Doagh

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Doagh (in Irish: Dumhach, ie mound) is a village in the Six Mile Water Valley, County Antrim, Northern Ireland and is two miles west of Ballyclare. It had a population of 1,130 people in the 2001 Census.

Traditional houses stand in the village centre but the village has gradually expanded and new estates have been built on its outskirts. The first Sunday school in Ireland was held in Doagh on the site where the Methodist Church now stands. The church was established in 1844.

1 Places of interest
2 People
3 Transport
4 Sport
5 2001 Census
6 References
7 External links
8 See also

[edit] Places of interest

On a hilltop close to Doagh is a Bronze Age megalith known as The Holestone. Couples used to promise marriage by clasping hands through the hole in the stone. There is a legend regarding a black horse that inhabits the field in which the holestone is situated. According to this legend a young couple were married at the stone, but the groom committed an act of adultery on their wedding night. For this act he was cursed by the stone to spend eternity as a horse, never dying, and never able to leave that field.

[edit] People

A memorial to John Rowan stands in the centre of the village. Rowan, a linen spinner who invented a steam driven vehicle later claimed to be the first motorcar, was born in Doagh in 1787 and died in Belfast in 1858.

[edit] Transport

Doagh was formerly the terminus of a branch line of the narrow gauge Ballymena and Larne Railway. Passenger services between Doagh and Ballyclare were withdrawn in 1930.

[edit] Sport

Parkview Hockey Club is based in Doagh.

[edit] 2001 Census

Doagh is classified as a village by the NI Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) (ie with population between 1,000 and 2,250). On Census day (29 April 2001) there were 1,130 people living in Doagh. Of these:

19.7% were aged under 16 and 18.9% were aged 60 and over
48.8% of the population were male and 51.2% were female
1.7% were from a Catholic background and 94.2% were from a Protestant background
2.3% of people aged 16-74 were unemployed.

For more details see: NI Neighbourhood Information Service