Lisburn facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Lisburn Irish: Lios na gCearrbhach
Irish Linen Museum and Christ Church Cathedral
Lisburn
Population	(2021 Census) City: 51,447 Metro: 84,090
• Belfast	8 miles
District	Lisburn and Castlereagh
County	County Antrim County Down
Country	Northern Ireland
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	LISBURN
Postcode district	BT27, BT28
Dialling code	028
Police	Northern Ireland
Fire	Northern Ireland
Ambulance	Northern Ireland
EU Parliament	Northern Ireland
UK Parliament	Lagan Valley
NI Assembly	Lagan Valley
List of places UK Northern Ireland 54°30′43″N 6°01′52″W / 54.512°N 6.031°W / 54.512; -6.031

Lisburn (/ˈlɪzbɜːrn, ˈlɪsbɜːrn/; from Irish: Lios na gCearrbhach [ˌl̠ʲɪsˠ n̪ˠə ˈɟaːɾˠwəx]) is a city in Northern Ireland. It is 8 mi (13 km) southwest of Belfast city centre, on the River Lagan, which forms the boundary between County Antrim and County Down. First laid out in the 17th century by English and Welsh settlers, with the arrival of French Huguenots in the 18th century, the town developed as a global centre of the linen industry.

In 2002, as part of Queen Elizabeth's Golden Jubilee celebrations, the predominantly unionist borough was granted city status alongside the largely nationalist town of Newry. With a population of 45,370 in the 2011 Census. Lisburn was the third-largest city in Northern Ireland. In the 2016 reform of local government in Northern Ireland Lisburn was joined with the greater part of Castlereagh to form the Lisburn City and Castlereagh District.

Name

The town was originally known as Lisnagarvy (also spelt Lisnagarvey, Lisnegarvey, Lisnegarvy, Lisnegarvagh or Lisnagarvagh) after the townland in which it formed. This is derived from Irish Lios na gCearrbhach, meaning 'ringfort of the gamesters/gamblers'.

The origin of the town's current name is uncertain. The modern spelling Lisburn first appears in a January 1662 entry in church records. After February 1662, the name Lisnagarvy is no longer found in the records. It is commonly believed that the town was renamed after being burnt during the Irish Rebellion of 1641. In his book Lisburn Cathedral and Its Past Rectors (1926), Reverend WP Carmody argues "This seems to be most improbable; after twenty years the burning would be a memory, and the loyal people of the town would not be disposed to give it a name that would be forever reminiscent of its destruction by rebels". There is evidence that the name existed even at the time of the rebellion. In the depositions concerning the rebellion, an English soldier stated on 9 June 1653 that the rebels entered the town of Lisnagarvy at "a place called Louzy Barne". Carmody believes that, in the town's early days, there were two co-existing ringforts: Lisnagarvy to the north and Lisburn to the south. He suggests that both names come from Irish and concludes: "Lisburn, being shorter and more easily pronounced by the English settlers, became the familiar name and Lisnagarvey gradually dropped out".

The original name is still used in the titles of some local schools and sports teams.

History

Lisburn's original site was a fort located north of modern-day Wallace Park. In 1609 James I granted Sir Fulke Conway, a Welshman of Norman descent, the lands of Killultagh in southwest County Antrim. During the 1620s the streets of Lisburn were laid out just as they are today: Market Square, Bridge Street, Castle Street and Bow Street. Conway brought over many English and Welsh settlers during the Ulster Plantation; he also had a manor house built on what is now Castle Gardens, and in 1623, a church on the site of the current cathedral. In 1628, Sir Edward Conway, brother to the now deceased Sir Fulke, obtained a charter from King Charles I granting the right to hold a weekly market. This is still held in the town every Tuesday. The Manor House was destroyed in the accidental fire of 1707 and was never rebuilt; the city's Latin motto, Ex igne resurgam ("Out of the fire I shall arise"), is a reference to this incident.

Lisburn Market House – now forming part of the Irish Linen Centre/Lisburn Museum

Lisburn is also known as the birthplace of Ireland's linen industry, which was established in 1698 by Louis Crommelin and other Huguenots. An exhibition about the Irish linen industry is now housed in the Irish Linen Centre, which can be found in the old Market House in Market Square.

