Randalstown

Randalstown

The former Northern Counties Committee railway viaduct at Randalstown railway station.
Randalstown
Randalstown shown within Northern Ireland
Population 5,099 (2011 census)
District
County
Country Northern Ireland
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town ANTRIM
Postcode district BT41
Dialling code 028
Police Northern Ireland
Fire Northern Ireland
Ambulance Northern Ireland
EU Parliament Northern Ireland
UK Parliament

Randalstown is a townland and small town in County Antrim, Northern Ireland, located between the towns of Antrim and Toome. It has a very prominent disused railway viaduct and lies beside Lough Neagh and the Shane's Castle estate. The town is bypassed by the M22 motorway with junctions at both the eastern and western ends of the town. It had a population of 5,099 people in the 2011 Census.[2]

History

The settlement sprang up within the townland of an Dún Mór (meaning "the great fort"), anglicised as Dunmore. Randalstown was named after the 2nd Earl and 1st Marquess of Antrim, Randal MacDonnell (1609–1683), and has strong links to the O'Neill family. The original stronghold of Edenduffcarrick was built in the 16th century and changed ownership repeatedly until it was renamed Shane's Castle after the new owner, Shane McBrian O'Neill. The O'Neill family still reside on the estate.

The 1798 rebellion commenced in Antrim following a meeting to prepare for revolt by the Ulster Directory on the 1st of February, 1798, at McClean's Inn. Randalstown. Robert McClean's "Great Inn" had long been a Volunteer meeting place. Following his death in 1790, his son Francis became the proprietor.

Dunmore Park was used as a training camp for the Ulster Volunteers during the Irish Home Rule crisis.

Randalstown has a strong history of linen and iron industries. A memorial to this history is in the middle of the town and made from the original turbine used to generate mains electricity for the town and items salvaged from the Old Bleach Linen Company founded by James Webb in 1864. An old linen mill chimney from the Old Bleach factory can be seen from most parts of the town. The Dorma Old Bleach factory which operated from a neighbouring site closed down in 2002.

On 1 October 1989, an IRA car bomb exploded outside the town's police station on New Street causing serious damage to nearby property.

On 8 January 2010, PSNI Constable Peadar Heffron was seriously injured as a bomb exploded under his car on the Milltown Road near Randalstown. Dissident republicans were blamed for the attack.[3][4]

Places of interest

OC Presbyterian Church
  • The Tudor style gateway to the Shane's Castle estate is in the town.
  • Randalstown OC Presbyterian Church, a fine example of Irish Gothic.
  • Around the corner from the gateway is the seven-piered, viaduct built in 1855 to carry the railway line over the River Main. This has had a new bridge installed and a walk path created as part of the local healthy walking areas.[5]
  • Craigmore Fishery, a Fly Fishing facility is located on the outskirts of the town.
  • World of Owls, Northern Ireland's only owl, bird of prey and exotic animal conservation centre is located next to Randalstown Forest.
  • Caddy, a hamlet 3 miles north of the Randalstown centre, was site of a new school in 1908.[6] and also a centre of beekeeping in the 1950s.[7]

Population

2011 Census

In the 2011 Census Randalstown had a population of 5,099 people (1,991 households).[2]

54.7% were from a Catholic background and 39.8% were from a Protestant background

2001 Census

Randalstown is classified as a Small Town by the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA)[8] (i.e. with population between 4,500 and 10,000 people). On Census day (29 April 2001) there were 4,956 people living in Randalstown. Of these:

  • 25.7% were aged under 16 years and 15.5% were aged 60 and over
  • 48.0% of the population were male and 52.0% were female
  • 70.1% were from a Catholic and 27.7% were from a Protestant background
  • 3.0% of people aged 16–74 were unemployed

Notable residents

Education

See also

References

  1. ↑ Ireland, Culture Northern (8 February 2006). "Ulster's Hiddlin Swaatch". culturenorthernireland.org.
  2. 1 2 "Randalstown". Census 2011 Results. NI Statistics and Research Agency. Retrieved 22 April 2015.
  3. ↑ "Car bomb officer Peadar Heffron's leg amputated". BBC NI News (13 January 2010). 13 January 2010. Retrieved 25 January 2010.
  4. ↑ "Robinson and McGuinness condemn attack on policeman in Randalstown". NI Executive - OFMDFM Press Release (8 January 2010). Retrieved 25 January 2010.
  5. ↑ http://www.antrimtimes.co.uk/news/ARCHES-begins-consultation-on-how.5144598.jp
  6. ↑ THE PARALIAMENTARY DEBATES - Page cccxlix 1908 Erection of New School at Caddy, Randalstown. Mr. SLOAN (Belfast, S.) : To ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, if plans and specifications have been prepared for the erection of a new school at Caddy, Randalstown ...
  7. ↑ British Bee Journal - Volume 102 - Page 259 1974 ... spirit level in setting the hive, and I have a viv id memory of a beautiful comb of eggs from a valuable breeder queen in Belfast being wrapped up for transport to Caddy, Randalstown, where nineteen virgin queens developed from it in 1953.
  8. ↑ "Home". nisra.gov.uk.
  9. ↑ Cullen, Pamela V., "A Stranger in Blood: The Case Files on Dr John Bodkin Adams", London, Elliott & Thompson, 2006, ISBN 1-904027-19-9
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