Randalstown

Randalstown is a townland and small town in County Antrim, Northern Ireland, between Antrim and Toome. It has a very prominent disused railway viaduct and lies beside Lough Neagh and the Shane's Castle estate. The town is bypassed by the M22 motorway with junctions at both the eastern and western ends of the town. It had a population of 5,126 people in the 2011 Census.[3]

For the area of Baltimore, see Randallstown, Maryland.

Randalstown

The former Northern Counties Committee railway viaduct at Randalstown railway station.
Randalstown
Location within Northern Ireland
Population5,126 (2011 census)
District
County
CountryNorthern Ireland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townANTRIM
Postcode districtBT41
Dialling code028
PoliceNorthern Ireland
FireNorthern Ireland
AmbulanceNorthern Ireland
UK Parliament

History

The townland of Randalstown was originally known as An Dún Mór ("the great fort"), anglicised as Dunmore. This refers to a medieval motte-and-bailey castle built by the Irish on the west bank of the river Main just south of the town.[4] A castle known as Edenduffcarrick, later Shane's Castle, was built near Randalstown in the 14th century by the O'Neills of Clannaboy.

From at least the 1650s the town was known as "Iron Mills" (Muilinn Iarainn in Irish, anglicised "Mullynieren").[4] In 1667, the town was created a free borough and was officially re-named Randalstown.[4] It was re-named to mark the marriage of Randal MacDonnell, 1st Marquess of Antrim to Rose O'Neill of Shane's Castle.[4]

The 1798 United Irishmen rebellion began in Antrim following a meeting to prepare for revolt by the Ulster Directory on 1 February 1798, at McClean's Inn, Randalstown. Robert McClean's "Great Inn" had long been an Irish Volunteers meeting place. Following his death in 1790, his son Francis became the proprietor.[5]

Dunmore Park was used as a training camp for the Ulster Volunteers during the Irish Home Rule crisis.

Randalstown has a strong history of linen and iron industries. A memorial to this history is in the middle of the town and made from the original turbine used to generate mains electricity for the town and items salvaged from the Old Bleach Linen Company founded by James Webb in 1864. An old linen mill chimney from the Old Bleach factory can be seen from most parts of the town. The Dorma Old Bleach factory which operated from a neighbouring site closed down in 2002.

On 1 October 1989, an IRA car bomb exploded outside the town's police station on New Street causing serious damage to nearby property.

On 8 January 2010, PSNI Constable Peadar Heffron was seriously injured as a bomb exploded under his car on the Milltown Road near Randalstown. Dissident republicans were blamed for the attack.[6][7]

Places of interest
OC Presbyterian Church
  • The Tudor style gateway to the Shane's Castle estate is in the town.
  • Randalstown OC Presbyterian Church, a fine example of Irish Gothic.
  • Around the corner from the gateway is the seven-piered, viaduct built in 1855 to carry the railway line over the River Main. This has had a new bridge installed and a walk path created as part of the local healthy walking areas.[8]
  • Craigmore Fishery, a Fly Fishing facility is located on the outskirts of town.
  • World of Owls, Northern Ireland's only owl, bird of prey and exotic animal conservation centre is located next to Randalstown Forest.
  • Caddy, a hamlet 3 miles north of the Randalstown centre, was site of a new school in 1908.[9] and also a centre of beekeeping in the 1950s.[10]

Demography

In the 2011 Census Randalstown had a population of 5,126 people (1,996 households),[3] an increase of 3.4% on the 2001 Census population of 4,956.[11]

Of these:

  • 21.9% were aged under 16 years and 14.1% were aged 65 and over
  • 48.0% of the population were male and 52.0% were female
  • 54.7% were from a Catholic and 39.8% were from a Protestant or other Christian background
  • 4.3% of people aged 16–74 were unemployed

Notable residents

Education
  • Mount St. Michael's Primary School
  • Maine Integrated Primary School
  • St. Benedict's High School
  • Randalstown Central Primary School is a mixed non-denominational primary school within the North Eastern Education and Library Board area.

See also

References
  1. Ireland, Culture Northern (8 February 2006). "Ulster's Hiddlin Swaatch". culturenorthernireland.org.
  2. "Baile Raghnaill/Randalstown". Logainm.ie.
  3. "Census 2011 Population Statistics for Randalstown Settlement". Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA). Retrieved 30 July 2019.
  4. "Place Names NI - Home". www.placenamesni.org.
  5. Ulster in '98: episodes and anecdotes. Robert Magill Young 1893 Marcus Ward Belfast
  6. "Car bomb officer Peadar Heffron's leg amputated". BBC NI News (13 January 2010). 13 January 2010. Retrieved 25 January 2010.
  7. "Robinson and McGuinness condemn attack on policeman in Randalstown". NI Executive - OFMDFM Press Release (8 January 2010). Retrieved 25 January 2010.
  9. THE PARALIAMENTARY DEBATES - Page cccxlix 1908 Erection of New School at Caddy, Randalstown. Mr. SLOAN (Belfast, S.): To ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, if plans and specifications have been prepared for the erection of a new school at Caddy, Randalstown ...
  10. British Bee Journal - Volume 102 - Page 259 1974 ... spirit level in setting the hive, and I have a vivid memory of a beautiful comb of eggs from a valuable breeder queen in Belfast being wrapped up for transport to Caddy, Randalstown, where nineteen virgin queens developed from it in 1953.
  11. "Census 2001 Usually Resident Population: KS01 (Settlements) - Table view". Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA). p. 6. Retrieved 30 July 2019.
  12. Cullen, Pamela V., "A Stranger in Blood: The Case Files on Dr John Bodkin Adams", London, Elliott & Thompson, 2006, ISBN 1-904027-19-9
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