Bangor (civil parish)

This article is about the civil parish of Bangor, County Down. For the town of Bangor, County Down, see Bangor, County Down.
Bangor
Irish transcription(s)
 • Derivation: Beannchar
 • Meaning: "Uncertain"
Country Northern Ireland
County Down
Barony Ards Lower, Castlereagh Lower
Townlands 30
Settlements Bangor, Conlig, Groomsport, Helen's Bay

Bangor (from Irish: Beannchar, meaning "uncertain"[1]) is a civil and ecclesiastical parish in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is located in the north of the Ards Peninsula, consisting of 30 townlands, twenty-two and a half of which lie in the barony of Ards Lower, with seven and a half lying within that of Castlereagh Lower.[1] Its ancient monastery was of ecclesiastical importance.[1]

It is bordered by the civil parishes of Donaghadee to the east, Newtownards to the south, and Holywood to the west.[1]

History

According to the Annals of Ulster, a monastery was founded in 555 or 559 by Saint Comgall.[1] Saint Columbanus who was a pupil of St Comgall was also associated with the monastery. It flourished in the 7th and 8th centuries, after which its coastal position made it vulnerable to Vikings raids, such as in 810, which saw St. Comgall's shrine despoiled and many of the monastery's clergy slain.[1] Despite further decline by the 10th century, in the early 12th century, St. Malachy helped restore it.[1]

In 1571 an indenture between Queen Elizabeth I and Thomas Smith, and his son Thomas, meant that the Smith's were to conquer as much land in the Ards peninsula and northern County Down as possible. Thomas Smith junior however was killed in 1573 by Irishmen in his own service, with Thomas Smith senior dying four years later, leaving the patent unfulfilled and thus expiring. As the 17th century started, Conn O'Neill was the largest land-owner in north Down. After a series of deals between Conn O'Neill and Scotsmen Hugh Montgomery and James Hamilton, Conn's lands were divided up between them, with Conn retaining the third that lay in the barony of Castlereagh Lower.[1] Hamilton's third centred on the north of Ards Lower, with King James I in 1605 granting him the land of Bangor monastery along with its associated townlands.[1]

Petty's Census c1659 records 595 people of a certain wealth liable to pay tax in the parish of Bangor, 417 of which are stated as being either English or Scottish.[1]

The Irish language appears to have died out in the area by the 19th century when John O'Donovan was working on the Ordnance Survey memoirs in the neighbouring parishes of Donaghadee and Holywood 1834. O'Donovan was unable to find any Irish speakers, and complained that the locals were ignorant of the place-names, and that their pronunciation of them was so corrupt, they were of no help in finding out the original Irish forms.[1] In Bangor parish O'Donovan's informants were all English speakers.[1]

Settlements

Settlements within Bangor civil parish include:[2][3]

Townlands

Compared to the neighbouring parish of Donaghadee, the Normans have had minimal influence on the names of the townlands in Bangor, with the majority being of Irish origin.[1] The civil parish contains the following townlands:[3]

B

C

G

L

M

O

P

R

Former townlands include:

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Hughes and Hannan: Place-Names of Northern Ireland, Volume Two, County Down II, The Ards. The Queen's University of Belfast, 1992. ISBN 085389-450-7
  2. ↑ Logainm - Place-names of Ireland Database. Bangor parish.
  3. 1 2 "Bangor". IreAtlas Townlands Database. Retrieved 15 May 2015.

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