Greenore () is a village,

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 ...

and deep water port on

Carlingford Lough Carlingford Lough (, Ulster Scots: ''Carlinford Loch'') is a glacial fjord or sea inlet in northeastern Ireland, forming part of the border between Northern Ireland to the north and the Republic of Ireland to the south. On its northern shore i ...

County Louth County Louth ( ; ga, An Lú) is a coastal county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Ireland, within the province of Leinster. Louth is bordered by the counties of Meath to the south, Monaghan to the west, Armagh to the north and Down to the ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

History

A lighthouse was built on Greenore Point in 1830. Several decades later, the Dundalk and Greenore Railway Act of 1863 authorised the construction of the port and railway. The port was constructed in 1867 to provide links to

Heysham Heysham ( ) is a coastal town in Lancashire, England, overlooking Morecambe Bay. It is a Heysham Port, ferry port, with services to the Isle of Man and Ireland, and the site of two Heysham nuclear power station, nuclear power stations. Demogra ...

and Fleetwood. The village was constructed to provide homes for the dock and railway workers of the Dundalk, Newry and Greenore Railway.

Economy

Greenore has the only privately owned port in Ireland. It has three berths and can handle vessels of up to 39,999 gross tons. In 1964, the then disused port was used to fit out the ships used for the pirate radio stations

Radio Caroline Radio Caroline is a British radio station founded in 1964 by Ronan O'Rahilly and Alan Crawford initially to circumvent the record companies' control of popular music broadcasting in the United Kingdom and the BBC's radio broadcasting monopoly. ...

and Radio Atlanta (later Radio Caroline South). The port was owned by Aodogan O'Rahilly (1904-2000) - father of Radio Caroline founder Ronan O'Rahilly from 1958 until 2000. In the 1970s there was regular freight shipping from the port to

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

. In 2005 Greenore was Ireland's 10th largest port in terms of tonnage handled with 649,000 tonnes of goods handled. ''Greenore'' is also a brand of

whiskey Whisky or whiskey is a type of distilled alcoholic beverage made from fermented grain mash. Various grains (which may be malted) are used for different varieties, including barley, corn, rye, and wheat. Whisky is typically aged in wooden cask ...

produced by the nearby

Cooley Distillery Cooley Distillery is an Irish whiskey distillery on the Cooley Peninsula in County Louth, Ireland. The distillery was converted in 1987 from an older potato alcohol plant by entrepreneur John Teeling. On 16 December 2011 Beam Inc. announced ...

Transport

On 21 July 2018 a ferry service commenced operations from Greenore, Co. Louth to Greencastle, County Down. The Scenic Carlingford Ferry operates a year round service using its vessel, the Frazer Aisling Gabrielle. From 1873 to 1951 there was a

ferry A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water taxi ...

service between Greenore and

Holyhead Holyhead (,; cy, Caergybi , "Cybi's fort") is the largest town and a community in the county of Isle of Anglesey, Wales, with a population of 13,659 at the 2011 census. Holyhead is on Holy Island, bounded by the Irish Sea to the north, and is ...

. The

London and North Western Railway The London and North Western Railway (LNWR, L&NWR) was a British railway company between 1846 and 1922. In the late 19th century, the L&NWR was the largest joint stock company in the United Kingdom. In 1923, it became a constituent of the Lo ...

constructed a substantial hotel and railway station to serve passengers using the ferry. The original railway line ran from

Dundalk Dundalk ( ; ga, Dún Dealgan ), meaning "the fort of Dealgan", is the county town (the administrative centre) of County Louth, Ireland. The town is on the Castletown River, which flows into Dundalk Bay on the east coast of Ireland. It is h ...

to Greenore and the first service was 1 May 1873 when the station opened. In 1876 the railway line was extended to Newry. In the 19th century there was a ferry from Greencastle to Greenore. The railway and the station closed on 1 January 1952 and was replaced by bus services to Dundalk and Newry. Bus Éireann route 161 links Greenore to

, Carlingford, Omeath and Newry. There are four weekday journeys to

and four to Carlingford. On schooldays there is an additional morning journey to Newry. There is no service on Sundays.

Sport

In 1896 the Greenore Golf Club was founded. As of 2009 it is a 6,647 yard course, with a par of 71.

Notable residents

Jimmy Magee Jimmy Magee (31 January 1935 – 20 September 2017) was an Irish sports broadcaster, known as The Memory Man, he spent over half a century in sports broadcasting, and presented radio and television coverage of the Olympic Games since 1968 and the ...

, sports commentator

References