Lecale

Lecale (from Irish Leath Cathail, meaning "Cathal's half"), is the name of a peninsula and several different historical territorial divisions all located in the east of modern-day County Down, Northern Ireland.

It is an area of historical and geographic significance, bounded by the Quoile Marshes (now drained, but formerly extensive), the Blackstaff River, the Irish Sea and Strangford Lough. It has an oddly isolated position, virtually cut off from its hinterland, but open to invasion and influence from the east and south.

Anciently it was the name of the ancient Irish district of Leath Cathail. As Ladcathel it was a county of the Earldom of Ulster, and later the name of the former barony of Lecale, which was then split into Lecale Lower and Lecale Upper by 1851.

History

Map of Lecale within the surrounding baronies of County Down (1900).

Leath Cathail

Leath Cathail is said to consist of the present-day baronies of Lecale Lower and Lecale Upper, and was a subdivision of the ancient kingdom of Uladh. It gets its name from Cathal, a prince of Uladh about 700 A.D. who was a descendant of Fiachna, a son of Deaman, a king of Ulidia. Hence Leath Cathail literally means "Cathal's half of Dál Fiatach".