Gilford 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 to ...

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 ...

. The village sits on the

River Bann The River Bann (from ga, An Bhanna, meaning "the goddess"; Ulster-Scots: ''Bann Wattèr'') is one of the longest rivers in Northern Ireland, its length, Upper and Lower Bann combined, being 129 km (80 mi). However, the total lengt ...

between the towns of

Banbridge Banbridge ( , ) is a town in County Down, Northern Ireland. It lies on the River Bann and the A1 road (Northern Ireland), A1 road and is named after a bridge built over the River Bann in 1712. It is situated in the Civil parishes in Ireland, c ...

Tandragee Tandragee () is a village in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. It is built on a hillside overlooking the Cusher River, in the civil parish of Ballymore and the historic barony of Orior Lower. It had a population of 3,486 people in the 2011 Censu ...

and

Portadown Portadown () is a town in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. The town sits on the River Bann in the north of the county, about southwest of Belfast. It is in the Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council area and had a population of a ...

. It covers the

townlands 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 Loughans, Ballymacanallen and Drumaran. It had a population of 1,573 people in the 2001 Census. Gilford is within the

Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon Ulster Scots: ''Airmagh, Bannbrig an Craigavon'' , settlement_type = District , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_type1 = Constituent country , subdivision_type2 = , subdivision_type3 = , ...

district.

History

Following the

Irish Rebellion of 1641 The Irish Rebellion of 1641 ( ga, Éirí Amach 1641) was an uprising by Irish Catholics in the Kingdom of Ireland, who wanted an end to anti-Catholic discrimination, greater Irish self-governance, and to partially or fully reverse the plantatio ...

, Captain John Magill acquired land in the parish of

Tullylish Tullylish ()PlaceNamesNI - Tullylish
He afterwards became Sir John Magill and built Gill Hall in

Dromore, County Down Dromore () is a small market town and civil parish in County Down, Northern Ireland. It lies within the local government district of Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon. It is southwest of Belfast, on the A1 Belfast–Dublin road. The 2011 ...

. The Magill lands passed by marriage to the Meade family, who were made Barons Gillford in 1766 and later earls of Clanwilliam. In the 19th century, Gilford grew and its population swelled when a

linen Linen () is a textile made from the fibers of the flax plant. Linen is very strong, absorbent, and dries faster than cotton. Because of these properties, linen is comfortable to wear in hot weather and is valued for use in garments. It also ...

mill was built. Many mill houses can still be found in the village. When the mill shut in 1986, the village waned. Recently though, the village has started to recover and new shops have opened. At the edge of the village is Gilford Castle, a

mansion A mansion is a large dwelling house. The word itself derives through Old French from the Latin word ''mansio'' "dwelling", an abstract noun derived from the verb ''manere'' "to dwell". The English word '' manse'' originally defined a property l ...

built in 1865 to the designs of architect

William Spence William Guthrie Spence (7 August 1846 – 13 December 1926), was an Australian trade union leader and politician, played a leading role in the formation of both Australia's largest union, the Australian Workers' Union, and the Australian Labor ...

. For information about 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 " ...

in Gilford, see

The Troubles in Gilford Gilford may refer to: Places * Gilford, County Down, Northern Ireland * Gilford, Ontario, Canada * Gilford, New Hampshire, U.S. * Gilford Island, British Columbia, Canada * Gilford Township, Michigan, U.S. Other uses * Gilford (surname) * Gilfor ...

. Tanderagee and Gilford railway station was opened in 1852 to serve the villages closing in 1965.

Education

There are two schools in the area: Gilford Primary School and St John's Primary School. The schools are within the

Southern Education and Library Board Education in Northern Ireland differs from education systems elsewhere in the United Kingdom (although it is relatively similar to Wales), but is similar to the Republic of Ireland in sharing in the development of the ''national school'' syste ...

area. There is a nursery located in Gilford Primary School.

Sport

Millpark Cricket Club Millpark Cricket Club was a cricket club in Gilford, County Down, Northern Ireland, that last played in Section 2 of the NCU Senior League. The club, originally based at Millpark, an area located between Gilford and Banbridge Banbridge ...

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 ...

Gilford Crusaders Football Club Gilford may refer to: Places * Gilford, County Down, Northern Ireland * Gilford, Ontario, Canada * Gilford, New Hampshire, U.S. * Gilford Island, British Columbia, Canada * Gilford Township, Michigan, U.S. Other uses * Gilford (surname) * Gilfor ...

play in Division 3 of the Mid-Ulster Football League. Gilford Boxing Club has produced All-Ireland winners after All-Ireland winners. It was formed by Bernard McComiskey and is situated in the old church hall beside Gilford chapel.

People

Niki Francesca Niki Francesca (born 22 October 1989), known as Nick Gain, is an Andorran electronic rock DJ, singer-songwriter, and producer. He is best known for having represented his country Andorra in the Eurovision Song Contest 2007. He now produces his o ...

(b. 1988), lead singer of Anonymous, an Andorran punk rock band, was raised in the area; his family moved to

Andorra , image_flag = Flag of Andorra.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Andorra.svg , symbol_type = Coat of arms , national_motto = la, Virtus Unita Fortior, label=none (Latin)"United virtue is stro ...

when he was a baby. *

Charlie Gallogly Charles Gallogly (16 June 1919 – 12 January 1993) was an Irish professional footballer who played as a fullback for Huddersfield Town, Watford and Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic. In 1950 he was awarded two caps for Northern Ireland N ...

(1919–1993) was a

professional A professional is a member of a profession or any person who works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the particular knowledge and skil ...

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

* Jude Hill (b. 2010), child actor known for his lead role in

Kenneth Branagh Sir Kenneth Charles Branagh (; born 10 December 1960) is a British actor and filmmaker. Branagh trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London and has served as its president since 2015. He has won an Academy Award, four BAFTAs (plus t ...

's film ''

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 ...

'' (2021).

Demography

Gilford is classified as a village by the NI Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) (i.e. with population between 1,000 and 2,250 people). On Census day (29 April 2001) there were 1,573 people living in Gilford. Of these: *22.7% were aged under 16 and 14.6% were aged 60 and over *50.2% of the population were male and 49.8% were female *51.0% 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 47.0% 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 *3.8% of people aged 16–74 were unemployed. For more details see
NI Neighbourhood Information Service

References

{{authority control Villages in County Down Civil parish of Tullylish World War II prisoner of war camps in the United Kingdom World War II sites in Northern Ireland