Ardglass

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Ardglass (Ard ghlas in Irish, meaning "green high place") is a coastal village in County Down, Northern Ireland and still a relatively important fishing harbour. It is situated on the B1 Ardglass to Downpatrick road, about 11 kilometres to the south east of Downpatrick. It had a population of 1,668 people in the 2001 Census. It is located within the Down District Council area.

The village is a commuter centre for workers in Downpatrick and Belfast, a seaside resort and a local service centre providing housing and a variety of shops and services largely concentrated in Castle Place, Quay Street, Kildare Street and Bath Street.

A Conservation area was designated in Ardglass in 1996, focused on its early 19th century street pattern. The village has 8 archaeological sites within the area and another 2 archaeological sites at nearby Ardtole. There are a number of listed properties located on Castle Place, Kildare Street and The Crescent. St Nicholas’ Church, King’s Castle, Ardglass Castle, Isabella Tower, the disused railway station, the North Pier and the inner Dock are also listed.

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[edit] History

It was an important town and port in the Middle Ages, but no harbour works seem to have been constructed until after 1812. Then William Ogilvie, who had acquired the Ardglass estate, had a harbour built. Further extensions to the pier and a lighthouse were made, but in 1838 a great storm undermined the lighthouse which fell into the sea along with the end of the pier. Work on the piers was completed by 1885 and they remain in use to this day.

Ardglass contains more medieval tower-houses than any other town in Ireland, a total of four, reflecting its importance as Ulster's busiest port in the 15th century. It also has probably the most extensive network of merchant's warehouses from the period surviving in Ireland. These were important in the substantial grain export trade of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. Fortifications survive in the town from the fifteenth century, including Jordan's Castle, the most imposing of a ring of towers built around the harbour to secure the then important Anglo-Norman trading port, King's Castle and Cowd Castle. Nearby are the ruins of 15th century Ardtole Church.

[edit] 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 siting by a natural inlet. It has one of the few harbours which is accessible at all states of the tide and today has two fishing piers, the North Pier and South Pier, a number of fish processing factories and a marina. While the port is not as busy now as in its heyday, 150 years ago, up to £5 million passes through the fish trade here every year. The port specialises in herrings, prawns, and whitefish.

[edit] 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 an excellent local course. The Clubhouse was formerly known as Ardglass Castle and the building is steeped in history and tradition dating back to the 14th century.
  • Jordan's Castle is a ruined 15th century tower house and one of several in Ardglass, underlining the town's historic importance to the life of the district. It can be found 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.
  • Ardtole Church is a ruined late medieval church, probably occupying the site of a pre-Norman church. It is situated on a hilltop overlooking the sea and the Isle of Man, three quarters of a mile north-east of Ardglass.

[edit] People

  • Writer Martin Waddell was born in Ardglass. Waddell has written a great many books for both children and adults.
  • Gareth McMullan from Ardglass won the first ever episode of the Channel 4 quiz show Fifteen to One. He also won in the programme’s second series and went on to become one of their question-setters.

[edit] 2001 Census

Ardglass is classified as a village by the NI Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) (ie with a population between 1,000 and 2,250 people). 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 Catholic background and 10.2% were from a Protestant background
  • 5.3% of people aged 16-74 were unemployed.

For more details see: NI Neighbourhood Statistics

[edit] References

[edit] External links

[edit] See also

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