Whitehead, County Antrim

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Whitehead (Irish: An Cionn Bán) is a seaside village on the east coast of County Antrim, Northern Ireland, lying almost midway between Carrickfergus and Larne. Located at the base of Muldersleigh Hill, at the entrance to Belfast Lough, it lies in a small bay between the limestone cliffs of Whitehead and the black volcanic cliff of Blackhead, with the Blackhead Lighthouse on top, marking the entrance to the Lough. It had a population of 3,702 people in the 2001 Census.

It is a Victorian Railway village with a well preserved Conservation area, including the Railway Station. It is home to the Railway Preservation Society of Ireland [1], County Antrim Yacht Club [2] and the Council owned Bentra Golf Course [3], as well as being the starting point for the popular Gobbins Path seaside walk past Sunshine House, around Blackhead Lighthouse and along the Irish Sea cliffs of Islandmagee.

Whitehead is about 20 miles from Belfast. On the opposite coast of Belfast Lough, the Copeland Islands, Bangor and part of the County Down coastline, are clearly visible.

Whitehead received a silver at the Britain in Bloom awards in 2005 and 2006. The towns Brighter Whitehead [4] group planted many of the flowers.

1 History
- 1.1 The Troubles
2 People
3 2001 Census
4 Transport
5 References
6 See also

[edit] History

[edit] The Troubles

For more information see The Troubles in Whitehead, County Antrim, which includes a list of incidents in Whitehead during the Troubles resulting in two or more fatalities.

[edit] People

Neighbours actress Jackie Woodburne was born in Whitehead in 1957.
Sting (Gordon Sumner) lived with ex-wife Frances Tomelty in Whitehead during the mid 1970s.
Keith Gillespie (Northern Ireland footballer) went to Whitehead Primary School

[edit] 2001 Census

Whitehead is classified as an intermediate settlement by the NI Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) (ie with population between 2,250 and 4,500 people). On Census day (29 April 2001) there were 3,702 people living in Whitehead. Of these:

20.3% were aged under 16 years and 24.1% were aged 60 and over
47.8% of the population were male and 52.2% were female
15.4% were from a Catholic background and 76.8% were from a Protestant background
2.7% of people aged 16-74 were unemployed.

For more details see: NI Neighbourhood Information Service

[edit] Transport

Whitehead railway station was opened on 1 May 1863 and the Whitehead Excursion Platform was opened on 10 July 1907.^[1] The through station is still part of the Northern Ireland Railways network, whilst the terminus Whitehead Excursion Station is the headquarters of the Railway Preservation Society of Ireland.