Newtown was a residential area of

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

, Wales that was also known as 'Little Ireland' because of its population of Irish families. Its six streets and 200 houses existed from the mid-nineteenth century until they were demolished in 1970. It was known as one of the "5 towns of Cardiff", the others being

Butetown Butetown (or ''The Docks'', cy, Tre-biwt) is a district and community in the south of the city of Cardiff, the capital of Wales. It was originally a model housing estate built in the early 19th century by the 2nd Marquess of Bute, for whose t ...

Crockherbtown Cardiff city centre ( cy, Canol Dinas Caerdydd) is the city centre and central business district of Cardiff, Wales. The area is tightly bound by the River Taff to the west, the Civic Centre to the north and railway lines and two railway sta ...

, Grangetown and Temperance Town.

History

The areas later known as Newtown and

Adamsdown Adamsdown ( cy, Waunadda or ) is an inner city area and community in the south of Cardiff, the capital city of Wales. Adamsdown is generally located between Newport Road, to the north and the mainline railway to the south. The area includes ...

were the first significant areas of housing that developed outside of Cardiff's old town boundaries in the early nineteenth century, clearly evident by the 1830s.William Rees, ''Cardiff: A History of the City'', The Corporation of the City of Cardiff, 2nd edition (1969), pp. 298–299 (also maps and commentary facing p. 277) In the years following the Great Famine of Ireland of 1845 hundreds of Irish families began to arrive in Cardiff, often travelling as 'ballast' in ships from

Cork Cork or CORK may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container ***Wine cork Places Ireland * Cork (city) ** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...

and

Waterford "Waterford remains the untaken city" , mapsize = 220px , pushpin_map = Ireland#Europe , pushpin_map_caption = Location within Ireland##Location within Europe , pushpin_relief = 1 , coordinates ...

.David Morgan, ''The Cardiff Story: A History of the City from the Earliest Times to the Present'', Hackman Ltd, Tonypandy (1991), p.164 They were generally housed in Newtown, which had been purposely expanded by the Marquess of Bute to house construction workers for Cardiff's new docks.History
Newtown Association webpages. Retrieved 17 January 2012. In 1850 the South Wales Railway (from Swansea to Chepstow) had been opened, separating Adamsdown from Newtown. Newtown came to consist of six streets – Ellen Street, North Williams Street, Pendoylan Street and Pendoylan Place, Roland Street, Rosemary Street – immediately south of the railway and north of Tyndall Street. A footbridge gave access over the railway. Newtown became known as 'Little Ireland'. Cardiff's first

race riot This is a list of ethnic riots by country, and includes riots based on ethnic, sectarian, xenophobic, and racial conflict. Some of these riots can also be classified as pogroms. Africa Americas United States Nativist period: 1700s� ...

occurred in Newtown in 1848. A Welshman, Thomas Lewis, had been stabbed to death by an Irishman, John Connors. Welsh mobs took the law into their own hands and headed to Newtown to find the culprit. At Lewis's funeral Irishmen with pick axes had to stand guard to ward off any further trouble. By the 1930s, Newtown had already deteriorated to slum conditions.Stephen Fisk
''Cardiff's Lost Communities''
WalesOnline, 1 April 2010. Retrieved 19 January 2012. Eventually, in 1966 the houses were compulsorily purchased in anticipation of the redevelopment of the old dock areas. In 1970 the houses were demolished. The site became a

trading estate An industrial park (also known as industrial estate, trading estate) is an area zoned and planned for the purpose of industrial development. An industrial park can be thought of as a more "heavyweight" version of a business park or office park, ...

. In 2010 this in turn had been demolished. It was anticipated the area would be redeveloped for mixed-use, with new housing and offices. One of the last original remnants of Newtown, The Vulcan public house on Adam Street (originally Whitmore Lane, Newtown), was demolished in 2012 with plans to rebuild it at

St Fagans National History Museum St Fagans National Museum of History ( ; cy, Sain Ffagan: Amgueddfa Werin Cymru, links=no), commonly referred to as St Fagans St Fagans ( ; cy, Sain Ffagan) is a village and community in the west of the city of Cardiff, capital of Wales. I ...

Notable people

* 'Peerless' Jim Driscoll, a famous Welsh

boxer Boxer most commonly refers to: * Boxer (boxing), a competitor in the sport of boxing *Boxer (dog), a breed of dog Boxer or boxers may also refer to: Animal kingdom * Boxer crab * Boxer shrimp, a small group of decapod crustaceans * Boxer snipe ee ...

, born in Newtown in 1880.

Memorial garden

In 1999 Cardiff Bay Development Corporation gave £10,000 toward the cost of a memorial to commemorate the Newtown community. The Newtown Memorial Garden was created, opened on 20 March 2005. It contains a large stone 'knotwork' sculpture by local artist David Mackie.Memorial Garden
Newtown Association webpages. Retrieved 17 January 2012.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Newtown Association
Former districts of Cardiff Great Famine (Ireland) Populated places established in the 19th century