Crumlin () is a town 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 ...

. It is at the head of a wooded glen on the Camlin River, near

Lough Neagh Lough Neagh ( ) is a freshwater lake in Northern Ireland and is the largest lake in the island of Ireland, the United Kingdom and the British Isles. It has a surface area of and supplies 40% of Northern Ireland's water. Its main inflows come ...

, and west of

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

city centre.

Belfast International Airport Belfast International Airport is an airport northwest of Belfast in Northern Ireland, is the main airport for the city of Belfast. Until 1983, it was known as ''Aldergrove Airport'', after the nearby village of Aldergrove. In 2018, over 6.2 ...

lies just north of the village at Aldergrove. It had a population of 5,140 people in the 2011 Census. It is part of

Antrim and Newtownabbey Ulster Scots: ''Anthrim an Newtownabbey'' , subdivision_type2 = , subdivision_type3 = , subdivision_type4 = Status , subdivision_type5 = Admin HQ , subdivision_name = United Kingdom , subdivision_name1 ...

district. It also hosts the headquarters of

Lidl Lidl Stiftung & Co. KG (; ) is a German international discount retailer chain that operates over 11,000 stores across Europe and the United States. Headquartered in Neckarsulm, Baden-Württemberg, the company belongs to the Schwarz Group, whi ...

in Northern Ireland.

History

The town's old linen mill was built in 1809. In 1972, during

The Troubles The Troubles ( ga, Na Trioblóidí) were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it is sometimes described as an "i ...

, a bomb went off prematurely near Crumlin, killing two

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 ...

members.

Education

* Crumlin Integrated College *St. Joseph's Primary School * Crumlin Integrated Primary * Gaelscoil Ghleann Darach * Naíscoil Ghleann Darach *Sleepy Hollow Day Nursery - offering day care and early education, including only two year old programme in the village known as Eager and Able to Learn

Irish language

In recent years, a growing Irish-speaking community has evolved in the area and Crumlin now caters for both pre-school and primary school education through the medium of Irish. Naíscoil and Gaelscoil Ghleann Darach now has almost 70 children attending the Irish medium school and almost 30 in the nursery, with 15 members of staff. The Gaelscoil (primary school) is recognised by the

Department of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

. Two voluntary groups
Cumann Gaeilge
and Cairde Ghleann Darach, encourage and support the school and promotion of the

Irish language Irish ( Standard Irish: ), also known as Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Insular Celtic branch of the Celtic language family, which is a part of the Indo-European language family. Irish is indigenous to the island of Ireland and was ...

. The local societies help organise fund-raisers for the local schools and clubs and organise Irish language classes, an annual Irish language funday, a céilí, a bi-lingual pub quiz, and other events in the area.

Early Years Provision and Day Care

Crumlin hosts one of Ireland's few All Ireland Centre of Excellence accredited nurseries. Sleepy Hollow, based at Largy Road, has been established for almost 30 years. It offers the highest standards of care for the under 12's and this has been recognised by Early Years and Early Childhood Ireland who awarded this accolade to Sleepy Hollow. The setting also offers a unique 2-3 year old programme four mornings per week which follows the Queen's University research based Eager and Able to Learn curriculum. Sleepy Hollow operates a Reggio Emilia Approach in the setting for the under 5's and a playwork curriculum based on Bob Hughes 'playtypes' for school age children. Sleepy Hollow is also the largest childcare provider in Northern Ireland.