In 1920, disturbances related to the ongoing Irish War of Independence saw almost all of Lisburn's Catholic businesses burned out and many of the town's Catholic population forced to flee. The town was one of the first to recruit special constables, who went on to become part of Northern Ireland's Ulster Special Constabulary.

The Cold War

Between 1954 and 1992 Lisburn contained the operational headquarters of No 31 Belfast Group Royal Observer Corps who operated from a protected nuclear bunker on Knox Road within Thiepval Barracks. Converted from a 1940s Anti-aircraft Operations Room (AAOR), the bunker would support over one hundred ROC volunteers and a ten-man United Kingdom Warning and Monitoring Organisation warning team responsible for the four-minute warning in the event of a nuclear strike on the UK. The ROC would also have detected radioactive fallout from the nuclear bursts and warned the public of approaching fallout.

The two organisations were disbanded in 1992 at the end of the Cold War. In 2007 a commemorative plaque was mounted on the wall of the nuclear bunker which still stands, in recognition of the service of ROC volunteers in Northern Ireland.

The Troubles

Administration

Lisburn is the administrative centre of Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council area.

In elections for the Westminster Parliament the city falls mainly into the Lagan Valley constituency.

Two District Electoral Areas cover the city and surrounding areas. Lisburn North (Derriaghy, Harmony Hill, Hilden, Lambeg, Magheralave, Wallace Park) and Lisburn South (Ballymacash, Ballymacoss, Knockmore, Lagan Valley, Lisnagarvey, Old Warren). In the 2023 local elections the following were elected to represent the two DEAs:

The headquarters of the British Army in Northern Ireland at Thiepval Barracks and the headquarters of the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service are located in the city.

Demography

2011 Census

On Census Day (27 March 2011) the usually resident population of Lisburn City Settlement was 45,370 accounting for 2.51% of the NI total.

• 97.51% were from the white (including Irish Traveller) ethnic group;
• 22.24% belong to or were brought up Catholic and 67.32% belong to or were brought up in a 'Protestant and other (non-Catholic) Christian (including Christian related)' and
• 67.65% indicated that they had a British national identity, 11.32% had an Irish national identity and 29.04% had a Northern Irish national identity.

Respondents could indicate more than one national identity

On Census Day, in Lisburn City Settlement, considering the population aged 3 years old and over:

• 3.72% had some knowledge of Irish;
• 6.51% had some knowledge of Ulster-Scots; and
• 3.25% did not have English as their first language.

2021 Census

On Census Day (2021) the usually resident population of Lisburn City Settlement was 51,447:

• 26.84% (13,808) belong to or were brought up Catholic and 56.37% (29,003) belong to or were brought up in a 'Protestant and other (non-Catholic) Christian (including Christian related)', 1.84% belong to other religions and 14.95% and no religious background
• 43.55% (22,406) indicated that they had a British national identity, 13.32% (6,856) had an Irish national identity, 20.04% (10,312) had a Northern Irish national identity, 11.04% (5,680) had a British and Northern Irish only, 1.29% (664) had an Irish and Northern Irish only, and 1.78% (917) had a British, Irish and Northern Irish only.

Schools and colleges

The Classical School in Bow Lane, founded 1756 and mastered for fifty-six years by the Huguenot and Anglican cleric and scholar Saumaurez Dubourdieu, was the first school of note in Lisburn. Friends' School, founded for Quaker children, followed in 1774. Comparable grammar-school education was not provided for Catholic children until the Convent of the Sacred Heart of Mary started boarding pupils in a house in Castle Street in 1870, and not for other children in the town until 1880 when Sir Richard Wallace founded the Intermediate and University School on the Antrim (renamed Wallace High School in his honour in 1942).

The first Lisburn school which did not ask pupils whether they attended church, chapel or meeting was that founded on the Dublin Road by John Crossley in 1810. Known then as the Male Free School, it was the first free school in Ulster to be based on the Bell and Lancaster monitorial system.

A school for poor children, established by Jane Hawkshaw in 1821 with the support of the 3rd marquess, taught no catechism and made no attempt at religious instruction. It adopted that principle that "while so great diversity prevails on this subject, it [is] best to separate religion from the instructing in reading, writing, arithmetic and sewing". Religious instruction was to be left to "the parents, with the assistance of their respective teachers". It is a principle that the government tried, but in the face of church opposition failed, to realise in its original 1830 plans for an Irish system of National Schools.

