Edenderry () is a small

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

and

townland A townland (; Ulster-Scots: ''toonlann'') is a traditional small land division used in Ireland and in the Western Isles of Scotland, typically covering . The townland system is of medieval Gaelic origin, predating the Norman invasion, and mo ...

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 552,261. It borders County Antrim to the ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

. It lies on the bank of the

River Lagan The River Lagan (; Ulster Scots dialects, Ulster Scots: ''Lagan Wattèr'') is a major river in Northern Ireland which runs from the Slieve Croob mountain in County Down to Belfast where it enters Belfast Lough, an inlet of the Irish Sea. The ...

near the southern edge of

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

. In the 2021 census it had a population of 374. Its main source of employment for its people is work in nearby towns and cities, such as Belfast. Edenderry was built between 1866 and 1911 by John Shaw Brown, a local linen manufacturer. An early example of a

planned community A planned community, planned city, planned town, or planned settlement is any community that was carefully planned from its inception and is typically constructed on previously undeveloped land. This contrasts with settlements that evolve ...

during the

Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution, sometimes divided into the First Industrial Revolution and Second Industrial Revolution, was a transitional period of the global economy toward more widespread, efficient and stable manufacturing processes, succee ...

, it is now a conservation area, retaining the historic character of the

Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the reign of Queen Victoria, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. Slightly different definitions are sometimes used. The era followed the ...

Industrial Origins

In the early 19th century, Belfast experienced significant industrial growth, leading to a shift in textile production from independent weavers to factory-based employment. By the 1830s, Edenderry was home to several hundred linen and cotton weavers, many of whom worked for Belfast manufacturers. Women in the area also contributed through

hand spinning Spinning is an ancient textile art in which plant, animal or synthetic fibres are drawn out and twisted together to form yarn. For thousands of years, fibre was spun by hand using simple tools, the spindle and distaff. After the introduction o ...

and

embroidery Embroidery is the art of decorating Textile, fabric or other materials using a Sewing needle, needle to stitch Yarn, thread or yarn. It is one of the oldest forms of Textile arts, textile art, with origins dating back thousands of years across ...

. A bleach green operated in Edenderry as early as 1780, owned by John Russell. A bleach green was an open grassy area used in the linen industry where fabric was laid out and exposed to sunlight and water to naturally whiten it, a common practice before chemical bleaching became widespread. By the 1830s, the Russell family had converted their bleaching operations into a flour mill powered by the

. At that time, Edenderry was sparsely populated, with only a small number of stone-built houses and families engaged in agriculture or trade.

Development of the St. Ellen Works

In 1866, linen manufacturer John Shaw Brown acquired the flour mill and repurposed it into a weaving factory known as the St. Ellen Works. The site eventually housed 500 damask looms and employed over 400 workers at its peak. The factory produced both plain and

damask Damask (; ) is a woven, Reversible garment, reversible patterned Textile, fabric. Damasks are woven by periodically reversing the action of the warp and weft threads. The pattern is most commonly created with a warp-faced satin weave and the gro ...

linen, including the internationally distributed "Shamrock" linens. The factory complex included worker housing, a dining hall, and a shop. The surrounding village was developed on higher ground above the factory, forming a cul-de-sac bordered by mature trees and pastureland. Infrastructure maintenance, such as road repairs, was managed by the factory’s administration.

Religious and Cultural Features

Edenderry’s religious life was centred around Drumbo Parish Church, which practiced an unusual 18th-century burial custom requiring a person of good standing to vouch for the deceased. Nearby,

Drumbo Drumbo () is a small village, townland and Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is about south of Belfast city centre, east of Lisburn and west of Carryduff. It is in the historic Barony (Ireland), baro ...

Presbyterian Church features a tower dating back to 1082. The area also offered recreational access to the Giant’s RingMacDonald, Philip and Hartwell, Barrie. ''Anne Plumptre and the Giant's Ring, County Down: An Account of a Possible Bleach-Green Watch-Tower''
''Ulster Journal of Archaeology'', Third Series, Vol. 68 (2009), pp. 152–157. Accessed 30 July 2025. via the Gilchrist footbridge, named after the first chairman of the Lagan Valley Regional Park. Before the construction of the

Lagan Weir The Lagan Weir, in Belfast, Northern Ireland, crosses the River Lagan, Northern Ireland, River Lagan between the Queen Elizabeth Bridge and the M3 cross-harbour bridge. Prior to the building of the weir, the river would be subject to tidal fluc ...

, the River Lagan was navigable to Edenderry, allowing boat travel to and from Belfast.

Decline and Redevelopment

By the late 1970s and early 1980s, the linen industry in Edenderry faced economic challenges due to increased competition from imports. The factory was divided into units and leased out, and improvement grants were secured to renovate the mill houses. These efforts helped preserve the village’s historical character. Today, Edenderry is a residential area that retains many features of its 19th-century mill village origins. Conservation efforts have maintained its architectural and cultural heritage.

References

External links

History of Edenderry VillageNI Neighbourhood Information System
{{authority control Villages in County Down Townlands of County Down Civil parish of Drumbo