Portglenone

Portglenone (Irish: Port Chluain Eoghain, meaning landing place of Glenone) is a village in County Antrim, Northern Ireland, 8.5 miles (14km) west of Ballymena, at latitude 54:51:40N and longitude 6:30:46W. It had a population of 1,219 people in the 2001 Census. It lies within the Ballymena Borough Council area. Portglenone is closely associated with the smaller Glenone village (in Magherafelt District Council area) from which it is physically separated by the River Bann.

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

[edit] History

In 1197, a castle was built there for Norman invader John de Courcy.

[edit] Places of interest

Portglenone Forest Park, just outside the village, is classified as an ‘Ancient Woodland’, and has well marked nature trails, with the River Bann flowing through the forest. There is also a memorial to the United States servicemen stationed there during world war two. The foundations of their Nissan huts can still be seen throughout the wood. ^[2]
Portglenone Abbey Church, Our Lady Of Bethlehem Cistercian Monastery, occupies a Georgian mansion (Portglenone House) in the village. In the 1960s, a new monastery was built, designed by Padraig O'Muireadhaigh, which has won several architectural awards.
The Gig 'n the Bann is a local cross-community Music and Dance Festival which has been held every year since 2001. It takes it's name from the River Bann which flows through the village.

[edit] 2001 Census

Portglenone 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 1,219 people living in Portglenone. Of these:

26.3% were aged under 16 years and 19.7% were aged 60 and over
47.9% of the population were male and 52.1% were female
47.1% were from a Catholic background and 52.6% were from a Protestant background
2.6% of people aged 16-74 were unemployed.
0.5% of the population have claimed to have had encounters with UFO's, the most notable encounter when 'bones' claimed to have a cup of tea in a space ship. Reports that the rich tea biscuits provided were out of date are unfounded.

For more details see: NI Neighbourhood Information Service