Newtownabbey

History

Founding

Newtownabbey Urban District was founded on 1 April 1958 to cover seven villages north of Belfast: Carnmoney, Glengormley, Jordanstown, Monkstown, Whiteabbey, Whitehouse and Whitewell. Before this, the area fell under the jurisdiction of Belfast Rural District.

Newtownabbey Urban District Council was succeeded by Newtownabbey District Council (1973–1977), Newtownabbey Borough Council (1977–2015), and Antrim and Newtownabbey District Council (2015 onwards).

The Troubles

Main article: The Troubles in Newtownabbey

During The Troubles, there were a number of incidents in Newtownabbey, including several gun attacks involving the UFF and UVF.

Geography

Newtownabbey is a large dispersed urban area north of Belfast, surrounding Carnmoney Hill. To its east is Belfast Lough, and to its south and west is Cavehill. There are two wooded river glens running through it: the Three Mile Water and the Glas-na-Bradan.

Townlands

Below is a list of townlands that are within Newtownabbey's urban area, alongside their likely etymologies.

• Ballybought ()*
• Ballyduff (from Baile Mhic Giolla Dhuibh, "MacElduff's townland")*
• Ballygolan (from Baile an Ghabhláin, "townland of the fork")*
• Ballyhenry (from Baile Éinrí, "Henry's townland")*
• Ballyvesey (possibly from Baile an Mheasa, "townland of the mast)*
• Ballywonard (from Baile an Mhuine Aird, "townland of the high thicket")*
• Carnmoney
• Collinward (possibly from Baile Gorán Bhaird, "townland of the bard's grove")*
• Cloughfern (possibly from Currach Fearnaí, "marsh of the place of alders")*
• Drumnadrough (from Droim na gCruach, "the ridge of the stacks")*, site of Merville Garden Village
• Dunanney (from Dún Áine, "Áine's fort")*
• Glengormley
• Jordanstown
• Mallusk
• Monkstown
• Whiteabbey
• Whitehouse (named after a 16th-century fortified house built by an English adventurer; formerly Ballyrintollard)

Other districts include:

• Mossley (named after Mossley in England; in Ballyhenry townland)
• Rathcoole
• Whitewell (named after a former spring; in Ballygolan townland)

''* citation for derivations{{cite web |access-date = 14 December 2021 |archive-date = 27 July 2019 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190727133926/http://www.placenamesni.org/index.php |url-status = dead

Demography

2021 Census

On census day in 2021, there were 67,599 people living in Newtownabbey. Of these:

• 54.45% (36,806) were from a Protestant or other Christian backgrounds, 30.77% (20,801) were from a Catholic background, 1.73% (1,171) were from other religious backgrounds, and 13.05% (8,821) had no religious background
• 7.57% had some knowledge of the Irish language and 9.21% had some knowledge of Ulster-Scots.
• 41.37% (27,966) had a British only identity, 17.25% (11,662) had an Irish only identity, and 20.61% (13,934) had a Northern Irish only identity.

2011 Census

On census day in 2011 (27 March 2011), there were 65,646 people living in Newtownabbey. Of these:

• 20.26% were aged under 16 years and 15.51% were aged 60 and over
• 48.02% of the population were male and 51.98% were female
• 62.21% were from a Protestant or other Christian backgrounds, and 27.69% were from a Catholic background
• 6.40% had some knowledge of the Irish language and 6.98% had some knowledge of Ulster-Scots.

Education

;Higher-level education

• Northern Regional College (NRC)
• University of Ulster at Jordanstown (UUJ)

;Secondary-level education

• Abbey Community College
• Belfast High School
• Edmund Rice College
• Glengormley High School

;Primary-level education

• St. Mary's on the Hill Primary School
• Ashgrove Primary School
• Carnmoney Primary School
• Hollybank Primary School
• Jordanstown Schools for the Deaf and Blind
• King's Park Primary School
• Rathcoole Primary School
• St. Bernard's Primary School
• St. MacNissi's Primary School
• Whitehouse Primary School
• Gaelscoil Éanna

Sport

There are several association football clubs in Newtownabbey, including several amateur clubs which field teams in the Northern Amateur Football League: 4th Newtownabbey F.C., 18th Newtownabbey Old Boys F.C., Mossley F.C., Nortel F.C., Rathfern Rangers F.C., and Ulster University at Jordanstown F.C. Rathcoole F.C. plays in the Ballymena & Provincial Football League. As of 2020, Belfast Deaf United Football Club played in the Down Area Winter Football League.

