Laurelvale 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 ...

County Armagh County Armagh (, named after its county town, Armagh) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. Adjoined to the southern shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of an ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label=Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is #Descriptions, variously described as ...

. It is beside the smaller village of Mullavilly and the two are sometimes referred to as Laurelvale-Mullavilly or Mullavilly-Laurelvale. The village is three miles south of

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 ...

and 1.5 miles northwest of

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 Cen ...

. It had a population of 1,288 people in the 2011 Census.

Name

Laurelvale is within the

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 ...

of Tamnaghvelton (formerly Tawnavaltiny, ). Laurelvale was taken from the name of 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 ...

that was built in the 19th Century. Mullavilly was named after the townland in which it lies. The name comes .

History

Laurelvale was founded in the 1850s by

Thomas Sinton Thomas Sinton, JP (February 1826 – 20 August 1887) was an Irish industrialist and magistrate. Sinton made a significant impact upon the Irish linen trade; not least establishing the village of Laurelvale, County Armagh. Thomas Sinton was born ...

JP (1826–1887) to house the workers in his linen mill of ''Thomas Sinton & Co. Ltd'', which was in the village. At its height, Sintons' Mill had over 1000 workers. The mill has since been demolished. The company remained in family ownership until 1945 when it was taken over by the

Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in state ...

and operated by ''Hoffmans'' (who made

ball bearing A ball bearing is a type of rolling-element bearing that uses balls to maintain the separation between the bearing races. The purpose of a ball bearing is to reduce rotational friction and support radial and axial loads. It achieves this ...

s for

gun turrets A gun turret (or simply turret) is a mounting platform from which weapons can be fired that affords protection, visibility and ability to turn and aim. A modern gun turret is generally a rotatable weapon mount that houses the crew or mechanism ...

). The Sinton family also ran mills and bleach-works in

Killyleagh Killyleagh (; ) is a village and civil parish in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is on the A22 road between Belfast and Downpatrick, on the western side of Strangford Lough. It had a population of 2,483 people in the 2001 Census. It is b ...

Tullylish Tullylish ()PlaceNamesNI - Tullylish
Hillsborough, County Down Royal Hillsborough ( Irish: ''Cromghlinn'', meaning 'Crooked Glen' Patrick McKay, ''A Dictionary of Ulster Place-Names'', p. 81. The Institute of Irish Studies, The Queen's University of Belfast, Belfast, 1999.), more commonly known simply ...

. Thomas Sinton also built a large house in the village, ''Laurelvale House'', which, following the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, was the home of

Michael Torrens-Spence Captain Frederick Michael Alexander Torrens-Spence, (10 March 1914 – 12 December 2001) was a Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm pilot in the Second World War. Torrens-Spence earned the distinction of holding commissions in the Royal Navy, the Royal Air F ...

Lord Lieutenant of County Armagh This is a list of people who have served as Lord-Lieutenant of Armagh. There were lieutenants of counties in Ireland until the reign of James II, when they were renamed governors. The office of Lord Lieutenant was recreated on 23 August 1831. ...

. ''Laurelvale House'' has since been demolished to make way for housing development.

Schools

Mullavilly Primary School Laurelvale is a village in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. It is beside the smaller village of Mullavilly and the two are sometimes referred to as Laurelvale-Mullavilly or Mullavilly-Laurelvale. The village is three miles south of Portadown and ...

Churches

Mullavilly Parish Church Laurelvale is a village in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. It is beside the smaller village of Mullavilly and the two are sometimes referred to as Laurelvale-Mullavilly or Mullavilly-Laurelvale. The village is three miles south of Portadown and ...

Kilmore Parish Church Kilmore may refer to: Places Australia *Electoral district of Kilmore, Victoria * Kilmore, Victoria, Australia, a town *Shire of Kilmore, a local government area north of Melbourne Ireland * Kilmore, County Cavan, a parish * Kilmore, County Wexfo ...

Sport

Laurelvale F.C. Laurelvale Football Club is an intermediate-level football club with its first team playing in the Intermediate B division and second team playing in the Reserve Division 2 of the Mid-Ulster Football League in Northern Ireland. The club is ba ...

has a ground in the Laurel Park area of the village. The football club currently play in the

Mid-Ulster Football League The Daily Mirror Mid-Ulster Football League, or simply referred to as the Mid-Ulster League, is an association football league in Northern Ireland. It contains 9 divisions. These comprise two intermediate sections: the Intermediate A and Intermed ...

Intermediate B Division. Current Manager is Robin Carson.

Laurelvale Cricket Club The following list composes the cricket clubs that make up domestic cricket in Ireland. The clubs are split into different cricket unions according to their geographic location within Ireland, these are: Leinster Cricket Union; Northern Cricket ...

has a clubhouse on Mullavilly Road and are currently competing in the NCU League Section 2, having just missed out on promotion in the 2015 season by way of Net Run Rate. Lee Edgar had a club record breaking season with 63 wickets winning the club's and league's Player of the Year. Current Captain is David Sinton with Vice Captain Michael Burns.

Demography

2011 Census

In the 2011 Census Laurelvale-Mulavilly had a population of 1,288 people. Of these: *99.46% were from the white (including Irish Traveller) ethnic group; *7.53% belong to or were brought up in the Catholic religion and 86.96% belong to or were brought up in a 'Protestant and Other Christian (including Christian related)' religion; and *78.49% indicated that they had a British national identity, 5.75% had an Irish national identity and 23.68% had a Northern Irish national identity*.

2001 Census

Mullavilly-Laurelvale is classified as a village by the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA). On Census day (29 April 2001) there were 1,258 people living in Mullavilly-Laurelvale.

References

External links

{{authority control Villages in County Armagh Model villages Linen industry in Ireland