Another exception to control by the church education authorities was Hilden School, established under mill management by William Barbour in 1829.

Today, Fort Hill Primary and Fort Hill College make a conscious effort to surmount principal sectarian divide in the town through a system of "integrated education". Children from Catholic and Protestant homes in Lisburn are otherwise taught, with limited exception, separately on a pattern that, by the mid-nineteenth century, had been established throughout Ireland.

The Lisburn Technical Institute, the forerunner of South Eastern Regional College, opened in Castle Street in 1914.

Churches

Lisburn Cathedral

Lisburn is notable for its large number of churches, with 132 churches listed in the Lisburn City Council area. Christ Church Cathedral, commonly referred to as Lisburn Cathedral, is the diocesan church for the Church of Ireland bishopric of Connor.

The principal Roman Catholic Church in Lisburn is St Patrick's on Chapel Hill dedicated in 1900. For Presbyterians the senior congregation remains that of the First Presbyterian Church, off Market Square, built in 1768, and enlarged and remodelled in 1873 and 1970. For the Methodists, it is the Seymour Street Church opened on ground donated by Sir Richard Wallace in 1875.

Transport

Rail

The Lisburn railway station was opened on 12 August 1839. Express trains taking 10–15 minutes to reach Belfast's Great Victoria Street. The train also links the city directly with Newry, Portadown, Lurgan, Moira and Bangor. The station also has services to Dublin Connolly in the city of Dublin, with three trains per day stopping at the station. All railway services from the station are provided by Northern Ireland Railways, a subsidiary of Translink. The city is also served by Hilden railway station.

Lisburn railway station

Bus

Ulsterbus provides various bus services that connect the city with Belfast city centre, which lies eight miles northeast. These services generally operate either along Belfast's Lisburn Road or through the Falls area in west Belfast. In addition to long-distance services to Craigavon, Newry and Banbridge, there is also a network of buses that serve the rural areas around the city, such as Glenavy and Dromara; as well as an hourly bus service 6:00 am – 6:00 pm Monday-Saturday to Belfast International Airport.

Lisburn's Buscentre

The city has a network of local buses, serving the local housing developments and amenities. These are operated by Ulsterbus.

A new "Buscentre", provided by the regional public transport provider Translink, opened on 30 June 2008 at the corner of Smithfield Street and the Hillsborough Road. It replaced the shelters that formerly stood in Smithfield Square.

Road

The city is located on the Belfast-Dublin corridor, being connected with the former by the M1 motorway from which it can be accessed through junctions 3, 6, 7 and 8. The A1 road to Newry and Dublin deviates from the M1 at the Sprucefield interchange, which is positioned one mile southeast of the city centre. An inner orbital route was formed throughout the 1980s which has permitted the city centre to operate a one-way system as well as the pedestrianisation of the Bow Street shopping precinct. In addition to this, a feeder road leading from Milltown on the outskirts of Belfast to Ballymacash in north Lisburn, was opened in 2006. This route connects with the A512 and permits traffic from Lisburn to easily access the M1 at junction 3 (Dunmurry) thus relieving pressure on the southern approaches to the city.

Inland waterways

The Lagan Canal passes through Lisburn. This connected the port of Belfast to Lough Neagh, reaching Lisburn in 1763 (although the full route to Lough Neagh was not complete until 1793). Prior to World War II the canal was an important transportation route for goods, averaging over 307,000 tons of coal per year in the 1920s. Following competition from road transport, the canal was formally closed to navigation in 1958, and grew derelict. A short stretch and lock in front of Lisburn Council offices was restored to use in 2001.

Cycling

Lisburn is served by National Cycle Route 9, connecting the city with Belfast with Newry.

Shopping

Lisburn City Centre

Bow Street Mall, on Bow Street, houses over 60 stores, many eateries (including a food court). Sprucefield Shopping Centre and Sprucefield Retail Park are two large retail parks located just outside the city centre.

Townlands

Townlands are traditional land divisions used in Ireland. As well as Lisnagarvy, Lisburn covers all or part of the following townlands.

