Gilford, County Down

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Gilford
The Old Gilford Mill - geograph.org.uk - 517473.jpg
The old Gilford Mill
Gilford is located in County Down
Gilford
Gilford
Location within County Down
Population(2011 Census)
District
  • Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon
County
CountryNorthern Ireland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
List of places
UK
Northern Ireland
Down
54°22′N 6°20′W / 54.367°N 6.333°W / 54.367; -6.333Coordinates: 54°22′N 6°20′W / 54.367°N 6.333°W / 54.367; -6.333
All Saints Church, Gilford
St Paul's Church of Ireland, Gilford

Gilford is a village in County Down, Northern Ireland. The village sits on the River Bann between the towns of Banbridge, Tandragee and Portadown. It covers the townlands of Loughans, Ballymacanallen and Drumaran. It had a population of 1,573 people in the 2001 Census. Gilford is within the Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon district.

History[]

Following the Irish Rebellion of 1641, Captain John Magill acquired land in the parish of Tullylish and founded Gilford,[2][circular reference] the name of the village being derived from "Magill’s ford".[3] He afterwards became Sir John Magill and built Gill Hall in Dromore, County Down.[4]

The Magill lands passed by marriage to the Meade family, who were made Barons Gillford in 1766 and later earls of Clanwilliam. In the 19th century, Gilford grew and its population swelled when a linen mill was built. Many mill houses can still be found in the village. When the mill shut in 1986, the village waned. Recently though, the village has started to recover and new shops have opened. At the edge of the village is Gilford Castle, a mansion built in 1865.[3]

For information about the Troubles in Gilford, see The Troubles in Gilford.

Tanderagee and Gilford railway station was opened in 1852 to serve the villages closing in 1965.[5]

Education[]

There are two schools in the area: Gilford Primary School and St John's Primary School. The schools are within the Southern Education and Library Board area. There is a nursery located in Gilford Primary School.

Sport[]

Millpark Cricket Club plays in the NCU Senior League. play in Division 2 of the Mid-Ulster Football League with Jamie mcatamney being there most promising player.. Gilford Boxing Club has produced All-Ireland winners after All-Ireland winners. It was formed by Bernard McComiskey and is situated in the old church hall beside Gilford chapel.

People[]

  • [ Oran breen]promising bowler for gilford (2018) with an impressive 13 inch elephant trunk between the legs recently won a tournament which he described no other than, (thrilling)
  • Niki Francesca (b. 1988), lead singer of Anonymous, an Andorran punk rock band, was raised in the area; his family moved to Andorra when he was a baby.[citation needed]
  • Charlie Gallogly (1919–1993) was a professional footballer in England

Demography[]

Gilford is classified as a village by the NI Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) (i.e. with population between 1,000 and 2,250 people). On Census day (29 April 2001) there were 1,573 people living in Gilford. Of these:

  • 22.7% were aged under 16 and 14.6% were aged 60 and over
  • 50.2% of the population were male and 49.8% were female
  • 51.0% were from a Catholic background and 47.0% were from a Protestant background
  • 3.8% of people aged 16–74 were unemployed.

For more details see: NI Neighbourhood Information Service

References[]

  1. ^ Gilford Archived 11 August 2019 at the Wayback Machine. Placenames Database of Ireland.
  2. ^ "Gilford History - Gilford Community Forum". Gilfordcommunityforum.com. Archived from the original on 18 August 2017. Retrieved 19 August 2017.
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b "Gilford". Culture Northern Ireland. Archived from the original on 9 June 2008. Retrieved 7 September 2010.
  4. ^ "Place Names NI". Archived from the original on 11 August 2019. Retrieved 11 August 2019.
  5. ^ "Tandragee station" (PDF). Railscot - Irish Railways. Archived (PDF) from the original on 17 February 2011. Retrieved 24 November 2007.
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