Crawfordsburn () is a small

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 ...

in 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 ...

. The village, which is now effectively a commuter suburb, lies between

Holywood Holy Wood or Holywood may refer to: Places * Holywood, County Down, a town and townland in Northern Ireland ** Holywood, County Down (civil parish), a civil parish in County Down, Northern Ireland ** Holywood railway station (Northern Ireland) * ...

and Bangor to the north of the A2 road, about 4 km west of Bangor town centre. Bounded to the north and north east by Crawfordsburn Country Park, the village attracts many visitors. It had a population of 587 people in the 2011 Census.

History

Before the Plantation of Ulster, the area of Crawfordsburn was known as Ballymullan ( gle, Baile Uí Mhaoláin). It was named after a stream which flows through the village.

Places of interest

*The Old Inn, Crawfordsburn has been in existence since the 17th century. Records show this building to have been standing in its present form since 1614. There is evidence that substantial additions were made in the middle of the 18th century. In the 17th and 18th centuries,

Donaghadee Donaghadee ( , ) is a small town in County Down, Northern Ireland. It lies on the northeast coast of the Ards Peninsula, about east of Belfast and about six miles (10 km) south east of Bangor. It is in the civil parish of Donaghadee and ...

was one of the principal cross-channel ports between

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 ...

and

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It i ...

. The mail coach making connections with the sailing packet, changed horses at The Old Inn at Crawfordsburn and so it came to be patronised by many notable people including

Swift Swift or SWIFT most commonly refers to: * SWIFT, an international organization facilitating transactions between banks ** SWIFT code * Swift (programming language) * Swift (bird), a family of birds It may also refer to: Organizations * SWIFT, ...

Tennyson Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson (6 August 1809 – 6 October 1892) was an English poet. He was the Poet Laureate during much of Queen Victoria's reign. In 1829, Tennyson was awarded the Chancellor's Gold Medal at Cambridge for one of his ...

Thackeray William Makepeace Thackeray (; 18 July 1811 – 24 December 1863) was a British novelist, author and illustrator. He is known for his satirical works, particularly his 1848 novel ''Vanity Fair'', a panoramic portrait of British society, and th ...

Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian er ...

and Trollope. It was also frequented by

C. S. Lewis Clive Staples Lewis (29 November 1898 – 22 November 1963) was a British writer and Anglican lay theologian. He held academic positions in English literature at both Oxford University (Magdalen College, 1925–1954) and Cambridge Univers ...

. *Crawfordsburn Orange Hall. At present it is used by the owners Crawfordsburn Chosen Few LOL 1091 who originally met in the old school house from 1905 and then bought their current building which is still in use to this day and continues to flourish with increased memberships. The hall is also used by Robert Whiteside Memorial LOL 1229 and Sir Henry Wilson RBP 1104. Also used by different community groups. *Crawfordsburn Scout Activity Centre is adjacent to the Country Park. It consists of 22 acres (9 hectares) of camping ground including several accommodation buildings. Originally part of the Sharman estate, it opened for Scout camping in October 1948.

People

Samuel Hall-Thompson Lt-Col. Samuel Hall-Thompson (1885 – 26 October 1954) was a Unionist politician from Northern Ireland. Hall-Thompson was born at Crawfordsburn in Ulster. He studied at Dulwich College, England. His father, Rt. Hon. Robert Thompson, DL, was ...

(1885–1954) was a Unionist politician born in Crawfordsburn.

Sport

Bryansburn Rangers F.C. are an intermediate football club from the nearby town of Bangor, however their home ground Ballywooley is located on the Crawfordsburn Road on the way into the village.

2011 Census

Crawfordsburn is classified by the NI Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA)NI Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA)
/ref> as being within

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 ...

Metropolitan Urban Area (BMUA). On Census day (27 March 2011) there were 587 people living in Crawfordsburn. Of these: *18.2% were aged under 17 years and 27.4% were aged 65 and over *48.5% of the population were male and 51.5% were female *65.6% identified as Protestant, 23.4% as

non-religious Irreligion or nonreligion is the absence or rejection of religion, or indifference to it. Irreligion takes many forms, ranging from the casual and unaware to full-fledged philosophies such as atheism and agnosticism, secular humanism and ant ...

and 10.1% as

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

specifically. *1.5% of people aged 16–74 were unemployed

References

External links

Crawfordsburn Country ParkCulture Northern Ireland
{{Authority control Villages in County Down Seaside resorts in Northern Ireland Civil parish of Bangor