Like the previous Saturday, in Ardglass for the Joseph Gilmore plaque, the weather was kind in being clear and sunny, if a bit breezy, when the plaque to the two lifelong friends, Mitchel and Martin, was unveiled on the house in which both had died within days of each other, 134 years ago.

Now called Ivybrook Lodge, its original name was Dromalane House. The original house still exists, the imposing new frontage, at the rear of the original, only being added in the mid 1800s. A photograph of the original house, which would have been without the two-storey porch, is at the end of this page.

More than 60 people, including the local MLA, Dominic Bradley, gathered to hear the speakers talk about the occasion and of the life and times of Mitchel and Martin. Doreen Corcoran, Ulster History Circle, starting the proceedings thanked the Heritage Lottery Fund and Newry and Mourne District Council for their support. After the formal speeches the Mayor unveiled the plaque and the guests were led on a tour of the historic building. There, in the room where the friends had died, the Chairman of the Donaghmore Heritage and preservation Society, Adrian Murdock, gave a moving address on the friends.

Adrian's address, in full, is available H E R E

At lunch afterwards in Bagenal's Castle, Anthony Russell of the Old Newry Society gave a well-received illustrated talk about Mitchell and his wife Jenny. Some of the guests then went to the cemetery at the old Meeting House Green to visit the graves of John Mitchel and his sister Henrietta, the widow of John Martin.

Some photos of the event are shown below.