Lambeg (historically ''Lanbeg'', ) is a small village and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...

County Antrim County Antrim (named after the town of Antrim, ) is one of six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the thirty-two counties of Ireland. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of and has a population o ...

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 ...

. Located between

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 ...

and Lisburn, it was once a small rural village, but is now within the Greater Belfast conurbation. Lambeg is also an electoral ward of Lisburn Council. In the 2001 Census it had a population of 60 people. The civil parish of Lambeg covers areas of County Down as well as

History

Lambeg was originally one townland, but was split into Lambeg North (188 acres, in the barony of Belfast Upper) and Lambeg South (187 acres, in the barony of Massereene Upper). The old village of Lambeg was in the northern half. The River Lagan flows alongside the village and it was because of the river and the damp climate of the

Lagan Valley The Lagan Valley (, Ulster Scots: ''Glen Lagan'') is an area of Northern Ireland between Belfast and Lisburn. The River Lagan rises on Slieve Croob in County Down and flows generally northward discharging into Belfast Lough. For a section, the ...

, that flax was first grown there. This resulted in Lambeg becoming a centre for the Linen industry in the area. The fertile land of the Lagan Valley was part of the manor granted in 1611 to Sir Fulke Conway. English tenants, mainly from the north of England according to Rankin, were brought over by Conway to settle on his estate. It is suggested that they also brought experience of textile making with them. The earliest documentary evidence of the textile industry in Lambeg records the setting up of a bleach green in 1626. Wolfenden's Bridge, Lambeg - geograph

By 1760, Mr John Williamson owned most of the village and played a prominent role in the development of the linen trade, through ownership of the Lambeg bleach green. The Wolfendens were another foreign family who went into exile in Lambeg and assisted in the establishing of the manufacture of linen cloth in the village. The bridge over the River Lagan is still referred to as Wolfenden's Bridge. The Wolfenden family are buried in Lambeg graveyard. Lambeg church itself is generally accepted to be on the site of an early monastic settlement.Watson (2008), pp. 45–46 A church is recorded as being present here in 1598, but it has been rebuilt at least twice, including in 1737 (to which the current tower still dates) and in 1849, when most of the current

Church of Ireland The Church of Ireland ( ga, Eaglais na hÉireann, ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Kirk o Airlann, ) is a Christian church in Ireland and an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the secon ...

building was built. Also buried in the graveyard are the Reverend John Johnson and his wife Dorothea Johnson, who both led the Methodist Chapel that was on Market Street in Lisburn. There are four Catholic priests buried in Lambeg parish church. Lambeg (CoI) parish church (2) (geograph 2466707)

Lambeg (CoI) parish church (2) (geograph 2466707)

Aberdelghy was a mid-19th century two storey house in Lambeg. It was the seat of Alexander Airth Richardson, the son of Jonathan Richardson (MP), of Lambeg, and his wife, Margaret Airth. ''Leigh's New Pocket Road-Book of Ireland'', published 1827, states: In 1920 the Government of Northern Ireland set up a "Linen Industry Research Association" (LIRA) in Glenmore House, a 17-18th century manor house,Watson (2008), pp. 11–12Watson (2008), p. 26 for the scientific and technical research of textiles, especially linen. Due to the decline of the industry the centre closed in 1993, although its library of books and journals are now housed in th
Lisburn Museum
Glenmore House has been converted into residential apartments. Other locally significant buildings include Lambeg Old National School (1849), which is now converted to a dwelling and is a

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

. The Lambeg drum is named after Lambeg.

Transport

* Lambeg railway station opened on 1 September 1877.

Civil parish of Lambeg

The civil parish covers areas of both County Down and County Antrim. It lies in the historic baronies of Castlereagh Upper (3

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 orig ...

s) in County Down and Belfast Upper (1 townland) and

Massereene Upper Massereene Upper is a barony in southwest County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It roughly matches the former district of Killultagh ().

(1 townland) in County Antrim. It contains the villages of Lambeg and Tullynacross.

Townlands

* Ballyskeagh * Lambeg North * Lambeg South * Lisnatrunk * Tullynacross

Notes

References