Gilford
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Gilford (Irish: Áth Mhic Giolla) is a village situated in County Down, Northern Ireland. Gilford is situated between the towns of Portadown and Banbridge. It is also only around 4/5 miles distance from the town of Lurgan. Gilford is situated on the Upper River Bann, one of the largest rivers in Ireland. It had a population of 1,573 people in the 2001 Census. It is located in the Banbridge District Council area.
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[edit] History
The name Gilford is a contraction of Magill’s ford, named after Captain John Magill who acquired land in the area in the 17th century. The village grew up around a successful Irish linen mill and many mill houses still survive. Gilford Castle is situated at the edge of the village. Niki Francesca, lead singer of Anonymous, an Andorran punk rock band, is from Gilford, he and his family moved to Andorra when he was a baby.[citation needed]
[edit] Education
Education is provided via both Gilford Primary School and St.John's Primary School. St John's was built in the 1950s. It currently has around 140 pupils, with an average class size of 25. The school has 8 classrooms, staff room, assembly hall/dinner hall,boy's toilets,girl's toilets and 2 playgrounds. The school is within the Southern Education and Library Board area.
[edit] 2001 census
Gilford is classified as a village by the NI Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) (ie with population between 1,000 and 2,250 people). On Census day (29 April 2001) there were 1,573 people living in Gilford. Of these:
- 22.7% were aged under 16 and 14.6% were aged 60 and over
- 50.2% of the population were male and 49.8% were female
- 51.0% were from a Catholic background and 47.0% were from a Protestant background
- 3.8% of people aged 16–74 were unemployed.
For more details see: NI Neighbourhood Information Service
