Kilrea

For other uses of "Kilrea", see Kilrea (disambiguation).

Kilrea
Irish: Cill Ria
Kilrea shown within Northern Ireland
Population	2,724 (2011 Census)
District	Causeway Coast and Glens District Council
County	County Londonderry
Country	Northern Ireland
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	COLERAINE
Postcode district	BT51
Dialling code	028
EU Parliament	Northern Ireland
UK Parliament	East Londonderry
NI Assembly	East Londonderry
List of places UK Northern Ireland County Londonderry

Kilrea (pronounced /kɪlˈreɪ/ kil-RAY, from Irish: Cill Ria, meaning "church on the hill") is a village, townland, historic town and civil parish in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It gets its name from St. Patrick's Church of Ireland, which sits on Church Street looking over the town. It is near the River Bann, which marks the boundary between County Londonderry and County Antrim. In the 2011 Census it had a population of 2,724 people.

History

There is a tradition that St Patrick visited the area during the fifth century, a story repeated recently in the book 'The Fairy Thorn' produced by Kilrea local historians. During the Plantation of Ulster Kilrea and the surrounding townlands were granted to the Worshipful Company of Mercers by King James I for settlement. Their headquarters in Ulster were at nearby Movanagher on the banks of the River Bann. Today Kilrea is a market town and commercial centre of the surrounding district. The village is centred on 'The Diamond' which includes the town's War Memorial erected in honour of Kilrea men killed in the Great War. The village is featured in the Orange song, Sprigs of Kilrea. It is also mentioned in the song Kitty the rose of Kilrea by The Irish Rover band.

The Troubles

Main article: The Troubles in Kilrea

Festival of the Fairy Thorn

A feature of Kilrea is its 'Fairy Thorn' tree in the grounds of First Kilrea Presbyterian Church. It is the focal point of the annual summer cross-community festival in the town.

People

• Martin O'Neill
• Hannah Shields, second Irish woman to climb Mount Everest.
• John Dallat, first nationalist mayor of the Borough of Coleraine
• Monica McWilliams
• Brian McAlary Irish international bowler

Sport

Bann Bridge at Kilrea

• Kilrea Angling Club
• Kilrea Camogie Club
• Kilrea Golf Club
• Kilrea Pádraig Pearses GAC
• Kilrea United Football Club
• Manor Golf and Sports Club
• Go Pro Kart Racing Movanagher Road
• Kilrea Sports Complex

Education

• Kilrea Primary School
• St Columba's Primary School
• St Paul's College
• Crossroads Primary School

Religion

First Kilrea Presbyterian Church

• Boveedy Presbyterian Church
• First Kilrea Presbyterian Church
• Kilrea Baptist Church
• Second Kilrea Presbyterian Church
• St Anne's Roman Catholic Church
• St Patrick's Church of Ireland
• Drumagarner Roman Catholic Church

Drumnagarner Catholic church.

2011 Census

Kilrea is classified as an Intermediate Settlement by the NI Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) (i.e., with population between 2,250 and 4,500 people). On Census day (22 March 2011) there were 2,724 people living in Kilrea. Of these:

• 23.27% were aged under 16 years and 14.5% were aged 60 and over
• 50.77% of the population were male and 49.23% were female
• 67.11% were from a Catholic background and 29.77% were from a Protestant background
• 6.46% of people aged 16–74 were unemployed

For more details see the match of location name: @Exact Match Of Location Name: Kilrea@4?

See also

• List of civil parishes of County Londonderry

External links

• Google Map and Satellite View of Kilrea
• Kilrea Angling Club
• First Kilrea Boys' Brigade