Hilltown, County Down

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Hilltown is a small village in County Down, Northern Ireland. Hilltown is the main village of the Parish of Clonduff which also contains rural areas and another village named Cabra. It had a population of 899 people in the 2001 Census.

Hilltown has eight public houses in the high street, a legacy from 18th century smugglers who shared out their contraband here. The village has a livestock market on alternate Saturdays, the Booley sheep fair and festival in early July and a large sale of rams in September. The Georgian market house opposite St John's parish church (1766) adjoins the old inn, the Downshire Arms. The weathervane on the pretty cupola is a fish, a reminder of the good fishing in the River Bann and its tributaries.

1 History
2 Places of interest
3 Education
4 2001 Census
5 References
6 See also
7 External links

[edit] History

While many people think that Hilltown obtained its name from the fact that it spreads out over at least two hills, it was actually named after Lord Hill, the founder of Hilltown and Hillsborough. He created a large house for his residence. The Hills founded the village in 1766 so that people living in the area could find employment in the linen industry.

[edit] Places of interest

The Electric Brae near Hilltown, County Down, is the only place on Earth where water and other objects appear to roll uphill, in defiance of the law of gravity.
Goward Portal Tomb is an impressive megalithic monument near Hilltown. The enormous capstone towers four meter above ground level and with a weight of approximately 50 tons the dolmen definitely lives up to its locale name Claghmore, which means Big Stone. The site is also known as Fionn's Finger, after the legendary hero Fionn MacCumhail, because of the erected slim stone in front of the chamber, while the older locals still refer to it as Pat Kearney's Big Stone after the man who took care of the site in the beginning of the 20th century.

[edit] Education

St. Patrick's Primary School - a small school, most of whose leavers further their education in Newry, Castlewellan or Warrenpoint.

[edit] 2001 Census

Hilltown is classified as a small village or hamlet by the NI Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) (ie with population between 500 and 1,000 people). On Census day (29 April 2001) there were 899 people living in Hilltown. Of these:

27.0% were aged under 16 years and 14.4% were aged 60 and over
48.8% of the population were male and 51.2% were female
96.9% were from a Catholic background and 2.8% were from a Protestant background
5.1% of people aged 16-74 were unemployed.

For more details see: NI Neighbourhood Information Service