During his term of office he made major tax reforms, land ownership changes and was instrumental in getting a bill allowing women to vote for the first time.
But unquestionably the greatest curiosity here is a large piece of stone sitting on the window shelf on your left as you enter the Bar. It’s not really a stone though, and if you look closely you will see a piece of petrified wood. This particular piece came out of the Tunnycut shuck which lies between nearby Lough Beg and Lough Neagh. In olden days the people thought they possessed magical qualities. In the last century petrified wood was used to make Hone Stones for sharpening knives and cutting throat razors, and these were hawked through the streets of Crumlin and Glenavy with the cry,
‘Lough Neagh Hone, Lough Neagh Hone, You put them in sticks and you take them out of stone’
The origin of these stones was large trees which grew around the shores of the lough some 2 million years ago. When they died, they were eventually covered with Lough Neagh clay and later became fossilised. They are of the same age as the Lignite beds which have been discovered in this area and are still waiting to be mined.