Aghadowey Rural Kinship

29/06/2026

FREE ALEXANDER CHESTNUT NOW!

AGHADOWEY RURAL KINSHIP APPEAL FOR THE SAFE RETURN OF

Mr Alexander Chestnutt

Alexander was abducted from the Moneycarry Road, Aghadowey sometime between late Friday night and Saturday 27th June.

ARK are asking whoever is holding him hostage, that he be released without harm & returned safely. He can be left at the rear of Aghadowey Parish Church Hall & no further action will be taken.

Alexander was emigrating to America and expecting to travel by ship to Quebec and then on to Rhode Island to meet his brother in the year 1911.

29/06/2026

RETURN OUR SPUD CROWS!

The ARK Spud Crow Trail officially launched on Friday evening, bringing another unique celebration of our local history and community spirit. Sadly, within hours of the trail opening, four of our Spud Crow figures were stolen. This is the 2nd year this has happened and it is just not funny!

Adding to our disappointment, images have since appeared on social media showing one of the stolen Spud Crows draped in a flag with a scarf tied around its head. This is not only disrespectful to the volunteers who created the trail but also undermines an event designed to bring people together.
We are appealing to anyone who knows the whereabouts of any of the missing Spud Crows to please contact us. If those responsible see this appeal, we ask that they simply return the figures—no questions asked.

Each Spud Crow represents many hours of voluntary work. Every year, our volunteers carefully plan, design and research the historical stories behind each character to create an enjoyable and educational experience for the community and visitors alike.

This is not a harmless prank. It is disheartening for the volunteers who have dedicated their time and effort to making the ARK Spud Crow Trail a success.
We hope the missing Spud Crows can be returned quickly so we can put this behind us and plan for the future.

They might seem like silly scare cows to you but each one represents historic stories of the Aghadowey area!

If you have them, return them to the Carpark at Aghadowey Parish Church & we will retrieve them.

PLEASE SHARE & HELP US GET THEM BACK!!

02/07/2024

For those who have been wondering who the strange characters hanging around Aghadowey again this year are….let me introduce you 😉

1. Meet The Reverend Robert Gage & his wife taking a walk to Aghadowey Parish Church where he was Rector there from 1691 to 1725. When we hear the bells of Aghadowey Parish we have him to thank. Rev Gage served as Chaplin to Queen Anne & to thank him for his service, she presented him with a bell dated 1695. This Royal bell was later given to the Church by the Gage family & is still ring today 🔔

01/07/2024

Spud Crow Trail 2024
19 sightings throughout Aghadowey highlighting a wealth of historical information about Aghadowey

Check out GoodKnightNI’s Story.

22/11/2023

Just a reminder folks about our presentation tomorrow night on the B Specials taking place in Garvagh British Legion,
The presentation will begin at 8pm sharp
Hope to see you all there

15/10/2023

10/07/2023

For those of you who were asking and didn’t get a chance to take part.

Speedy tour of ARK Spud Trail part 1

Check out GoodKnight's video.

07/07/2023

Shout out to our newest followers! Excited to have you onboard!

Mark McKendry, Garie Grissam, Janet Kathleen

02/07/2023

NEWS FLASH!!
Spud-crow abduction update!
Aghadowey Parish Rector & his Lady Wife have been released after they were abducted on the Crevolea Road. They were last seen leaving the old rectory of St Margaret’s to walk to Church some time between Friday night & Saturday. They were reported missing on Saturday. This was not the first attack on the couple. They were physically assaulted earlier on Friday & knocked into the ditch. A search & rescue party was scrambled & hours later they were located having been dumped some distance down the road from where they were abducted. They are recovering in a safe house but the extent of their injuries is not yet clear. Neither were in a fit state to talk about what happened & it is thought that they may be suffering from PTSD. Tributes are being paid to the rescue team who recovered them & took them to safety.

01/07/2023

Have you seen some strange characters hanging around Aghadowey?

Don’t worry….they’ve all been here before, maybe not quite in their current form!

These are ‘Spud-Crows’. We launched them last night with a ‘find me’ tour & Spud supper at Aghadowey Parish Church.

Each Spud-crow represents a person or highlights an event or place throughout Aghadowey, a fun way to learn a little about our history.

The idea originated from our Pilgrimage trip to New Hampshire in 2019 & developed from there. Aghadowey is renowned for spud growing & it was seed potatoes taken from Aghadowey, during the 1718 migration, that were planted in ‘The Common Field’ in Nutfield NH. They were the first potatoes grown in North America.

Our Spud-crow trail is in celebration of the humble ‘spud’ & that’s why the heads look like a lumpy spud & is made from hessian like old potato sacks were made of.

There are 14 locations through our Aghadowey so if you find any & want to know what it represents please ask. Here’s just a few, can you guess who, what, where, when?