Sport

Crumlin United F.C provides

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

for more than 300 men, women, boys and girls, from under-6 to senior level. Broader membership of approx. 400. Crumlin United are proud owners of a 9-acre ground on Mill Road in the centre of the village, this wonderful facility consists of one of the best grass playing surfaces in the country and a recently constructed a full size 3G playing service. It also has a two-story Clubhouse with a fully licensed Bar and Lounge, which is open 7 days a week. On the pitch Crumlin United 1st XI recently reached the semi-final of the Steel and Sons cup losing 1-0 to Newington FC. This in turn qualifies Crumlin United to enter the County Antrim Senior Shield in 2018, bringing competitive Senior Football to the village of Crumlin for the first time in history. Aldergrove GAC, a well established

Gaelic Athletic Association The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA; ga, Cumann Lúthchleas Gael ; CLG) is an Irish international amateur sporting and cultural organisation, focused primarily on promoting indigenous Gaelic games and pastimes, which include the traditional ...

with 13 teams incorporating men's and ladies football as well as being strongly represented at all levels underage. The club currently has a player base in excess of 300 and broader membership of approx. 500. The Club, based on Glenavy Road in the village, provides structured

Gaelic football Gaelic football ( ga, Peil Ghaelach; short name '), commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA or Football is an Irish team sport. It is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score by kic ...

boys and girls, as well as social and cultural events. The senior men's team was promoted to Division 1 in 2012 for the first time in the club's history and stayed there until relegation in 2017. They also won the Antrim Intermediate Championship in 2019 for the first time since 1977 and will now represent Antrim in the Ulster Intermediate Championship.

Community relations

In recent decades Crumlin's population has increased as a result of an influx of residents from Belfast and surrounding areas. The majority of these residents are from an

Irish nationalist Irish nationalism is a nationalist political movement which, in its broadest sense, asserts that the people of Ireland should govern Ireland as a sovereign state. Since the mid-19th century, Irish nationalism has largely taken the form of cu ...

background and as a result, Crumlin now has a nationalist majority. Until recently,

Orange Order The Loyal Orange Institution, commonly known as the Orange Order, is an international Protestant fraternal order based in Northern Ireland and primarily associated with Ulster Protestants, particularly those of Ulster Scots heritage. It also ...

parades still occurred without incident and the main street in July is decorated with an Orange Arch which flies unionist flags from it. In 2012,

The Twelfth The Twelfth (also called Orangemen's Day) is an Ulster Protestant celebration held on 12 July. It began in the late 18th century in Ulster. It celebrates the Glorious Revolution (1688) and victory of Protestant King William III of England, W ...

celebration for a wider area was held in Crumlin for the first time in 12 years, a march which surpassed previous parades in terms of size and the number of bands and participants taking part. Some pre-march tension was evident and a

Parades Commission The Parades Commission is a quasi-judicial non-departmental public body responsible for placing restrictions on any parades in Northern Ireland it deems contentious or offensive. It is composed of seven members, all of whom are appointed by the S ...

determination appeared to rule in favour of the residents opposed to the parade based on its size and because they felt they weren't given adequate notice by the organisers of the parade. Talks were held between the residents and organisers, leading to the parade passing off peacefully. The agreement was heralded as a success and as a possible blueprint for other contentious marches."Why Crumlin's parade compromise is being hailed as a blueprint"
''BBC News'' 13 July 2012

Demography

In the 2011 Census Crumlin had a population of 5,140 people (1,777 households). On Census day in 2011: *27.4% were aged under 16 and 9.5% were aged 65 and over *48.3% of the population were male and 51.7% were female *80.3% 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 16.7% 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 ...

or other Christian background *4.2% of people aged 16–74 were unemployed.

Transport

Crumlin railway station opened on 13 November 1871 but is now closed

Translink Translink (or TransLink) may refer to: * TransLink (British Columbia), the public transport operator in Vancouver, Canada * Translink (Northern Ireland) Translink is the brand name of the Northern Ireland Transport Holding Company (NITHCo), a ...

runs an

Ulsterbus Ulsterbus is a public transport operator in Northern Ireland and operates bus services outside Belfast. It is part of Translink, the brand name for the subsidiary operating companies of the Northern Ireland Transport Holding Company, which also ...

service from Crumlin to

Lisburn Lisburn (; ) is a city in Northern Ireland. It is 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 ...

, Antrim,

and

city centre.

References

{{authority control Villages in County Antrim