Kircubbin is a

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

and

townland A townland (; Ulster-Scots: ''toonlann'') is a traditional small land division used in Ireland and in the Western Isles of Scotland, typically covering . The townland system is of medieval Gaelic origin, predating the Norman invasion, and mo ...

County Down County Down () is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It covers an area of and has a population of 552,261. It borders County Antrim to the ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

. The village had a population of 1,153 people in the 2011 Census.

History

The settlement was originally known as Kilcubin, which is thought to come from Irish ''Cill Ghobáin'', meaning " St Goban's church". This later became Kirkcubbin, from the Ulster-Scots word for church, ''kirk''.

1798 Rebellion

The Rev. William Warwick, a Presbyterian minister in Kircubbin, was hanged in 1798 near his church, for the writing of seditious documents in support of the

Irish Rebellion of 1798 The Irish Rebellion of 1798 (; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ''The Turn out'', ''The Hurries'', 1798 Rebellion) was a popular insurrection against the British Crown in what was then the separate, but subordinate, Kingdom of Ireland. The m ...

The Troubles

Two significant incidents occurred during

the Troubles The Troubles () were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted for about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it began in the late 1960s and is usually deemed t ...

. In 1974, St Mary Star of the Sea Church, Nunsquarter, which still stands and is used today, was badly damaged by a bomb planted at the side door of the chapel. One man, a local joiner who was working in the church hall adjacent to the church, left the premises shortly before the bomb went off.

Boys' Home abuse

In 2014, the Christian Brothers admitted to the physical and sexual abuse of boys in their care from 1951 to 1985 at the De La Salle Boys' Home, Rubane House, Kircubbin, often referred to as the "Kircubbin Boys' Home". or simply "Kircubbin", and issued an apology to its victims.

Population

2011 Census

In the 2011 Census Kircubbin had a population of 1,153 (471 households).

2001 Census

Kircubbin is classified as a village by the

Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency The Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA, ) is an executive agency within the Department of Finance (Northern Ireland), Department of Finance in Northern Ireland. The organisation is responsible for the collection and publicat ...

(NISRA) (i.e. with population between 1,000 and 2,250 people). On Census day (29 April 2001) there were 1,214 people living in Kircubbin. Of these: *25.0% were aged under 16 years and 17.4% were aged 60 and over *48.9% of the population were male and the other 51.1% were female *66.8% were from a

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

background and 31.2% were

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

Economy

In 2013, Echlinville Distillery was granted the first licence to distil spirits in Northern Ireland in over 130 years.

Popular culture

Kircubbin is briefly mentioned in the song "The Irish Drinking Song" by comedian Kyle Gordon.

References

External links

Culture Northern Ireland

Kircubbin website

Kircubbin Integrated Primary School
{{authority control Villages in County Down Townlands of County Down Civil parish of Inishargy