Kilrea

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This article is about the village in Northern Irleand. For Ottawa councillor candidate and former mayoral candidate Terry Kilrea see Terry Kilrea.

Kilrea (Irish: Cill Ria) is a village in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland, on the boundary with County Antrim. In the 2001 Census it had a population of 1,513 people.

It is a beautifully preserved example of a Plantation village, with long, straight roads from 'The Dimond' the location of the towns war memorial. It was the headquarters of the Worshipful Company of Mercers and sits high up the Bann Valley to the south east of Garvagh and enjoys a vantage point above the river. A feature of Kilrea has been its 'Fairy Thorn' tree, outside First Kilrea Presbyterian Church in Church Street, the focal point of the summer festival in the town.

"Kitty the Rose of Kilrea" is the title of a song by The Irish Rovers.

"The Sprigs of Kilrea" is another song about Kilrea.

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

[edit] People

Current Aston Villa manager Martin O'Neill is a native of Kilrea. O'Neill is perhaps best known for his time as Celtic manager between 2000 and 2005 when he led the club to 3 Scottish Premier League titles and on a memorable run to the 2003 UEFA Cup Final in Seville.
Dehra Parker was born in Kilrea

[edit] 2001 Census

Kilrea is classified as a village by the NI Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) (ie with population between 1,000 and 2,250 people). On Census day (29 April 2001) there were 1,513 people living in Kilrea. Of these:

27.0% were aged under 16 years and 16.7% were aged 60 and over
49.0% of the population were male and 51.0% were female
69.3% were from a Catholic background and 29.8% were from a Protestant background
5.2% of people aged 16-74 were unemployed

For more details see: NI Neighbourhood Information Service