Ardglass
Ardglass
| |
---|---|
Ardglass Harbour, May 2009 | |
Location within County Down | |
Population | 1,635 [1] |
• Belfast | 34.1 mi |
District | |
County | |
Country | Northern Ireland |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | ARDGLASS |
Postcode district | BT30 |
Dialling code | 028 |
UK Parliament | |
NI Assembly | |
Ardglass (from
The village is a
History
Ardglass grew from a place of little note in the 13th century to a modestly prosperous port in the 15th century.
Work on the pier was completed by 1885 and it remains in use to this day.
Ardglass contains more
Nearby are the ruins of the 15th-century Ardtole Church. Francis Joseph Bigger, the Irish nationalist, and sometime Belfast solicitor, purchased Jordan's Castle at Ardglass in the 1890s. He restored the castle, naming it Castle Sean, a model of the Celtic Revival and made it a meeting place for its more prominent people, such as Alice Stopford Green, finally bequeathing it to the state.
Account of Ardglass in 1833
The Dublin Penny Journal of 30 March 1833 describes Ardglass as follows:
Ardglass is picturesquely situated on the shore of a little harbour of the same name, in the Barony of Lecale, seven miles S.E. of Downpatrick; and though now a mean village, with very few inhabitants, ranked, anciently, as the principal town of trade, next to Carrickfergus, in the province of Ulster. Its harbour, however, which is iron-bound and full of rocks, is only fit for fishing vessels to enter; for which reason the out-trade was, for the most part, carried on in Killough harbour, from thence called by Speed, the haven of Ardglass. Its antiquity is very great, as a church was founded here by St. Patrick. It is said to have been a borough, though on its ruin the privilege of returning members to parliament went into disuse; in the reign of Henry the VI. it was a corporation, governed by a Portrieve.
— Dublin Penny Journal [7]
Economy
Ardglass has been a fishing port for more than two thousand years and developed as such due to its location on the east coast of Lecale and its sitting by a natural
Places of interest
- Ardglass Marina, sometimes also known as Phennick Cove, has a capacity for about 80 craft and a deep water basin open 24 hours daily all year. Strangford Lough lies six miles to the north.
- Ardglass Golf Club is the local course. The clubhouse was formerly known as Ardglass Castle and the building dates from the 15th century. The course record is 67, this was achieved by Chinese golfer Ho Lee Fook. The course won an award in 2011 as the best links course in Ireland by tour operators.The third hole on the course is renowned for the smell of fresh avocados grown beside the bus shelter beside the fifth fairway bunker.[citation needed]
- Ardglass Bathing House is a hexagonal stone-cut structure built c.1830 by William Ogilvy.[8]
- Jordan's Castle is a ruined 15th-century tower house and one of several in Ardglass. It is located between Kildare and Quay Streets.
- Isabella's Tower, a folly built on top of a hill by Aubrey de Vere Beauclerc in the 19th century as a gazebo for his invalid daughter.[9]
- ruined church standing on a hilltop overlooking the Irish Sea and the Isle of Man, 0.75 miles (1.21 km) north-east of Ardglass.[10]
Transport
Ardglass railway station on the Belfast and County Down Railway, opened on 8 July 1892, but finally closed on 16 January 1950.[11]
Sport
Ardglass F.C. play association football in the Newcastle and District Amateur Football League.
Ardglass GAC play Division 4 Football in County Down and are 3 time JFC champions.
Demography
2001 Census
Ardglass is classified as a village.[12] On Census day (29 April 2001) there were 1,668 people living in Ardglass. Of these:
- 27.3% were aged under 16 and 18.8% were aged 60 and over
- 48.1% of the population were male and 51.9% were female
- 87.9% were from a Protestantbackground
- 5.3% of people aged 16–74 were unemployed.
2011 Census
On Census Day (27 March 2011) the usually resident population of Ardglass Settlement was 1,635 accounting for 0.09% of the NI total.[13] In Ardglass Settlement, considering the resident population:
- 99.76% were from the white (including Irish Traveller) ethnic group
- 88.99% belong to or were brought up in the Catholic religion and 8.13% belong to or were brought up in a 'Protestant and Other Christian (including Christian related)' religion
- 23.18% indicated that they had a British national identity, 39.88% had an Irish national identity and 40.31% had a Northern Irish national identity
- 12.53% had some knowledge of Irish
- 2.78% had some knowledge of Ulster-Scots
- 1.27% did not have English as their first language
Civil parish of Ardglass
The civil parish includes the village of Ardglass.
Notable people
- Thomas Hunter, founder and president of Hunter College in New York City was born in Ardglass.[14]
- Gerry Kelly, broadcaster and journalist, lives in Ardglass.
See also
References
- 2011 Census
- ^ Placenames NI Archived 31 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ a b c "Ardglass". IreAtlas Townlands Database. Archived from the original on 28 June 2015. Retrieved 17 April 2015.
- ^ Mallory, J. P.; McNeill, T. E. (1991). The Archaeology of Ulster from Colonization to Plantation. Belfast: Institute of Irish Studies, QUB. p. 286.
- ^ McCaughan, Michael (2009). "The County Down and Liverpool Steam-Boat Company 1836-39". Lecale Review. 7.
- ^ Muhr, Kay (2005). "An Elizabethan map of north-east Down". Lecale Review. 3: 25.
- ^ "Ardglass, County of Down". Library Ireland – from the Dublin Penny Journal, Volume 1, Number 40, March 30, 1833. Archived from the original on 3 October 2008. Retrieved 17 June 2008. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- ^ Wilson, Primrose (2019). "The Follies of Lecale". Lecale Review. 17.
- ^ Baillie, Philip (22 April 2011). "Historic hilltop tower, several previous owners ...yours for just £15,000". Belfast Telegraph. Archived from the original on 31 May 2022. Retrieved 31 May 2022.
- ^ Department of the Environment for Northern Ireland (1983). Historic Monuments of Northern Ireland. Belfast: HMSO. pp. 96–97.
- ^ "Ardglass station" (PDF). Railscot – Irish Railways. Archived (PDF) from the original on 26 September 2007. Retrieved 8 September 2007.
- ^ "NI Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA)". Archived from the original on 8 January 2000. Retrieved 18 December 2005.
- ^ "Census 2011 Population Statistics for Ardglass Settlement". NISRA. Archived from the original on 30 September 2022. Retrieved 30 September 2022.
- ^ "Plaque to honour Ardglass man who became US pioneer". Down Recorder. Downpatrick. 18 June 2014. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
External links
- From Ireland – Ardglass, description from Lewis's Topographical Dictionary of Ireland, 1837 (archived 2010)
- Royal Irish Academy – Three Medieval Buildings in the Port of Ardglass, Co. Down by T.E. McNeill, published 15 April 2005 (archived 2008)
- A short history of Dunsford and Ardglass (archived 2018)