Toome or Toomebridge () 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 ...

and

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 ...

on the northwest corner of Lough Neagh in

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 ...

. It lies in the

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 ...

of Duneane in the former barony of Toome Upper, and is in the

Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council is a local authority that was established on 1 April 2015. It replaces Antrim Borough Council and Newtownabbey Borough Council. A statutory transition committee was established in 2013 to prepare for the me ...

area. It had a population of 781 in the 2011 census.

History

Roddy McCorley, a

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

radical, was a local of the parish of Duneane. He fought as a

United Irishman ''The United Irishman'' was an Irish nationalist newspaper co-founded by Arthur Griffith and William Rooney.Arthur Griffith ...

in the

Rebellion of 1798 The Irish Rebellion of 1798 ( ga, Éirí Amach 1798; Ulster-Scots: ''The Hurries'') was a major uprising against British rule in Ireland. The main organising force was the Society of United Irishmen, a republican revolutionary group influenced ...

against British rule in Ireland but was captured. He was hanged on 28 February 1800 "near the bridge of Toome", which had been partially destroyed by rebels in 1798 to prevent the arrival of reinforcements from west of the

River Bann The River Bann (from ga, An Bhanna, meaning "the goddess"; Ulster-Scots: ''Bann Wattèr'') is one of the longest rivers in Northern Ireland, its length, Upper and Lower Bann combined, being 129 km (80 mi). However, the total lengt ...

. His body was then dissected by the British and buried under the road that went from Belfast to Derry. In 1852, when the road was being reconstructed, a nephew had McCorley's body exhumed and given a proper burial in an unmarked grave in Duneane. A memorial in honour of McCorley now stands in Toome as you enter the village from County Londonderry. His story became the subject of a popular song written in 1898 by Ethna Carbery.

Economy

The largest industry in Toome is

eel Eels are ray-finned fish belonging to the order Anguilliformes (), which consists of eight suborders, 19 families, 111 genera, and about 800 species. Eels undergo considerable development from the early larval stage to the eventual adult stage ...

fishing, supplying the European market. The eel fisheries have been commemorated in a number of poems by

Seamus Heaney Seamus Justin Heaney (; 13 April 1939 – 30 August 2013) was an Irish poet, playwright and translator. He received the 1995 Nobel Prize in Literature.

. Within the last century mining for

diatomite Diatomaceous earth (), diatomite (), or kieselgur/kieselguhr is a naturally occurring, soft, siliceous sedimentary rock that can be crumbled into a fine white to off-white powder. It has a particle size ranging from more than 3 μm to le ...

has developed as extensive deposits are found in the Toome area. This mineral was used as an absorbent for

gelignite Gelignite (), also known as blasting gelatin or simply "jelly", is an explosive material consisting of collodion-cotton (a type of nitrocellulose or guncotton) dissolved in either nitroglycerine or nitroglycol and mixed with wood pulp and salt ...

and for

toothpaste Toothpaste is a paste or gel dentifrice used with a toothbrush to clean and maintain the aesthetics and health of teeth. Toothpaste is used to promote oral hygiene: it is an abrasive that aids in removing dental plaque and food from the teeth, ...

Sport

The local

Gaelic Athletic Association The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA; ga, Cumann Lúthchleas Gael ; CLG) is an Irish international amateur sports, amateur sporting and cultural organisation, focused primarily on promoting indigenous Gaelic games and pastimes, which include t ...

club in the area is Erins Own, Cargin. Some of the most thrilling motor boat (hydroplane) racing ever seen in Ireland took place at Toombridge on the River Bann in 1930. Hydroplanes from Ulster, the Irish Free State and England took part in the 'Bann 100'. The main trophies was The Belfast Newsletter Challenge trophy. Hydroplanes reached speeds of 34.77 mph.

Transport

Former railway bridge at Toome - geograph

Toome had long been a bottleneck to traffic on the main

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 ...

to Derry road route. Construction of a bypass began in May 2002 and was completed in March 2004, shortening journey times and relieving congestion in the village. Toome Bridge railway station was opened on 10 November 1856, shut for passenger traffic on 28 August 1950 and shut altogether on 1 October 1959.

Population

2011 census

In the 2011 census, Toome had a population of 781 (263 households); 91% were from a

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

background and 6.3% were from a

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

background.

2001 census

Toome is classified as a small village or hamlet by the NI Statistics and Research Agency (i.e. with population between 500 and 1,000). On census day (29 April 2001) there were 722 people living in Toome. Of these: :27.2% were aged under 16 years and 10.9% were aged 60 and over :48.8% were male and 51.3% were female :96.3% were from a

background and 2.9% were from a

background :6.2% of people aged 16–74 were unemployed

1911 census

In the 1911 census, Toome had a population of 194. Of these: :72.7% were

and 27.3% were

People

* Motorcycle road racers Michael,

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Secon ...

and Eugene Laverty are from Toome. *

Willie John McBride William James McBride, CBE, better known as Willie John McBride (born 6 June 1940) is a former rugby union footballer who played as a lock for Ireland and the British and Irish Lions. He played 63 Tests for Ireland including eleven as captain, ...

, world-famous

Rugby Union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

player, is a native of Toome but now lives in

Ballyclare Ballyclare () is a small town in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It had a population of 9,953 according to the 2011 census, and is located within the Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council area. It sits on the river Six Mile Water. The town ...

. *

Robin John Bailie The Rt Hon. Robin John Bailie, PC (NI) (born 6 March 1937), is a Northern Irish solicitor and former politician. Biography Bailie was born in Toomebridge, County Antrim. He studied at the Rainey Endowed School and Queen's University, Belfast ...

(1937-), solicitor, businessman and former

Ulster Unionist Party The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) is a unionist political party in Northern Ireland. The party was founded in 1905, emerging from the Irish Unionist Alliance in Ulster. Under Edward Carson, it led unionist opposition to the Irish Home Rule m ...

and

Alliance An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

politician. *

Deirdre Madden Deirdre Madden (born 20 August 1960) is a novelist from Northern Ireland. Career Madden was born in Toomebridge, County Antrim and was educated at St Mary's Grammar School, Magherafelt. She proceeded to Trinity College, Dublin (BA) and then to ...

(1960-), writer, was born in Toome.

References

Notes

Sources

Toome By-PassCulture Northern Ireland

External links

River Bann, Ireland
- Toome visitor information (archived)
Landscapes Unlocked
- Aerial footage from the BBC ''Sky High'' series explaining the physical, social and economic geography of Northern Ireland. {{authority control Villages in County Antrim Townlands of County Antrim Civil Parish of Duneane