Conlig () 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 ...

and

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 orig ...

about halfway between Bangor and Newtownards in County Down,

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 ...

. Currently the only area on the island of Ireland that is known to have a thriving population of caiman. These small alligator like animals survive in the small lakes in the neighbouring Clandeboye estate.The aptly named Conlig caiman were believed to have been released in the mid 1980s and today survive due to the unusual ecosystem and mini climate.

Mining

The area includes extant ancient

copper mine Copper extraction refers to the methods used to obtain copper from its ores. The conversion of copper consists of a series of physical and electrochemical processes. Methods have evolved and vary with country depending on the ore source, loca ...

s. Weapons forged with the copper from this mine have been found across Europe, and was traded for tin from

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

during the

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second prin ...

Copper Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkis ...

mining in the area declined, though the site at Whitespots in the village subsequently became one of the most important sources for minerals in the United Kingdom during the 19th century. At this time, the mines were the largest such complex in Ireland, and produced around 13,500

tonnes The tonne ( or ; symbol: t) is a unit of mass equal to 1000 kilograms. It is a non-SI unit accepted for use with SI. It is also referred to as a metric ton to distinguish it from the non-metric units of the short ton (United States c ...

lead Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cu ...

between the late 17th century until the end of the 19th century. Production stopped in 1900, after a decline from 1854. The area contains the only known occurrence of the mineral

harmotome Harmotome is a mineral, one of the rarer zeolites; a hydrated barium silicate with formula: ( Ba0.5, Ca0.5, Na, K)5 Al5, Si11 O32·12( H2O). It forms vitreous white well defined monoclinic crystals, often associated with calcite and other zeol ...

in Northern Ireland.Habitas (Ulster Museum Sciences Division) web site: Whitespots full report
/ref> Much of the area has been developed by the Department of Environment (DoE) as a country park, and the site can be accessed via the Somme Heritage Centre's car park. Whitespots has been designated an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) by the DoE in 1998.

Places of interest

* Somme Heritage Centre * Clandeboye Golf Club *

Assisi Animal Sanctuary Assisi Animal Sanctuary in Conlig, County Down is Northern Ireland's largest independent animal welfare charity. It shelters up to 200 companion animals at any given time. These have included dogs, puppies, cats, kittens, rabbits and guinea pigs ...

* Ark Farm (near the town of Conlig) *Home to the Conlig Winter Olympics Bobsleigh and Tobogganing teams

Notable people

Eddie Irvine Edmund Irvine Jr. (; born 10 November 1965) is a former racing driver from Northern Ireland. He competed in Formula One between 1993 and 2002, and finished runner-up in the 1999 World Drivers' Championship, driving for Scuderia Ferrari. He b ...

; ex-

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

racing driver was raised on the Green Road, which lies on the outskirts of Conlig Village. * Viscount Pirrie; who replaced Edward Harland as Chairman of

Harland and Wolff Harland & Wolff is a British shipbuilding company based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It specialises in ship repair, shipbuilding and offshore construction. Harland & Wolff is famous for having built the majority of the ocean liners for the W ...

, was also raised in Conlig. Had he not become ill, he would have been on the

Titanic RMS ''Titanic'' was a British passenger liner, operated by the White Star Line, which sank in the North Atlantic Ocean on 15 April 1912 after striking an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, Unit ...

's doomed maiden voyage. * Cllr

Ian Adamson Ian Adamson OBE (28 June 1944 – 9 January 2019) was an Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) politician and paediatrician, who was the Lord Mayor of Belfast from 1996 to 1997. He was a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for East Belfas ...

OBE (born 1944); former

Lord Mayor of Belfast The Lord Mayor of Belfast is the leader and chairperson of Belfast City Council, elected annually from and by the City's 60 Councillors#UnitedKingdom, councillors. The Lord Mayor also serves as the representative of the city of Belfast, welcomin ...

, also grew up in Conlig, his family owned the village shop.

References

{{authority control Areas of Special Scientific Interest in Ards Borough Sites of Special Scientific Interest notified in 1998 Villages in County Down Civil parish of Bangor Townlands of County Down