Rostrevor

Rostrevor is a village and townland in County Down, Northern Ireland. It lies at the foot of Slieve Martin on the coast of Carlingford Lough, near Warrenpoint. The Kilbroney River flows through the village and Rostrevor Forest is nearby. It is within Newry, Mourne and Down District.

For the place in Adelaide, South Australia, see Rostrevor, South Australia.
Rostrevor

Rostrevor seen from Kilbroney Forest
Location within County Down
Population2,433 (2001 Census)
District
  • Newry, Mourne and Down
County
CountryNorthern Ireland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townNEWRY
Postcode districtBT34
Dialling code028, +44 28
UK Parliament
NI Assembly
Websitenewryandmourne.gov.uk
Rostrevor seen from Rostrevor Forest in 2010 (Carlingford Lough is to the left of the picture)
Rostrevor welcome sign in Irish and English, with Slieve Martin in the background
Kilfeaghan dolmen

Rostrevor had a population of 2,433 in the 2001 Census.[1]

Name

The first part of the name "Rostrevor" comes from the Irish word ros, meaning a wood or wooded headland.[2][3] The second part of the name comes from Sir Edward Trevor from Denbighshire in Wales, who settled in the area in the early 17th century and was succeeded by his son Marcus Trevor, who later became Viscount Dungannon. Walter Harris, writing in 1744, mistakenly believed that the first part of the name came from Sir Edward Trevor's wife Rose, a daughter of Henry Ussher, Archbishop of Armagh. His etymology was later repeated by some other writers.[2][4] Before Sir Edward Trevor's renaming of the area it was known as Caisleán Ruaidhrí (English: Rory's castle), anglicised "Castle Rory" or "Castle Roe", after one of the Magennis lords of Iveagh.[2]

Today the spelling Rostrevor is used for the village, while the spelling Rosstrevor is used for the townland.[2]

Places of interest

Nearby Cloughmore is a 50-ton granite boulder perched on the slopes of Slieve Martin, 1,000 ft above the village of Rostrevor, and known locally as 'the big stone'. It was deposited there by retreating glaciers during the Last Glacial Maximum. However, local legend says that the stone was thrown by a giant from the Cooley Mountains, on the other side of Carlingford Lough. Walking around the stone seven times will allegedly bring good luck.

Kilfeaghan Dolmen is situated on the main Kilkeel to Newry road about three and three-quarter miles from Rostrevor. It is a prehistoric dolmen and the site is dated between 2000 and 1000 BC. The capstone is said to be one of the biggest in Ireland and is estimated to weigh between 35 and 40 tons. Excavations at the site earlier this century unearthed various bones and pottery.

The old church, supposedly built on an original site established by St Brónach, stands in the graveyard on the Kilbroney road. It became a listed building in 1983.

In the village's Catholic church is the bell of Bronach, dating from around 900 A.D. There are many stories of how the bell used to scare locals walking past St Bronach's church on stormy nights. All they could hear was a mighty sound and did not know the source; many believed it to be a calling from God.

The village has two rivers, the Ghan and the Fairy Glen, so named because many fairies are suspected of living along the banks of the river.

The Troubles

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

People
Robert Ross Monument, Rostrevor
  • Rostrevor is believed to be the birthplace of Somerled, founder of Clan Donald and Lord of Argyll, Kintyre and Lorne, in the mid 12th century.[5][6]
  • Rostrevor was the birthplace of Major General Robert Ross-of-Bladensburg, a British commander during the War of 1812. Ross's Monument stands above the Warrenpoint Road on the edge of the village. It is a tall granite obelisk erected to his memory in 1826. The Ross Family lived at Kilbroney Park.[7]
  • Rostrevor is the birthplace of Ben Dunne, founder of the chain store Dunnes Stores.
  • Sir Francis Stronge lived in Kilbroney House.
  • Former Irish President Mary McAleese and her family lived in Rostrevor village centre before she was elected to office in 1997.
  • Irish Folk group The Sands Family live in Rostrevor.
  • Another resident of Rostrevor for a time was Eurovision winner, Dana.
  • T. K. Whitaker, economist and a pivotal figure in the development of the Republic of Ireland, was born in Rostrevor to a father from County Westmeath and a mother from County Clare. The family later moved to Drogheda.
  • Catherine McGrath, country singer, is from the village.
  • Cathal McCabe, poet, who grew up in nearby Warrenpoint, has lived in and near Rostrevor since 2004.
  • Laurence McGivern, Irish Paralympic swimmer and World Bronze Medalist (Canada 2013) was also born in Rostrevor.

Education
  • Kilbroney Integrated Primary School
  • Killowen Primary School
  • St. Bronagh's Primary School
  • Ywam Rostrevor

Horse Tram

Rostrevor Tram station opened on 1 August 1877 with a horse-drawn tram service to Warrenpoint. It closed in February 1915.[8]

2001 Census

Rostrevor is classified as an intermediate settlement by the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA)[9] (i.e., population between 2,250 and 4,500). On Census day (30 April 2001) there were 2,433 people living in Rostrevor. Of these:

  • 25.7% were aged under 16 years and 17.8% were aged 60 and over
  • 48.7% of the population were male and 51.3% were female
  • 92.5% were from a Catholic background and 6.1% were from a Protestant background
  • 5.1% of people aged 16–74 were unemployed.

Sport

The local Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) club is St Bronagh's. The local association football club is Rossowen F.C.

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gollark: It isn't just formatting. For stupid historical reasons, there are two units, GiB (gibibytes, 2^30 bytes) and GB (gigabytes, 10^9 bytes) which software and people will happily mix up all the time.
gollark: Also poor controls relative to using computers with keyboards and such.
gollark: Also having to pay by subscription for access to games.
gollark: Latency, mostly.

See also
  • List of villages in Northern Ireland
  • List of towns in Northern Ireland
  • Rostrevor College, a large school in Adelaide, Australia, named after 'Rostrevor House', the main historic mansion residence constructed on the site in 1878 which itself was named after Rostrevor, Northern Ireland.

References
  1. "Rostrevor (Newry and Mourne, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom) - population statistics, map and location". Retrieved 18 September 2014.
  2. Placenames NI: Rostrevor
  3. Rostrevor/Ros Treabhair. Placenames Database of Ireland.
  4. "Raymonds County Down". Retrieved 18 September 2014.
  5. Somerled the Great Sea Lord, http://cunninghamh.tripod.com/somerled/somerled.html
  6. https://macinnes.org/somerled/somerled.html
  7. "Rooted in history ... idyllic corner of Northern Ireland which is a haven of peace and even hosted the Queen". Belfast Telegraph. 14 September 2018. Retrieved 7 November 2018.
  8. "Rostrevor station" (PDF). Railscot - Irish Railways. Retrieved 24 November 2007.
  9. nisra.gov.uk
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