Local Gaelic games clubs include St Enda's GAC (based near Glengormley) and Greencastle Wolfe Tones GAC (based at Greencastle). Both participate in competitions organised by the Antrim County Board.

Hockey teams based in Newtownabbey include East Antrim Hockey Club, Mossley Hockey Club, and Owls Hockey Club. There are also a number of rugby clubs, an amateur boxing club (Glengormley Amateur Boxing Club), and several cricket teams. These include the Academy and Cliftonville Cricket Clubs (the latter participating in the NCU Senior League).

Outdoor bowling clubs in Newtownabbey include Mossley Bowling Club, Glengormley Bowling Club, Nortel Bowling Club and Ulster Transport Bowling Club.

Transport

Rail

Northern Ireland Railways runs trains serving three railway stations: Mossley West railway station on the Belfast–Derry railway line and Jordanstown railway station and Whiteabbey railway station on the Belfast–Larne railway line.

Road

Newtownabbey is linked to the M2 motorway (which passes through it) and the M5 motorway (which begins at its southeastern edge).

Bus services are provided by Translink’s Metro and Ulsterbus.

Notable people

• Ronan Bennett (born 1956), novelist and screenwriter, grew up in Newtownabbey
• Stephen Boyd (1931–1977), Golden Globe-winning actor, born in Glengormley
• James Brown (born 1968), Elvis impersonator, lives in Newtownabbey
• Corry Evans (born 1990), professional footballer, grew up in Newtownabbey
• Jonny Evans (born 1988), professional footballer, grew up in Newtownabbey
• Dean McCullough (born 1992), British radio personality, lives in Newtownabbey
• Leah McFall (born 1986), singer-songwriter, born in Newtownabbey
• Bobby Sands (1954–1981), Provisional Irish Republican Army member and hunger striker, grew up in Newtownabbey

Twin towns

Newtownabbey is twinned with:

• POL Rybnik, Poland (since 18 October 2003)
• DE Dorsten, Germany

Newtownabbey has one sister city, as designated by Sister Cities International:

• USA Gilbert, Arizona, United States

References

References

1. "Metropolitan Newtownabbey – Flexible Table Builder". [[Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency]] (NISRA).
2. "Newtownabbey". Place Names NI.
3. "Sutton Index of Deaths, 1974". Conflict Archive on the Internet (CAIN).
4. "Sutton Index of Deaths, 1994". Conflict Archive on the Internet (CAIN).
5. "National Identity (British)".
6. "National Identity (Northern Irish)".
7. "National Identity (Irish)".
8. "Religion or religion brought up in".
9. "Knowledge of Irish".
10. "Knowledge of Ulster-Scots".
11. "National identity (person based) – basic detail (classification 1)".
12. "Census 2011 Population Statistics for Metropolitan Newtownabbey Settlement". [[Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency]] (NISRA).
13. "Ulster University at Jordanstown F.C.". Northern Amateur Football League.
14. (20 October 2013). "Ballymena & Provincial League round-up October 19". The Belfast Telegraph.
15. "Belfast Deaf United". Down Area Winter Football League.
16. "Football". Disability Sport Northern Ireland.
17. "Wolfe Tones GAC Greencastle – Antrim GAA".
18. "Robinson Services Premier League – 2022". Northern Cricket Union.
19. "Translink Metro". Bus Times.
20. (30 September 2019). "Six things you didn't know about Ronan Bennett, the NI writer behind Netflix's Top Boy". Belfast Telegraph.
21. (8 January 2011). "Stephen Boyd: The Busker Who Became a Screen Idol". BBC News.
22. (23 January 2018). "Me and my health: Jim 'The King' Brown – The hip-swivelling I do on stage as Elvis gives me sore joints".
23. Beacom, Steven. (9 June 2016). "Evans duo set for Northern Ireland history books". [[Belfast Telegraph]].
24. (10 September 2021). "Northern Ireland presenter takes top Radio One music slot". [[BBC News]].
25. Carson, Helen. (23 January 2018). "Me and my health: Jim 'The King' Brown – The hip-swivelling I do on stage as Elvis gives me sore joints".
26. (11 April 2013). "Newtownabbey Girl to Sing on BBC 1 Show The Voice".
27. (2006). "Nothing but an unfinished song : Bobby Sands, the Irish hunger striker who ignited a generation". Nation Books.
28. "Rybnik Official Website – Twin Towns". 2008 Urząd Miasta Rybnika.
29. "List of Twin Towns in the Ruhr District".