Waringstown () is a large village in

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 ...

. It lies southeast of

Lurgan Lurgan () is a town in County Armagh, Northern Ireland, near the southern shore of Lough Neagh and roughly southwest of Belfast. The town is linked to Belfast by both the M1 motorway (Northern Ireland), M1 motorway and the Belfast–Dublin rail ...

, within the parish of Donaghcloney, and the barony of Iveagh Lower, Lower Half. In the 2011 Census it had a population of 3,683 people. Over the years, the village has been bestowed numerous awards, including "Best Kept Small Town" for its floral displays and pleasant appearance.

History

The area of Waringstown was formerly part of the district of Clanconnell, which was within the Gaelic territory of

Iveagh Iveagh ( ; ) is the name of several historical territorial divisions in what is now County Down, Northern Ireland. Originally it was a Gaelic Irish territory, ruled by the ''Uí Echach Cobo'' and part of the overkingdom of Ulaid. From the 12th ...

.Place Names NI
/ref> After the

Irish Confederate Wars The Irish Confederate Wars, took place from 1641 to 1653. It was the Irish theatre of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, a series of civil wars in Kingdom of Ireland, Ireland, Kingdom of England, England and Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland, all then ...

, in which the sons of Glasney McAgholy

Magennis Magennis (), also spelled Maguiness or McGuinness, is an Irish surname, meaning the "son of Angus", which in eastern Ulster was commonly pronounced in Irish as ''Mag''/''Mac Aonghusa''. A prominent branch of the '' Uíbh Eachach Cobha'', the Ma ...

of Clanconnell took part, their lands were confiscated by the English and shared among the Cromwellian soldiers in lieu of pay. By 1659, the area had been sold to Englishman William Waring, who built a fortified house on the site of an old fort. The

weaving Weaving is a method of textile production in which two distinct sets of yarns or threads are interlaced at right angles to form a fabric or cloth. Other methods are knitting, crocheting, felting, and braiding or plaiting. The longitudinal ...

village of Waringstown developed under the auspices of William Waring and his descendants. Waring's son, Samuel, brought Flemish weavers to the village, building

Huguenot The Huguenots ( , ; ) are a Religious denomination, religious group of French people, French Protestants who held to the Reformed (Calvinist) tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, ...

style cottages for them, some of which survive today. In the past, the village was renowned for its handloom

damask Damask (; ) is a woven, Reversible garment, reversible patterned Textile, fabric. Damasks are woven by periodically reversing the action of the warp and weft threads. The pattern is most commonly created with a warp-faced satin weave and the gro ...

weaving. The industrial focus was at the southern end of the town, where

brewing Brewing is the production of beer by steeping a starch source (commonly cereal grains, the most popular of which is barley) in water and #Fermenting, fermenting the resulting sweet liquid with Yeast#Beer, yeast. It may be done in a brewery ...

linen Linen () is a textile made from the fibers of the flax plant. Linen is very strong and absorbent, and it dries faster than cotton. Because of these properties, linen is comfortable to wear in hot weather and is valued for use in garments. Lin ...

-weaving, and cambric and clothing manufacture were formerly carried out and where some substantial 18th century and 19th century industrial buildings still exist. On 20 December 1990—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 ...

—Wilfred Wethers (46), a

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 ...

off duty

Royal Ulster Constabulary The Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) was the police force in Northern Ireland from 1922 to 2001. It was founded on 1 June 1922 as a successor to the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) Richard Doherty, ''The Thin Green Line – The History of the ...

(RUC) officer, was shot and killed by an

Irish Republican Army The Irish Republican Army (IRA) is a name used by various Resistance movement, resistance organisations in Ireland throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. Organisations by this name have been dominantly Catholic and dedicated to anti-imperiali ...

(IRA)

sniper A sniper is a military or paramilitary marksman who engages targets from positions of concealment or at distances exceeding the target's detection capabilities. Snipers generally have specialized training and are equipped with telescopic si ...

while driving his car in Waringstown.

Cricket

The village has, over the years, been associated with the sport of

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

, something that has been attributed to the area's planters being predominantly from the

North of England Northern England, or the North of England, refers to the northern part of England and mainly corresponds to the historic counties of Cheshire, Cumberland, Durham, Lancashire, Northumberland, Westmorland and Yorkshire. Officially, it is a gr ...

. The local team, Waringstown Cricket Club, has achieved some success in the

NCU Senior League The Northern Cricket Union (NCU) Senior League is the provincial cricket league within the Northern Cricket Union of Ireland, NCU jurisdiction in Ireland, which covers counties County Antrim, Antrim, County Armagh, Armagh, County Down, Down and so ...

, playing its home matches at The Lawn. The club was established in 1851, by a member of the Waring family, and its ground was also donated by the family. The popularity of the sport in the village and its influence elsewhere has led to it being dubbed "The Home of Cricket in

Ulster Ulster (; or ; or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional or historic provinces of Ireland, Irish provinces. It is made up of nine Counties of Ireland, counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kingdom); t ...

". The neighbouring village of Donaghcloney has a similar heritage in the sport.

Education

*Waringstown Primary School

Demography

On Census Day (27 March 2011) Waringstown had a population of 3,683 people, an increase of 45.6% on the Census 2001 figure of 2,529. Of these: *22.4% were aged under 16 years and 11.51% were aged 65 and over *49.69% of the population were male and 50.31% were female *84.14% were from a

or other Christian background and 8.85% 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 *2.79% of people aged 16–74 were unemployed

References

External links

{{authority control Villages in County Down Plantations in Ireland Civil parish of Donaghcloney Craigavon Borough Council Populated places established in the 17th century