County Antrim:

• Aghalislone (from the ga: Achadh Lios Luain meaning "field of Luan's fort")
• Aghnahough (from Achadh na hUamha, 'field of the cave')
• Ballymacoss or Ballymacash (from Baile Mhic Coise, 'MacCoise's townland')
• Clogher (from Clochar, 'stony place')
• Knockmore (from An Cnoc Mór, 'the great hill')
• Lambeg (from Lann Bheag, 'little church')
• Lissue or Teraghafeeva (from Lios Áedha, 'Áed's fort' and Tír Átha Fiodhach, 'wooded land of the ford')
• Magheralave (from Machaire Shléibhe, 'plain of the mountain grass' or Machaire Léimh, 'plain of the elms')
• Old Warren
• Tonagh (from An Tamhnach, 'the grassy field')

County Down:

• Blaris (from Bláras, a field or battlefield)
• Ballintine (from Baile an tSiáin, 'townland of the fairy mound')
• Ballymullan (from Baile Uí Mhaoláin, 'O'Mullan's townland')
• Largymore (from An Leargaidh Mhór, 'the big slope')
• Magherageery (from Machaire na gCaorach, 'plain of the sheep')

Climate

As with the rest of the British Isles, Lisburn experiences a maritime climate with cool summers and mild winters. The nearest official Met Office weather station for which online records are available is at Hillsborough, about 3 miles south south west of the city centre.

Averaged over the period 1971–2000 the warmest day of the year at Hillsborough will reach 24.3 °C (75.7 °F), although 9 out of 10 years should record a temperature of 25.1 °C (77.2 °F) or above.

Averaged over the same period, the coldest night of the year typically falls to −6.0 °C (21.2 °F) and on 37 nights air frost was observed.

Typically annual rainfall falls just short of 900 mm, with at least 1 mm falling on 154 days of the year.

Sport

In November 2012 the Award of 2013 European City of Sport was officially handed over to Lisburn at a presentation ceremony at the European Parliament in Brussels.

Football

• Lisburn Distillery is an association football club playing in the NIFL Championship and based at Ballyskeagh, on the outskirts of the city.
• Ballymacash Rangers F.C. play in the Mid-Ulster Football League.
• Lisburn Rangers F.C. play in the Northern Amateur Football League.
• Downshire Young Men F.C. play in the Northern Amateur Football League.

Other sports

• Lisburn Cricket Club
• Lisburn Racquets Club
• St. Patrick's GAA
• Down Royal Racecourse is located near the city

People

Academia and science

• Robert McNeill Alexander (1934–2016) – zoologist.
• David Crystal (1941 – ) – Linguist and author.
• Margarita Dawson Stelfox (1866 -1971) – botanist.

Arts and media

• Vivian Campbell (1962 – ) singer-songwriter and musician
• William H. Conn (1895–1973) – Irish cartoonist, illustrator, water colourist and poster artist.
• Sam Cree (1928–1980) – playwright.
• Anna Cheyne (1926–2002) – artist and sculptor.
• Richard Dormer (1969– ) – actor. playwright, screenwriter
• Duke Special (1971 – ) – singer-songwriter.
• Samuel McCloy (1831–1904) – Irish painter
• Stefana McClure (1959 – ) – visual artist
• Kristian Nairn (1975 – ) – film actor, DJ
• Dennis H Osborne (1919–2016) -artist
• Donna Traynor (1965 – ) – television journalist
• Sir Richard Wallace (1818–1890) – Lisburn and district landlord, MP, art collector (the Wallace Collection, London).

Business

• John Doherty Barbour (1824–1901) – industrialist and politician.
• Michael Deane (1961 – ) – chef, restaurateur
• Henry Musgrave (1827–1922) – industrialist and philanthropist
• John Grubb Richardson (1813–1891) – linen merchant, industrialist and philanthropist
• Alexander Turney Stewart (1803–1876) – American retail entrepreneur.
• William Workman (1807–1878) – Canadian entrepreneur, philanthropist.

Sport

• Damien Johnson – Northern Irish, international footballer.
• Mary Peters – athlete.
• Jonny Ross, bowler
• James Tennyson, professional boxer
• Alan McDonald – Northern Irish, international footballer.

See also

In Spanish: Lisburn para niños