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Kilkeel
  • Scots: [Kirkeil (historical)] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)
  • Irish: [Cill Chaoil] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)
Trawler departing Kilkeel (1of6) - geograph.org.uk - 1141805.jpg
Kilkeel Harbour and Mourne Mountains
Kilkeel is located in Northern Ireland
Kilkeel
Kilkeel
Population 6,541 (2011 Census)
District
  • Newry, Mourne and Down
County
Country Northern Ireland
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town NEWRY
Postcode district BT34
Dialling code 028
Police Northern Ireland
Fire Northern Ireland
Ambulance Northern Ireland
EU Parliament Northern Ireland
UK Parliament
  • South Down
NI Assembly
  • South Down
List of places
UK
Northern Ireland
Down
54°03′32″N 5°59′31″W / 54.059°N 5.992°W / 54.059; -5.992

Kilkeel (from Irish: [Cill Chaoil] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help), meaning "church of the narrow") is a small town, civil parish and townland (of 554 acres and 6521inh) in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is the southernmost town in Northern Ireland. It lies within the historic barony of Mourne. Kilkeel town is the main fishing port on the Down coast, and its harbour is home to the largest fishing fleet in Northern Ireland. It had a population of 6,541 people at the 2011 Census. The town contains the ruins of a 14th-century church and fort, winding streets and terraced shops. It lies just south of the Mourne Mountains.

Geography

Kilkeel town sits on a plain south of the Mourne Mountains, west of where the Kilkeel River flows south into the North Channel. The town is centred in the townland of Magheramurphy (from Irish Machaire Mhurchaidh, meaning 'Murphy's plain'), and extends into the neighbouring townlands of:

  • Derryoge (from Irish Doire Ríóg, meaning 'Ríog's oak wood')
  • Drumcro (from Irish Druim Cró, meaning 'ridge of the fold/enclosure')
  • Dunnaman
  • Kilkeel (from Irish Cill Chaoil, meaning 'narrow church/church of the narrows')

Altogether there are 69 townlands in the civil parish and barony.

History

Kilkeel narrow church
Picture of "Narrow Church"

Kilkeel takes its name from the old church overlooking the town, it being the anglicised version of the Gaelic 'Cill Chaoil' meaning "Narrow Church" or "The Church of/in the Narrow Place." The name may be drawn from the church location on a narrow site above the town.

The cemetery attached to the church was used for burials until 1916. The last burials at the cemetery were victims of a collision between two steamers the Retriever and the SS Connemara in Carlingford Lough.

On 30 May 1918 a fleet of Kilkeel fishing boats was sunk by the U-boat UB-64 under the command of Otto von Schrader. The boats sunk, 12 miles off the coast of County Down, included the Jane Gordon, Cyprus, Never Can Tell, St Mary, Sparkling Wave, Lloyds, Marianne Macrum and the motor vessel Honey Bee. Only two boats, Moss Rose and Mary Joseph, were not sunk and the crews returned to port on those boats. The Mary Joseph (N55) is now in the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum.

A Local History Group that covers both the town of Kilkeel and the Mourne region was set up in the 1980s producing a set of seven periodicals called "The 12 Miles of Mourne". A book on Hanna's Close, a clachan of houses in Aughnahoory townland 1 mile outside of Kilkeel, that covers the history of the region up to 1798 was self-published in 2008.

People

  • Robert Hill Hanna (1887–1967), born near Hanna's Close, was an immigrant Canadian recipient of the Victoria Cross. He was a Company Sergeant-Major in the 29th (Vancouver) Bn., Canadian Expeditionary Force during World War I when on 21 August 1917, he led a courageous action at Hill 70 Lens, France.
  • Gerald O'Donovan, novelist
  • Robert Nugent, Brigadier General, commander of Union Army's Irish Brigade, US Civil War.

2011 Census

Kilkeel is classified as a small town by the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (i.e. with population between 4,500 and 14,000 people). On Census day (29 April 2011), there were 6,887 people living in Kilkeel. Of these:

  • 26.2% were aged under 16 years and 18.2% were aged 60 and over;
  • 48.4% of the population were male and 51.6% were female; and
  • 3.5% of people aged 16–74 were unemployed.

Religion

The town of Kilkeel has a strong Unionist heritage. But while, in 2001, the ward of Kilkeel Central was recorded as 69% Protestant (21% Catholic, 10% other), the ward of Kilkeel South was only 37% Protestant (55% Catholic, 7% other).

