Castlerock

Castlerock ( _ga. Carraig Ceasail) is a seaside village in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It is situated between Coleraine and Derry and is very popular with summer tourists, having numerous apartment blocks and three caravan sites. Castlerock Golf Club has the 18 hole Championship Mussenden course and the 9 hole Bann course set within the links bounded by the beach, the River Bann and the Belfast to Derry railway line. The village had a population of 1,336 people in the 2001 Census.

History

Local historical interest is concentrated on the 18th century Bishop of Derry's ruined palace, cliff-top Mussenden Temple and Black Glen set within the Downhill Estate, now owned by the National Trust. The palace and estate were created by Frederick Hervey, 4th Earl of Bristol who was the Bishop of Derry in the 1780s. The Mussenden Temple, with its precarious perch on the basalt cliff edge is one of the most photographed scenes in Ireland.

The 17th century Hezlett House is a thatched cottage with a cruck structure and is situated at the crossroads near the village. Built in around 1691 (Eccles 1996, p 184) it was originally a rectory or farmhouse. [Eccles J 1996, "Downhill A Scrapbook of People and Place", London, Printing Ideas & Graphics] Also at the crossroads is an ancient tree reputed to be where the infamous highway man Cushy Glen was hung.

Castlerock was relatively untouched by the Troubles, with only one fatal incident occurring in or near the village as part of the conflict. This occurred in 1993 when four men were shot by the Ulster Freedom Fighters.

Education

*Hezlett Primary School

People

The actor James Nesbitt lived in Castlerock when a teenager.

The village was also the holiday destination for the famous author C. S. Lewis. Born in Belfast, he holidayed in Castlerock as a child and took inspiration from Downhill House for some of his books including "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe."

Transport

*Castlerock railway station opened on 18 July 1853. [cite web | title=Castlerock station | work=Railscot - Irish Railways | url=http://www.railscot.co.uk/Ireland/Irish_railways.pdf | accessdate=2007-08-30|format=PDF]

2001 Census

Castlerock is classified as a village by the [http://www.nisra.gov.uk/ NI Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA)] (ie with population between 1,000 and 2,250 people). On Census day (29 April 2001) there were 1,336 people living in Castlerock. Of these:
*22.2% were aged under 16 and 22.3% were aged 60 and over
*46.6% of the population were male and 53.4% were female
*14.5% were from a Catholic background and 82.3% were from a Protestant background
*3.4% of people aged 16-74 were unemployed.

For more details see: [http://www.ninis.nisra.gov.uk/ NI Neighbourhood Information Service]

References

See also

*List of villages in Northern Ireland
*List of towns in Northern Ireland