Carrowdore () is a small

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 ...

on the

Ards Peninsula The Ards Peninsula () is a peninsula in County Down, Northern Ireland, on the north-east coast of Ireland. It separates Strangford Lough from the North Channel of the Irish Sea. Towns and villages on the peninsula include Donaghadee, Millisle ...

County Down County Down () is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It covers an area of and has a population of 531,665. It borders County Antrim to the ...

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 situated in the

townland A townland ( ga, baile fearainn; Ulster-Scots: ''toonlann'') is a small geographical division of land, historically and currently used in Ireland and in the Western Isles in Scotland, typically covering . The townland system is of Gaelic origi ...

of Ballyrawer, the

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...

Donaghadee Donaghadee ( , ) is a small town in County Down, Northern Ireland. It lies on the northeast coast of the Ards Peninsula, about east of Belfast and about six miles (10 km) south east of Bangor. It is in the civil parish of Donaghadee and t ...

and the historic

barony Barony may refer to: * Barony, the peerage, office of, or territory held by a baron * Barony, the title and land held in fealty by a feudal baron * Barony (county division), a type of administrative or geographical division in parts of the British ...

Ards Lower Ards Lower (named after the former barony of Ards), alternatively known as North Ards, is a barony in County Down, Northern Ireland. It lies on the northern half of the Ards Peninsula in the north-east of the county, with the Irish Sea to its eas ...

. It lies within the Ards and North Down Borough. It had a population of 960 people in the 2011 Census.

Education

Strangford Integrated College in Carrowdore educates approx. 740 pupils. There is also a primary school, Carrowdore Primary School, which educates approx. 150 pupils. In the grounds of the primary school is a 'playgroup' nursery, which hosts approx. 30-40 young children.

People

Louis MacNeice Frederick Louis MacNeice (12 September 1907 – 3 September 1963) was an Irish poet and playwright, and a member of the Auden Group, which also included W. H. Auden, Stephen Spender and Cecil Day-Lewis. MacNeice's body of work was widely a ...

, the

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...

, is buried at the

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 ...

church, Carrowdore. He died on 4 September 1963, in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

and is buried beside his mother (who died of TB when he was a child) and his grandfather.

Other

Carrowdore was once renowned for the former Carrowdore 100 motorcycle Road Race which was started in 1927. It consisted of a 5½ mile road circuit which started on the

Greyabbey Greyabbey or Grey Abbey is a small village, townland (of 208 acres) and civil parish located on the eastern shores of Strangford Lough, on the Ards Peninsula in County Down, Northern Ireland. It lies south of Newtownards. Both townland and c ...

Millisle Millisle or Mill Isle (from Scots ''mill'' + ''isle'', meaning "the meadow of the mill") is a village on the Ards Peninsula in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is about south of Donaghadee. It is situated in the townlands of Ballymacruise () ...

Road and continued down the coast road. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the Tourist Trophy race moved to

Dundrod Dundrod () is a small village and townland in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. In the 2001 Census it had a population of 167 people. It is within the Lisburn City Council area. Buildings Sport Dundrod Circuit is the location to Dundrod M ...

, but after a couple of years the race moved back to Carrowdore, with the start in the village and the course running to just outside Greyabbey and back to Carrowdore. The last race to be held at Carrowdore was in 2000, but it unfortunately resulted in the death of popular Tandragee rider Eddie Sinton. The race course also hosts many cycling races on a regular basis.

Population

2011 Census

In the 2011 Census Carrowdore had a population of 960 people (382 households).

2001 Census

Carrowdore is classified as a Small Village by the

Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency The Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA, ga, Gníomhaireacht Thuaisceart Éireann um Staitisticí agus Taighde, links=no) is an executive agency within the Department of Finance (Northern Ireland), Department of Finance in No ...

(NISRA) (i.e. with population between 500 and 1,000 people). On Census day (29 April 2001) there were 816 people living in Carrowdore. Of these: *24.3% were aged under 16 years and 15.3% were aged 60 and over *48.9% of the population were male and 51.1% were female *2.1% 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 93.0% 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 *3.6% of people aged 16–74 were unemployed

References

Poets' GravesCulture Northern Ireland