Dunloy

Dunloy is a village and townland in the Borough of Ballymoney, County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is located 11 miles (18 km) north of Ballymena and 6 miles (10 km) north-west is Ballymoney. It is located in the civil parish of Finvoy, in the former barony of Kilconway. It had a population of 1,215 people in the 2011 Census.[1]

Dunloy

Dunloy
Dunloy
Location within Northern Ireland
Population1,215 (2011 Census)
CountryNorthern Ireland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
PoliceNorthern Ireland
FireNorthern Ireland
AmbulanceNorthern Ireland
UK Parliament
NI Assembly

History

Dunloy lies in the ancient Irish district of "Killimorrie", which is now known as Killymurris.[2][3] Killymurris is claimed as being derived from the Irish Coill Ui Mhuireadhaigh meaning "the wood of Murry".[3] An alternate origin given for Killymurris is that it derives from Choill Mhuiris meaning "the wood of Morris".[4]

Just south of Dunloy village, in the townland of Ballymacaldrack is "Dooey’s cairn". This open Court tomb, named after the landowner, is located on the slopes of Long Mountain and overlooks the valley of the River Main. The earliest known activity within the tomb is estimated at around 4000BC. Also on Long Mountain is another court Tomb, known as Broadstone.[5] See: List of megalithic monuments in Ireland

In the same townland lies the ancient graveyard of Caldernagh.

Dooey's Cairn
Dunloy Orange Hall after a paint attack
Dunloy Accordion Band parading through London in 2016

Railways

Dunloy railway station is currently closed on the Belfast-Derry railway line run by Northern Ireland Railways.

Recent history

Since 1996 residents have shown opposition to Loyal Order parades in Dunloy. Parades are currently prohibited from entering the centre of the village.[6][7] Loyalists in nearby Ballymena counter protested to this by holding weekly protests at a Catholic church situated in the predominantly loyalist Harryville area of Ballymena.[8]

These protests have since ended. There have been many attacks on the local Orange Hall. On 12 July 2005, locals blocked the road in an attempt to stop the Orange Order from marching through the village.

The Troubles

On 11 July 1978, John Boyle, a 16 year old civilian, was shot dead by SAS soldiers in a graveyard in the village. The previous day John had discovered an IRA arms cache under a fallen tombstone when he was visiting a family grave and reported the weapons to his father, his father then contacted the Royal Ulster Constabulary who rather than removing the weapons, passed the information to the British Army, who placed SAS operatives at the site. The next day, John returned to the graveyard (assumingly out of curiosity to see if the weapons were still there). He was then shot dead by the British soldiers, who alleged he picked up a rifle and aimed it towards them, however a leaked RUC document confirmed 16 year old John was shot in the back and his fingerprints were not on any of the recovered weapons. 2 soldiers were put on trial for the killing, but both were acquitted and the Boyle family never received any form of apology from the security forces.[9] [10]

In 21 February 1984, 26-year-old Sergeant Paul Oram, a member of the British Army (14 Intelligence Company, parent regiment 9th/12th Royal Lancers), along with 18-year-old Declan Martin and 21-year-old Henry Hogan, both Catholic members of the Provisional Irish Republican Army, were killed in a gun battle between undercover British Army members and Provisional Irish Republican Army members in Dunloy.[11]

Demography

2011 Census

It had a population of 1,215 people (389 households) in the 2011 Census.[1] On Census day in 2011:

  • 94.5% were from a Catholic background and 4.2% were from a Protestant background

2001 Census

Dunloy is classified as a village by the NI Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) (i.e. with population between 1,000 and 2,250 people). On Census day (29 April 2001) there were 1,071 people living in Dunloy (an increase of 21% over 1991). Of these:

  • 31.4% were aged under 16 and 11.1% were aged 60 and over
  • 48.7% of the population were male and 51.3% were female
  • 97.1% were from a Catholic background and 2.9% were from a Protestant background
  • 2.9% of people aged 16–74 were unemployed.
  • For more details see: NI Neighbourhood Information Service

References
  1. "Dunloy". Census 2011 Results. NI Statistics and Research Agency. Retrieved 30 April 2015.
  2. O'Laverty; An Historical Account of the Diocese of Down and Connor, Ancient and Modern, volume 4.
  3. George Hill (1873). An Historical Account of the Macdonnells of Antrim: Including Notices of Some Other Septs, Irish and Scottish. Archer. pp. 426–.
  4. Place Names NI - Killymurris
  5. Andy O`Halpin; Conor Newman (26 October 2006). Ireland. OUP Oxford. pp. 67–. ISBN 978-0-19-151317-6.
  6. "Areas of Contention" CAIN website
  7. "No deal in Dunloy for parades now or in the future" Ballymoney Times 10 February 2010
  8. "The town where hatred burns stronger than hope in Ballymena" The Independent 8 December 1996
  9. https://cain.ulster.ac.uk/sutton/alpha/B.html. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  10. http://www.irishnews.com/news/northernirelandnews/2018/06/08/news/sas-ambush-killing-of-teen-caused-outrage-1351393/. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  11. Sutton, Malcolm. "CAIN: Sutton Index of Deaths". cain.ulst.ac.uk.
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