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One story tells of
members of the family getting possession of a portion of their Ballintoy property
by foul mean, having murdered the rightful owner on a hill near Knocksoghey. The victim's name is said to have been Maelderig
or 'Red Chief' and his people where afterwards known as Reid's on the
Antrim coast, a name closely linked to Ballintoy and the coast of Kintyre
in Scotland. The castle and the old church that stood on the site of the
present day church were lay siege to during the
1641 rebellion when local Presbyterians took refuge inside. The
local priest Father MacGlaime was said to have asked that water be allowed in
each day for the women and children hold up in the tower and it was agreed. Each day he would take buckets
of water down to the church where they were hauled up the top of the
tower. The unsuspecting force around the church did not know that oatmeal
was placed below the water line. After a week of laying siege to the church and with no sign
of starvation from within, they began to wonder how these people could
survive. The garrison in the castle were able to hold at bay the
attackers until relief arrived and those laying siege retreated to Ballycastle, when the truth of what Father MacGlaime had done came out,
he was subsequently murdered by people who had took part in laying the
siege. One of those inside
was a Thomas Boyd of Lisconnan who later made a disposition before Oliver
Cromwell's commissioners which is still to be seen in the Library of
Trinity College, Dublin.
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