Carryduff

Carryduff (from the Irish: Ceathrú Aodha Dhuibh meaning "black-haired Hugh’s quarter") is a small town in County Down, Northern Ireland, about 8 kilometers south of Belfast city centre. It had a population of 6,595 people in the 2001 Census.

The original village formed where six roads and a river crossed, and is the site of the ancient Queen's Fort Rath. The road south from Belfast (the A24) climbs out of a gap in the Castlereagh Hills, and splits at Carryduff, one fork (the A7) continuing to Downpatrick (via Saintfield and Crossgar), the other fork (A24) continuing via Ballynahinch to Newcastle. In addition, the road westwards from the Ards Peninsula, Newtownards and Comber (the B178) crosses here en route to Hillsborough in the west. All six roads cross the small Carryduff River here (which flows northwards to eventually join the River Lagan at Minnowburn.

The townlands of Carryduff, Ballynagarrick and Killinure adjoin each other here, originally all farmland in a classic drumlin landscape. Local churches built there include Carryduff Presbyterian Church and St. Ignatius' Church of Ireland. Carryduff has twice been awarded the Best Kept Small Town by the Northern Ireland Amenity Council.

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

[edit] History

The good road connections (note that Carryduff was never at any time connected to the Irish rail network) and proximity to the capital, Belfast, made the town an ideal site for overspill development from Belfast in the 1960s. This period saw numerous housing developments (swallowing Queen's Fort Rath), the construction of the Town and Country Shopping Centre, and Carryduff Primary School, leading into the 1970s with the building of the Killynure council estate. Ribbon development along one side of the northbound A24 took place adjacent to the Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church and St. Joseph's Primary School, with the substantial open-air Carryduff Reservoir on the other side.

The 1980s saw expansion continue, with Carryduff becoming a dormitory satellite town for Belfast commuters. Developments continued into the 1990s and included Carryduff Library, the Carryduff Shopping Centre, including shops such as Wellworths (now Super-Valu and now containing a post-office moved from the shops near the roundabout, where the MY-T-SHARP barbers are now) and Ireland-wide stationery and book shop Eason (previously NPO) and strangely, two Winemark stores across the road from each other. Numerous further housing developments have been erected on former green-field sites (mostly by the ubiquitous Fraser Housing), as well as the Loughmoss Leisure Centre. Sadly these developments saw the Carryduff River somewhat ignominiously placed inside a covered pipe for much of its journey through the town. Another big development of recent years is the Brackenvale petrol station on the Saintfield Road, which has an Indian Restaurant, a McDonalds and a KFC opposite.

Very little green belt land now remains between Carryduff and the southern border of Belfast, the 1980s having seen the former Matthew Stop Line breached in somewhat dubious bending of planning regulations. Carryduff's original raison d'être as a focus of routes on the southern approach to Belfast have ironically led to something of a transport problem, as the road network struggles to cope with commuter traffic, resulting in large amounts of rush hour congestion. Urban Citybus routes did not extend out to Carryduff, leaving the only public transport as the somewhat mediocre Ulsterbus services from Belfast to Downpatrick and Newcastle, although the recently privatised Translink bus company has attempted to revamp this somewhat in recent times. It currently costs £2.20 for a journey to Carryduff from Belfast or £4.00 for a return journey.

Culturally, as it moved beyond its farming roots in the latter half of the 20th century, Carryduff suffered somewhat from the classic suburban satellite syndrome, being rather devoid of interest in the field of the arts. No cinema, theatres or nightclubs existed in the town, with the rather middle-class population's social lives centred more around the town's several churches than its two pubs. The Troubles hardly touched Carryduff.

As the 1990s turned into the 'noughties', Carryduff's average social bracket seems to have lowered somewhat, with unpleasant sectarian graffiti adorning walls and kerbstones in many of the new low cost housing estates. The town's youth does seem to have made a small but notable name for itself in the wider Belfast music scene, however, with for instance the "Dodgy Stereo" collective.

[edit] 2001 Census

The population of Carryduff on Census day (29th April 2001) was 6595 people. The demographic characteristics of the people living in Carryduff was as follows:

26.8% were aged under 16 years
14.1% were aged 60 and over
the average age was 34.0 years (NI average age 35.8 years)
47.9% of the population were male and 52.1% were female
45.8% were from a Catholic Community Background
49.8% were from a 'Protestant and Other Christian (including Christian related)' Community Background
8.4% were born outside Northern Ireland
1.7% were from an ethnic group other than white

For more details see: NI Neighbourhood Information Service