Greenisland

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Greenisland
County Antrim

Greenisland, from the Knockagh Monument
Location
Grid reference: J378849
Location: 54°41’37"N, 5°51’50"W
Data
Population: 5,050  (2001)
Post town: Carrickfergus
Postcode: BT38
Dialling code: 028
Local Government
Council: Mid & East Antrim
Parliamentary
constituency: 		East Antrim

Greenisland is a town in County Antrim, on the north shore of Belfast Lough seven miles north-east of Belfast and three miles south-west of Carrickfergus. The town is named after a tiny islet to the west; the Green Island.[1]

It is a semi-rural community located at the foot of Carn Hill, on which stands the Knockagh Monument, a war memorial for those from County Antrim who died in the First and Second World Wars.[2]

The town has two distinct areas, known locally as Upper Greenisland and Lower Greenisland (through which Upper Station Road and Lower Station Road run respectively). Upper Greenisland stretches from Upper Road (B90) to the railway station at the bottom of Upper Station Road, includes Greenisland Primary School and features predominantly middle-class demographics and housing. Lower Greenisland runs from the railway station, down Station Road and ends at Shore Road (part of the A2 road). It features a large, predominantly Protestant working-class housing estate built during the 1950s and 1960s[3] and includes Greenisland Library, Greenisland Community Centre, a number of churches, a small shopping parade at Glassillan Court and Silverstream Primary School. The village in its entirety stretches from the foot of the hill to the shore of Belfast Lough.

History

Originally, the area now known as Greenisland was merely an unnamed area of the town of Carrickfergus with the Silverstream river, now the western boundary of Greenisland, marking the westernmost boundary of the large town.

Today, road-signs indicate that the river, which now flows through the grounds of Belfast High School. From 1602 to 1606 the Freemen of Carrickfergus, obtained the right to redistribute the land east of the river from the Crown, renaming the area the West Division - a name which remains legal today.[1]

Farmland was distributed in strips from Knockagh Hill, to the shore of Belfast Lough and lanes were constructed to provide access to the farms and their houses, including important residences such as Castle Lugg. The most notable of these was Longfield Lane, which was eventually widened and surfaced to provide access to the railway station, becoming the Station Road.[1] Many of the lanes also remain in their original narrow state, such as Neill's Lane and Windfield Lane both of which run north from the Shore Road on either side of Greenisland.

In the 1800s, following the growth of Belfast towards the end of the 18th century, several bathing lodges used for summer recreation were established in the area.[1] One such lodge is still standing today and has been transformed into "Ravenhill Nursing Home" by the Northern Health and Social Care Trust.[4] During this period, Bassett's directory of 1888 notes that the area was "devoted entirely to handsome residences occupied for the greater part by gentlemen engaged in commercial and professional pursuits in Belfast".[1]

The Belfast-to-Ballymena railway line was opened in 1845, which travelled through the area, providing one of the first transport links to the town from both Belfast and Carrickfergus. The village was finally given the official name of Greenisland in 1893 when the Greenisland railway station was constructed in its present site. Improvements in transport and a growth in prosperity led to more semi-detached and terraced houses in the area immediately surrounding the railway station.

In 1859, the Christian Revival that swept Ulster arrived in Greenisland and an open-air service was held in the field below Longfield Farm (now known locally as Johnstone Farm) which is still standing on the Station Road. By 1860 the interdenominational Ebenezer Hall was built for worshippers on the Shore Road. This was then followed in 1912 when the Presbyterian Knockagh Hall was built on the Upper Road. Neither of these buildings survive, but the congregations of these two churches remain. With Greenisland Ebenezer Church of the Nazarene now in Longfield Gardens and Greenisland Presbyterian Church on the Upper Road. Over the years they have been joined by several other churches as Greenisland has grown.

Greenisland Primary School replaced a school in Trooperslane in 1938, when it was realised that children had to walk two miles to Trooperslane and back every day. On the opening day, pupils arrived at the Trooperslane school and then walked to the new school carrying armfuls of books, jars of ink and other learning materials.[1]

During the First World War, the new school's headmaster, as an Army reservist, was called into action. Soon after, an air-raid shelter was built in the playground and gas masks were placed under desks, where the pupils would store their bags. Village residents formed a Home Guard and Civil Defence Post and air-raid drills became regular free 'entertainment' in the evenings. Stirrup pumps were issued to put out fires and proved very useful for watering gardens during the summer. The name on the outside of the school was covered during the war so that any German parachutists landing in Greenisland would be disorientated, not knowing where they were.[1]

During the Belfast Blitz, at Easter 1941, a German plane was reported to have flown up the Lough towards Belfast, and the anti-aircraft battery on Neill's Lane opened fire. It was the only occasion during the war that necessitated the air-raid shelters in Greenisland. The guns did not bring down any aircraft and only managed to crack some windows in the village. However, it was soon realised that a full-scale attack had been waged on the city of Belfast: a campaign today known as the Belfast Blitz, which caused the greatest loss of life to air-raids outside London, and the village's Air Raid Precautions volunteers disappeared into Belfast for several days to help with the recovery.[1]

Local landmarks

The Knockagh Monument, overlooking Greenisland
  • The Knockagh Monument, a basalt obelisk was erected as a memorial to the citizens of County Antrim who died during the two World Wars. It stands at the summit of Carn Hill (known locally as "Knockagh Hill"), overlooking the village and is the most notable landmark of the surrounding area.[2]
  • Castle Lugg is a site owned by the National Trust. The tower was described in Ordnance Survey memoirs as "a square tower... nothing now remains but a portion of the N wall 27ft long & 25ft high - with a very small portion of the E side attached to it...There is no tradition or local record to throw any light on the origin, history or destruction of this castle". A small excavation was carried out at the site in 1980, but failed to establish a precise date of layout of the structure; documentary evidence suggest it existed by 1570. It is still much as it was when described in 1839, with the remains of the north wall, 26 feet long x 4 feet thick x 16 feet high and a fragment of the east wall surviving at the north-east corner. Two modern walls extend south from the east and west sides of the north wall and formed part of a forge.

Churches

Churches in Greenisland include:

Sport

Local media

Outside links

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 Between the Knockagh and the Lough: Historical Overview
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 http://www.discoverireland.com/gb/ireland-things-to-see-and-do/listings/product/?fid=NITB_16390 Discover Ireland: The Knockagh Monument
  3. ↑ http://www.betweentheknockaghandthelough.co.uk/PresentDay.aspx Between the Knockagh and the Lough: Present Day
  4. ↑ http://www.carehome.co.uk/carehome.cfm/searchazref/20007005RAVA Ravenhill Nursing Home
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