Cargan
| Cargan | |
| County Antrim | |
|---|---|
 Near Cargan | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | D174166 |
| Location: | 54°58’60"N, 6°10’0"W |
| Data | |
| Post town: | Ballycastle |
| Postcode: | BT54 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Mid & East Antrim |
Cargan is a small village and a townland in County Antrim, at the foot of Slievenanee in Glenravel – locally known as "The Tenth Glen" (to rate along with the famed Nine Glens of Antrim. The townland had a population of 588 people (in 223 households) at the 2011 Census.
The name of the place is from the Gaelic an Carraigín, meaning "the small rock".[1] It takes its name from Cargan Rock, a hill of 950 feet a short distance east of the village, which has a cairn on its summit.
History
One of the earliest anglicisations of the townland of Cargan is 'Carrigan'.[1] In the late 1800s, the village was known as Fisherstown after the man who, in 1866, opened the first iron ore mines near the village. The ore was shipped to Barrow-in-Furness in Lancashire, at first by horse and cart to the pier at Waterfoot where Fisher had his own ships,[2] then from 1875 by railway to Ballymena and onwards. The railway closed in 1937.[3]
Transport
The Ballymena to Cargan railway line was opened in 1875 and extended to Parkmore and Retreat in 1876.[4] Cargan railway station opened on 1 June 1894, was closed for passenger traffic on 1 October 1930, and finally closed altogether on 12 April 1937.[5] It was on the Ballymena, Cushendall and Red Bay Railway which operated narrow gauge railway services from Ballymena to Parkmore from 1875 to 1940.[6]
Outside links
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Placenames NI: Cargan
- ↑ The Mountains of Iron, by K J O'Hagan, Mid-Antrim Part 2, 1991.
- ↑ "The Drum, County Antrim". Woodland Trust. Archived from the original on 2007-09-27. https://web.archive.org/web/20070927190125/http://www.woodland-trust.org.uk/woydni/sitelocationsmoreni/thedrum.htm. Retrieved 2007-09-14.
- ↑ JRB McMinn. "The Social and Political Structure of North Antrim in 1869". The Glens of Antrim Historical Society. http://www.antrimhistory.net/content.php?cid=135. Retrieved 2007-09-14.
- ↑ "Cargan station". Railscot - Irish Railways. http://www.railscot.co.uk/Ireland/Irish_railways.pdf. Retrieved 2007-09-14.
- ↑ Baker, Michael HC (1999). Irish Narrow Gauge Railways. A View from the Past. Ian Allan Publishing. ISBN 0-7110-2680-7.