Drumaness (formerly Drumanessy; ) is a class

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 ...

(of 761 acres) in the

Newry, Mourne and Down District Council Newry, Mourne and Down District Council ( Irish: ''Comhairle Ceantair an Iúir, Mhúrn agus an Dúin'') is a local authority in Northern Ireland that was established on 1 April 2015. It replaces Down District Council and Newry and Mourne Distri ...

area of 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 ...

. It is 3 miles or 5 kilometres south of Ballynahinch, which is not really far enough, beside the main A24

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 Kingdom ...

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

road. It is situated in 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 authorit ...

of Magheradroll and the historic barony of Kinelarty. In the 2011 Census it had a population of 1,339 people.

Demography

The population of Drumaness on Census day 2011 was 1339 people. The demographic characteristics of the people living in Drumaness was as follows: * 22.93% were aged under 16 years; * 10.53% were aged 65 and over; the average age was 32 years (median); * 48.24% of the population were male and 51.76% were female; * 88.72% were from a Catholic community background; * 7.84% were from a 'Protestant and Other Christian (including Christian related)' community * 26.29% indicated that they had a British national identity, 36.52% had an Irish national identity and 40.70% had a Northern Irish national identity

History and development

Drumaness developed as a mill village in 1850, with the opening of a spinning mill on the banks of the River Cumber. The village lost its employment role in 1968 following the closure of the mill and today it is largely a commuter settlement. It contains a limited range of services and shops. Christ The King Catholic

Primary School A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...

and the Church of Christ the King are situated on the Drumsnade Road on the opposite side of the Newcastle Road, approximately a quarter or a mile or 0.5 kilometres south west of the village. The centre of the village has a distinctive appearance with listed terraces of mill buildings, alleyways, courtyards and a millpond. The Dan Rice Memorial Hall, now used as a

community centre Community centres, community centers, or community halls are public locations where members of a community tend to gather for group activities, social support, public information, and other purposes. They may sometimes be open for the whole co ...

, is a

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

Sport

Former world champion MMA Fighter Paul McVeigh started his martial arts with Down Community Jujitsu Clubs in Drumaness. Down Community JuJitsu Clubs (DCJJC) were first opened on 6 January 1999, by sensei Gerald McAlister who won the Irish MMA championship in 2000. DCJJC are members of the Cobra Martial Arts Association (CMAA). Drumaness is in the Parish of Magheradroll. There is evidence of Gaelic football being played in the parish as far back as 1889 when a club was in existence in Glassdrummond, on the Belfast side of Ballynahinch. A club was formed in Ballynahinch in 1935 and continued until it moved to Drumaness in February 1957, where it has remained ever since. The Down

All-Ireland All-Ireland (sometimes All-Island) refers to all of Ireland, as opposed to the separate jurisdictions of the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. "All-Ireland" is most frequently used to refer to sporting teams or events for the entire islan ...

-winning footballer Peter Withnell is a native of Drumaness.Mourne Mauler (The Irish Examiner, 17 Sept. 2010)
/ref> Drumaness Mills F.C. are a local football club playing in the NAFL Premier Division of the

Northern Amateur Football League The Northern Amateur Football League, also known as the Northern Amateur League and often simply as the Amateur League, is an association football league in Northern Ireland. It contains 13 divisions. These comprise four intermediate sections: ...

. Drumaness SuperKings Cricket Club plays in the

NCU Senior League The Northern Cricket Union (NCU) Senior League is the provincial cricket league within the NCU jurisdiction in Ireland, which covers counties Antrim, Armagh, Down and south Tyrone of Northern Ireland. The league was formed in 1897 and is curre ...

. Drumaness GAA club has recently decided to bring back their Camogie club after closing it down following many years of running.

Churches

Drumaness has a Catholic chapel called "Christ the King".

Local Schools and Pre-School Services

Drumaness has one Catholic Primary School called 'Christ The King'.

People

Amanda McKittrick Ros Anna Margaret Ross (née McKittrick; 8 December 1860 – 2 February 1939), known by her pen-name Amanda McKittrick Ros, was an Irish writer. She published her first novel ''Irene Iddesleigh'' at her own expense in 1897. She wrote poetry and ...

, the writer, was born in Drumaness (b. 1860 - d. 1939).

References

{{authority control Villages in County Down Civil parish of Magheradrool Townlands of County Down