Portstewart

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Portstewart
The Promenade at Portstewart - geograph.org.uk - 1322701.jpg
United Kingdom Northern Ireland adm location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Portstewart
Location within Northern Ireland
Population7,854 (2021) [2]
District
County
Country Northern Ireland
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town PORTSTEWART
Postcode district BT55
Dialling code 028
Police Northern Ireland
Fire Northern Ireland
Ambulance Northern Ireland
UK Parliament
NI Assembly
List of places
UK
Northern Ireland
County Londonderry
55°10′48″N6°42′40″W / 55.18°N 6.711°W / 55.18; -6.711

Portstewart is a small seaside town in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It had a population of 7,854 people in the 2021 United Kingdom census. [2] It is a seaside resort, neighbouring both Coleraine in County Londonderry and Portrush in County Antrim. Its harbour and scenic coastal paths form an Atlantic promenade leading to a two-mile beach (Portstewart Strand), popular with holidaymakers in summer and surfers year-round. The town is located within the Barony of the North East Liberties of Coleraine. [3]

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Portstewart was a popular holiday destination for Victorian middle-class families. Its long, crescent-shaped seafront promenade is sheltered by rocky headlands. It is a reasonably prosperous town. Most of the town is contained in the Strand electoral ward and this is one of the most affluent areas in Northern Ireland. In a deprivation index of electoral wards in Northern Ireland the Strand Ward in the town was ranked 570th out of the 582 wards. [4]

House prices in Portstewart have been amongst the highest in Northern Ireland. According to the University of Ulster's Quarterly House Price Index report, produced in partnership with the Bank of Ireland and the Northern Ireland Housing Executive, in the fourth quarter of 2010, the North Coast region (Coleraine/Limavady area) had higher property prices than those of affluent south Belfast. [5]

Portstewart is one of the most integrated towns in Northern Ireland with the religious demographics similar to the population of Northern Ireland as a whole. Community relations are generally good within the town. Dominican College, a Catholic grammar school, is one of the main schools in the area. [6]

History

Portstewart seafront. Portstewart, Panorama.jpg
Portstewart seafront.

Portstewart was founded in 1792 by John Cromie, who named it after his maternal ancestors, the Stewarts of Ballylesse. [7] A Lieutenant Stewart is said to have obtained a lease of land from The 5th Earl of Antrim (first creation; 1713–1775) in 1734.[ citation needed ] Prior to this, the area was formerly known in Irish as Port na Binne Uaine, a name related to the nearby island and townland of Benoney (an anglicisation of Binne Uaine). [1] The name Port na Binne Uaine is still used today as the Irish language name of the town, alongside the Gaelicised version Port Stíobhaird. [8]

Portstewart developed to a modest size seaside resort in the mid 19th century under the influence of a local landlord, John Cromie. Its development and character was influenced greatly by the Sabbatarian sensitivities of the Cromies and the consequent resistance to a railway connection in the mid 19th century. [9]

Places of interest

The Strand, looking west to the Barmouth and Mussenden Temple beyond. Portstewart Strand.JPG
The Strand, looking west to the Barmouth and Mussenden Temple beyond.
Portstewart Town Hall Portstewart Town Hall (geograph 3788441) (cropped).jpg
Portstewart Town Hall

Transport

Cromore station near Portstewart. Cromore station near Portstewart - geograph.org.uk - 219758.jpg
Cromore station near Portstewart.

Portstewart is near the Portrush branch line from Coleraine to Portrush, opened by the Ballymena, Ballymoney, Coleraine and Portrush Junction Railway in 1856, [14] which was later absorbed into the Belfast and Northern Counties Railway (later Northern Counties Committee) in 1861. [15] There was an intermediate station called Portstewart although it was about a mile from the town. The town was connected to the station by the Portstewart Tramway from 1882 to 1926. After closure of the tramway, the station saw few passengers eventually closing in 1963. It re-opened as Cromore in 1969 when the branch was upgraded but closed again in 1988. The station building has been sold and is now a private house.

Today there is no longer a station in Portstewart, but the nearest ones are Coleraine, University, Dhu Varren and Portrush with Northern Ireland Railways providing connections west to Castlerock and Derry~Londonderry railway station and east to Belfast Lanyon Place railway station and Belfast Grand Central station. Ulsterbus provide connections to the trains at Coleraine railway station.

