Moira, County Down

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Moira (in Irish: Maigh Rath, ie plain of the wheels) is a large village in County Down, Northern Ireland, between Lisburn and Lurgan. In the 2001 Census it had a population of 3,682 people.

Moira has a town hall, built about 1800, a wide main street and 18th century blackstone houses divided by carriage archways. It was largely built by Sir Arthur Rawdon, whose famous formal gardens have vanished. Some of the castle foundations can still be seen in the public park, formerly part of the grounds of Moira demesne, home of the earls of Moira. On the north side, a long grassy avenue terminates in St John's parish church, a building of 1725 where John Wesley preached in 1760 and where William Butler Yeats, grandfather to the poet WB Yeats, was curate in 1835. Berwick Hall is a thatched yeoman's house of 1700. The market house was built in 1810 and is supposed to have marked the completion of the village.

1 History
2 2001 Census
3 References
4 See also
5 External links

[edit] History

Moira was the scene of a victory in AD637 by the King of Tara over Comgall, King of Ulster.

Moira is unique as being the only town in Ireland to straddle two counties, County Down and County Armagh.

[edit] 2001 Census

Moira is classified as an intermediate settlement by the NI Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) (ie with population between 2,250 and 4,500 people). On Census day (29 April 2001) there were 3,682 people living in Moira. Of these:

24.3% were aged under 16 years and 13.8% were aged 60 and over
48.8% of the population were male and 51.2% were female
13.0% were from a Catholic background and 82.6% were from a Protestant background
1.5% of people aged 16-74 were unemployed

For more details see: NI Neighbourhood Information Service