Cloughmills or Cloghmills ( ) is a
village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...
in
County Antrim
County Antrim (named after the town of Antrim, ) is one of six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the thirty-two counties of Ireland. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of and has a population o ...
,
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...
.
Ballymoney
Ballymoney ( ga, Baile Monaidh , meaning 'townland of the moor') is a small town and civil parish in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is within the Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council area. The civil parish of Ballymoney is situated in ...
is 9 miles to the north-west and
Ballymena
Ballymena ( ; from ga, an Baile Meánach , meaning 'the middle townland') is a town in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is part of the Borough of Mid and East Antrim.
The town is built on land given to the Adair family by King Charles I i ...
is 10 miles to the south. It had a population of 1,309 people in the 2011
Census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...
.
It is in
Causeway Coast and Glens District Council.
Name
The name ''Cloughmills/Cloghmills'' is a combination of the
Irish
Irish may refer to:
Common meanings
* Someone or something of, from, or related to:
** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe
***Éire, Irish language name for the isle
** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...
word ''cloch'' (meaning "stone") and the
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
word ''mill'' (referring to the
linen
Linen () is a textile made from the fibers of the flax plant.
Linen is very strong, absorbent, and dries faster than cotton. Because of these properties, linen is comfortable to wear in hot weather and is valued for use in garments. It also ...
mill
Mill may refer to:
Science and technology
*
* Mill (grinding)
* Milling (machining)
* Millwork
* Textile mill
* Steel mill, a factory for the manufacture of steel
* List of types of mill
* Mill, the arithmetic unit of the Analytical Engine early ...
around which the village grew). An older spelling was ''Clochmills''.
Features
Cloghmills is a local service centre for its surrounding rural hinterland with a good range of retail, commercial, community and educational facilities. Recreational facilities are, however, limited, relative to the size of the village. A substantial number of private sector dwellings have been built over the past decade, which reflect its growing residential function.
Three private housing developments have been built in the village, substantially increasing the population to approximately 2000 individuals in 2008. The Cloughmills Community Action Team (CCAT), made up of local residents, is in the process of reviving a five-year action plan to develop the village for the all who live there, and promote and develop local business initiatives.
Cloughmills is home to one of Northern Ireland's leading department stores, Logans of Cloughmills and Boyd Hampers which was established by Andrew and Gareth Boyd in 2001.
History
The industrial heritage of the village can be seen from the old
linen
Linen () is a textile made from the fibers of the flax plant.
Linen is very strong, absorbent, and dries faster than cotton. Because of these properties, linen is comfortable to wear in hot weather and is valued for use in garments. It also ...
mill which is located at the bottom end of the main street beside the medical centre. The mill was fed by the Cloughwater (also known as the Cloughmills Water) river which flows through the southern end of the village. This river feeds into the
River Main
The Main () is the longest tributary of the Rhine. It rises as the White Main in the Fichtel Mountains of northeastern Bavaria and flows west through central Germany for to meet the Rhine below Rüsselsheim, Hesse. The cities of Mainz and Wiesb ...
.
The population was about 200.
The former main employer of the village, Cooneen Textiles, a clothing firm, closed down in 1999 with the loss of 128 jobs. The premises changed hands and Cooneen was replaced by a haulage company called Reid Transport. In November 2007 Reid Transport ceased trading with loss of 200 jobs following serious financial difficulties. The African Clothing Company took up residence in the vacated premises later changing its name to All-Tex Recyclers.
The Troubles
On 12 February 1977, an off duty
Royal Ulster Constabulary
The Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) was the police force in Northern Ireland from 1922 to 2001. It was founded on 1 June 1922 as a successor to the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC)Richard Doherty, ''The Thin Green Line – The History of the Royal ...
(RUC) member, Samuel McKane (aged 33), was killed by the
IRA
Ira or IRA may refer to:
*Ira (name), a Hebrew, Sanskrit, Russian or Finnish language personal name
*Ira (surname), a rare Estonian and some other language family name
*Iran, UNDP code IRA
Law
*Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, US, on status of ...
outside his home in Cloughmills.
On 14 March 1978,
Provisional Irish Republican Army
The Irish Republican Army (IRA; ), also known as the Provisional Irish Republican Army, and informally as the Provos, was an Irish republican paramilitary organisation that sought to end British rule in Northern Ireland, facilitate Irish reun ...
(IRA) masked gunmen planted two explosive devices at the Cloughmills Cooperative Society and Spar supermarket complex. The homemade explosive devices exploded causing minor structural damage and starting a fire which destroyed the interior.
On 18 June 1986 the Provisional Irish Republican Army held a man a gun point and forced him to drive a 500lb bomb to Cloughmills Police Station. The man was able to raise the alarm but the bomb exploded and caused severe damage to the police station and nearby primary school and houses.
Transport
Cloughmills has good road links to Ballymoney and Ballymena and is located a short distance east of the
A26 A26 or A-26 may refer to:
Roads
* List of A26 roads
Transportation
* Douglas A-26 Invader, a light attack bomber built by Douglas
* Aero A.26, a Czech reconnaissance aircraft of the 1920s
* Focke-Wulf A 26, a German Focke-Wulf aircraft
* Blekinge- ...
key transport corridor. However, it has limited public transport connections.
Education
*Cloughmills Primary School
*St Brigid's Primary School
Religion
*Killagan
Church of Ireland
The Church of Ireland ( ga, Eaglais na hÉireann, ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Kirk o Airlann, ) is a Christian church in Ireland and an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the second ...
Parish Church
*Cloughmills
Free Presbyterian Church
*Cloughmills Reformed Presbyterian Church
*Ballyweaney
Presbyterian
Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...
Church
*Church of the Sacred Heart (Roman Catholic)
*Ballynaloob Gospel Hall (
Gospel Hall Assemblies
The Gospel Halls are a group of independent Christian assemblies throughout the world that fellowship with each other through a set of shared Biblical doctrines and practices. Theologically, they are evangelical and dispensational. They are a con ...
)
Demography
2011 Census
It had a population of 1,309 people (514 households) in the 2011 Census.
[
On Census day in 2011:
*32.7% were from a ]Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
background and 63.0% were from a Protestant
Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...
background
International relations
Twin towns - Sister cities
* Benbrook, Texas
Benbrook is a town located in the southwestern corner of Tarrant County, Texas, and a suburb of Fort Worth. As of the 2010 United States Census, the population was 21,234, reflecting an increase of 1,026 from the 20,208 counted in the 2000 Cen ...
, USA
* Vanves
Vanves () is a commune in the southwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris. It is one of the most densely populated municipalities in Europe and the tenth in France
History
On 1 January 1860, the city of Paris w ...
, France
References
{{authority control
Villages in County Antrim