Kikleel ward chart
Religious breakdown of wards in and around Kilkeel -from 2001 census data

Kilkeel now sits within the administrative area of Newry and Mourne, which is recorded in the 2001 census as being 80.6% Catholic. For more details see: NI Neighbourhood Information Service

Economy

  • Fishing is a major industry in Kilkeel, with Kilkeel Harbour the home port for the largest fishing fleet in Northern Ireland.
  • There are fish-processing factories around the port, pleasure angling off the piers and lobster farming along the coastline.
  • In recent years Collins Aerospace (previously known as BE Aerospace and Rockwell Collins) has become the largest employer in the area. Its Kilkeel facility, which manufactures aircraft seats for a worldwide customer base, employs over 800 people.

Demography

On Census day (27 March 2011) there were 6,541 people living in Kilkeel (2,557 households), accounting for 0.36% of the Northern Ireland total. Of these:

  • 21.27% were aged under 16 years and 15.15% were aged 65 and over;
  • 51.49% of the usually resident population were female and 48.51% were male;
  • 54.00% belong to or were brought up in a 'Protestant and Other Christian (including Christian related)' religion and 40.99% belong to or were brought up in the Christian Catholic denomination;
  • 54.67% indicated that they had a British national identity, 27.60% had a Northern Irish national identity and 20.29% had an Irish national identity (respondents could indicate more than one national identity);
  • 35 years was the average (median) age of the population;
  • 8.93% had some knowledge of Ulster-Scots and 8.82% had some knowledge of Irish (Gaelic).

Religion

The town of Kilkeel has a strong Unionist heritage. In 2001, the ward of Kilkeel Central was recorded as 69% Protestant (21% Catholic, 10% other), and the ward of Kilkeel South was 37% Protestant (55% Catholic, 7% other).

Kikleel ward chart
Religious breakdown of wards in and around Kilkeel -from 2001 census data

Kilkeel now sits within the administrative area of Newry, Mourne and Down District Council which is recorded in the 2011 census as being 72.32% from a Catholic religious background and 23.91% from a Protestant religious background. In the district 44.31% indicated that they had an Irish national identity, 30.39% had a Northern Irish national identity and 28.53% had a British national identity. For more details see: NI Neighbourhood Information Service

Sport

Most popular sports in the Kilkeel area include football, hockey, Gaelic football, fishing, golf, hurling, and swimming.

There are five Gaelic Athletic Association clubs in the local area which include An Ríocht, Longstone, Atticall, Ballymartin, and Glasdrumman. Each club boast impressive facilities including playing fields, sports halls, fitness suites, bar facilities and cater for a wide range of cross community activities above and beyond GAA sporting activities. These include Youth clubs, Mens Sheds (Pensioners), Walking clubs, Yoga, Basketball (Kilkeel Elks' home court is in An Ríocht Hall) and many more. All five teams have a strong presence in the Down GAA calendar through the various leagues and field teams at every age group from U6 through to senior level.

One of the most recognised sports teams in the town is Kilkeel Hockey Club. They play at McAuley Park, fielding three men's teams and two ladies' teams. Kilkeel is the only hockey club in Mourne, drawing players from the whole of the Mourne area, with Annalong providing a considerable number of its players. The Men's 1st team have just recently been awarded the Anderson Cup in the Anderson Cup final at the Stormont pitches in Belfast which was a great achievement for the club and also for the town.

The most senior football team is Valley Rangers Football Club of the Mid-Ulster Football League. Other local teams include Balleyvea FC, Kilkeel Athletic and the Mourne Rovers. There are two local golf courses, Kilkeel Golf Course and Cranfield Pitch and Putt.

Education

  • Brackenagh West Primary School
  • Grange Primary School
  • Holy Cross Primary School
  • Gaelscoil na mBeann is a bilingual primary school that uses the Irish language as its primary medium of instruction while English is introduced at Primary 3. The school teaches the Northern Ireland curriculum. It was established in 2010 by a group of local people and parents who wanted Gaelic-medium education for their children. The school gained recognition and funding from the Department of Education in 2012.
  • Kilkeel High School
  • Kilkeel Primary School
  • Mourne Independent Christian School
  • St Colman's Primary School
  • St. Columban's College
  • St. Louis Grammar School
  • Mourne Grange Village School

Images for kids

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Kilkeel para niños

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