My great grandparents Bernard and Elizabeth McAuley lived in Savagh. Savagh means Sorrel or Home of the Hawk.

My family lived here for many years but I now live in Dunouragan.

The McAuley family name is one of oldest in the Glens.

Savagh is situated in Glendun on a high mountain.

There was a family in Drumfresky who were called McElhern. The McElherns were upper class. The McAuleys were tenant farmers. Drumfresky is near to Savagh in Glendun. The McElherns had a daughter, Elizabeth who was very beautiful. She was having a romance with Bernard McAuley from Savagh. She was only 2 years old when her mother died and was brought up by her aunt. Her family did not approve of the romance because they were of different religions. They secretly met in a garden which still has a sundial today. Elizabeth's brother was a very cross man. Bernard and Elizabeth planned to marry.

Elizabeth decided to go and get her wedding dress made. The dressmaker told someone her secret and soon everyone knew. Their families decided not to let them get married. However Elizabeth and Bernard worked out a plan. It was to get a man called McKillop to leave a ladder at Elizabeth's window so as she could climb out one night. Bernard had a white horse waiting for them so they got on horseback and rode to Feystown near Glenarm.

Elizabeth's relatives were waiting for them so they stayed there overnight and got married in the morning. The ceremony was followed by a wedding breakfast in Glenariff. James McElhern was looking for Elizabeth and when he rode into the reception he was told 'she's married now'. There was nothing he could do. Eventually they came back and lived in Savagh.

Life long ago was tougher than it is today. Travelling was difficult, as roads were often dirt tracks. Two local girls got married and went to live in Glenarm. When one of them was going to have a baby her mother walked the whole way from Cushendun to Glenarm to be with her daughter. On her way home the mist came down. She couldn't see were she was going and got lost. Her body was never found. No one knows whether she fell off a cliff or what happened.