Dromore, County Down

Dromore (from the Irish: Droim Mór meaning "large ridge") is a small market town in the Lagan Valley, in County Down, Northern Ireland. It lies 19 miles south-west of Belfast, on the A1 Belfast to Dublin road. It had a population of 4,968 people in the 2001 Census. The town is in the Banbridge District Council area.

The town's centre is Market Square, which has a rare set of stocks. It is in the linen manufacturing district. Remains of a castle and earthworks are to be seen, together with a large ráth or encampment known as the Priest's Mount, on the Maypole Hill.

1 History
- 1.1 Today
2 Transport and Communications
- 2.1 The Troubles
3 Places of interest
4 People
5 Education
6 2001 Census
7 References
8 See also
9 External links

[edit] History

The town is of high antiquity. It was the seat of the diocese of Dromore, which grew out of an abbey of Canons Regular attributed to Saint Colman in the 6th century. It was united in 1842 to the diocese of Down and Connor. The diocese was then divided in 1945, with the diocese of Connor being independent, and Down and Dromore remaining united.
The town and cathedral were wholly destroyed during the rebellion of 1641, and the present church was built by Bishop Jeremy Taylor in 1661, who is buried there. Also buried in the cathedral is Thomas Percy, another famous bishop of the diocese, who laid out the fine grounds of the palace. A monument to Thomas Percy stands in the Town Park.
Jacobites under command of Richard Hamilton, and rival Williamites fought a battle here on the 14 March 1689. The battle took place about a mile out of the town on the Milebush Road and was known as the 'Break of Dromore'. The Jacobites routed the Williamites and they fled in disorder, but with few casualties. After this Break of Dromore the Jacobites did not meet any resistance while advancing northwards and occupying Belfast.

[edit] Today

Market Square, Dromore, before the redevelopment of the town hall grounds.

The Dromore Town Centre Development Plan, published in July 2003, outlines that of the 190 units within Dromore Town Centre, over one quarter are vacant. This is despite the recent population growth in the town; a result of the proximity to the A1 and resultant commuting access to Belfast. The green-field development in recent years has mostly been around the edges of the town, and the doughnut effect has led to these houses being disconnected from the town centre. The population of Dromore tends to travel to nearby Banbridge or Sprucefield to shop, which has caused the high levels of obvious dereliction. Despite this, the fast-food trade is booming in the town centre, with no less than six fast-food outlets in the Market Square and Bridge Street area.

The plan highlights the under use of the River Lagan as a resource in the town, as well as the poorly used public space around the Town Hall in the Market Square. Market Square's 18th Century layout is protected, however is identified as a traffic problem, which is exacerbated by poor parking provision and poor enforcement of parking restrictions. The introduction of privatised NCP Parking Attendants in Northern Ireland has since relieved this particular problem. In February 2008, the area surrounding the Town Hall was cleared in order to facilitate the construction of better public space.

[edit] Transport and Communications

Dromore is well served by the Translink Goldline Express bus service 238, running between Belfast and Newry. Translink Ulsterbus service 38 also links the town with Belfast and Lisburn (which the 238 bypasses) although it stops at all urban and rural bus stops, adding an extra 30 minutes to the journey.

Local residents enjoy short journey times to Belfast (average of 30 minutes off peak) due to the A1/M1 expressways. Belfast International Airport is around 40 minutes away via the A26 (Moira-Antrim Road) while Dublin Airport is around 80-90 minutes away via the A1/M1.

For the main article, see Lisburn telephone exchange code

The town's (and the province's) official area code is 028 (048 from the Republic of Ireland). All local BT numbers begin with '9269' ('92' being the code for Lisburn and its surrounding towns). Therefore local numbers usually appear as (028) 9269 xxxx. Prior to the introduction of province-wide 8-digit dialling, Dromore was covered by the Lisburn '01846' area code and it is still not uncommon to hear details quoted with the old 6-digit local number (69xxxx) and the area code being said incorrectly as '02892'.

[edit] The Troubles

For more information see The Troubles in Dromore (Down), which includes a list of incidents in Dromore during the Troubles resulting in two or more fatalities.

[edit] Places of interest

The Cathedral of Christ the Redeemer is situated on a monastic site founded by St Colman in 500 AD. A Celtic High cross stands in the Cathedral grounds. The cross is made of granite and survives from the early monastery.
Dromore contains the best preserved Anglo-Norman motte-and-bailey castle in Ireland, which dates from the 13th century.

[edit] People

Past and present famous residents include:

Harry Ferguson -(1884-1960)- inventor of tractor.
Jeffrey Donaldson - Northern Ireland politician
David Humphreys - Irish rugby international
Sir Clarence Graham, Bt. - UUP politician.
Tyrone Howe - Irish rugby international and former local UUP Councillor.

[edit] Education

Primary Schools
- Dromore Central Primary School - opened 1938.
- St. Colman's Primary School
Secondary Schools
- Dromore High School - opened 1958.

[edit] 2001 Census

Dromore is classified as a Small Town by the NI Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) (ie with population between 4,500 and 10,000 people). On Census day (29 April 2001) there were 4,968 people living in Dromore. Of these:

23.9% were aged under 16 years and 17.5% were aged 60 and over
48.2% of the population were male and 51.8% were female
13.0% were from a Catholic background and 83.4% were from a Protestant background
2.5% of people aged 16-74 were unemployed.

For more details see: NI Neighbourhood Information Service