Sport

People

Henry McCullough Henry McCullough in the studio in 2008.jpg
Henry McCullough

Demography

2011 Census

On Census day (27 March 2011) there were 8,003 people living in Portstewart (3,338 households), accounting for 0.44% of the NI total. [27] The Census 2011 population represented an increase of 2.6% on the Census 2001 figure of 7,803. [28] Of the Census 2011 population:

2021 Census

On Census day (2021) there were 7,854 people living in Portstewart. Of the Census 2021 population:

Education

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Port Stíobhaird/Port Stewart". Logainm.ie. Archived from the original on 23 September 2012.
  2. 1 2 "Settlement 2015". NISRA. Retrieved 18 August 2023.
  3. Townlands.ie: Barony of N.E. Liberties of Coleraine, Co. Londonderry. https://www.townlands.ie/londonderry/ne-liberties-of-coleraine/
  4. Agency, Northern Ireland Statistics and Research. "statistics". ninis2.nisra.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 23 November 2012.
  5. "Northern Ireland Quarterly House Price Index Q4 2010" (PDF). ulster.ac.uk. 26 September 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 November 2011.
  6. "Dominican College (Portstewart): Aims" . Retrieved 26 August 2013.
  7. "Logainm – Portstewart (see scanned images)". Archived from the original on 23 September 2012.
  8. "Port na Binne Uaine branch". Conradh na Gaeilge . Retrieved 19 June 2022.
  9. Robertson, C. J. A. (1 October 1978). "Early Scottish Railways and the Observance of the Sabbath". The Scottish Historical Review. Retrieved 19 June 2022.
  10. "Dominican College – Dominican College Portstewart". dcpni.net. Archived from the original on 18 December 2006.
  11. "Portstewart Strand Visitor Facility". Northern Ireland Tourist Board. Archived from the original on 14 July 2011. Retrieved 13 July 2009.
  12. "Portstewart Cliff Path". All Trails. Retrieved 19 June 2022.
  13. "Town Hall, The Crescent, Portstewart, Co. Londonderry (HB03/08/007)". Department for Communities. Retrieved 20 June 2022.
  14. "Cromore station" (PDF). Railscot – Irish Railways. Retrieved 6 May 2012.
  15. McCutcheon, William Alan (1984). The Industrial Archaeology of Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland Dept. of the Environment; Fairleigh Dickinson University Press.
  16. "Other motorists have responsibility for bikers too, campaign warns". Northern Ireland Executive. 14 May 2009. Retrieved 26 September 2011.
  17. Durand, Henry Mortimer (1915). The life of Field-Marshal Sir George White, V.C. Edinburgh, London: W. Blackwood. p. 9. ISBN   978-1177733694.{{cite book}}: ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
  18. "A Tribute to Jimmy Kennedy". Irish Culture and Customs. Retrieved 19 June 2022.
  19. "Harry Gregg obituary". The Times. 17 February 2020. Retrieved 19 June 2022.
  20. "Sean Farren (SDLP)Minister for Higher and Further Education, Training and Employment". The Irish Times. Retrieved 19 June 2022.
  21. "Memoir to Tragic Egan". Northern Ireland World. 14 September 2012. Retrieved 10 October 2022.
  22. Pollock, David (19 June 2016). "Obituary: Henry McCullough, guitarist". The Scotsman . Retrieved 19 June 2022.
  23. "Harry Mullan". The Guardian. 24 May 1999. Retrieved 19 June 2022.
  24. "Ex-RUC man joins Sinn Fein". Belfast Telegraph. 4 July 2008. Retrieved 19 June 2022.
  25. "Sexist songs drove me out of band; ex-Beautiful South Singer Briana breaks her silence after two years". 4 June 1996. Retrieved 19 June 2022.
  26. Tulloch, Sarah (19 October 2018). "'I think we do humour well at home. We just slag ourselves off' – Comedian Jimeoin set for Belfast return". belfasttelegraph. ISSN   0307-1235 . Retrieved 15 June 2020.
  27. "Census 2011 Population Statistics for Portstewart Settlement". Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA). Retrieved 6 August 2019.
  28. "Census 2001 Usually Resident Population: KS01 (Settlements) – Table view". Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA). p. 6. Retrieved 6 August 2019.
  29. "Religion or religion brought up in". NISRA. Retrieved 8 July 2025.
  30. "National Identity (British)". NISRA. Retrieved 18 August 2023.
  31. "National Identity (Northern Irish)". NISRA. Retrieved 18 August 2023.
  32. "National Itdentity (Irish)". NISRA. Retrieved 18 August 2023.

Sources