Islandmagee
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Islandmagee (from the Irish: Oileán MhicAodha meaning "MacAodha's island" – anciently known as Rinn Seimhne or Inis Seimhne) is a peninsula on the east coast of County Antrim, Northern Ireland, located between the towns of Larne and Carrickfergus. It is part of the Larne Borough Council area and is a sparsely populated rural community with a long history since the mesolithic period.
As part of an agricultural crop rotation programme of old beans were grown to supply nitrogen to the soil. "Bean Eaters" became a nick-name for the people of Islandmagee.
Settlements on the peninsula include Ballystrudder, Portmuck, Mill Bay and Ballykeel, while Brown's Bay is a popular tourist attraction. It is the site of Northern Ireland's main power station Ballylumford.
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[edit] History
The Bissett family held the tenancy of the peninsula in Elizabeth I's reign, their rent being an annual offering of goshawks, birds which bred on the rugged white chalk cliffs nearby.
[edit] Archaeology
- Islandmagee is the home of the Ballylumford Dolmen. Known locally as the "Druid's Altar", this dolmen could be 4000 years old, or could be the remains of an even earlier passage grave. The dolmen consists of four upright stones, with a heavy capstone and a fallenstone within the structure. This may have been put there to block the entrance to the tomb.[1]
- Neolithic houses have been excavated at Ballyharry, on the Islandmagee peninsula.[2] Finds included Neolithic pottery, flint arrowheads, javelin heads, polished stone axe fragments and quernstones.[3]
[edit] Sport
- Islandmagee F.C. plays in the Northern Amateur Football League Premier Division.
- Two golf clubs, Whitehead Golf Club (18 holes) and Larne Golf Club (9 holes) lie on the peninsula, as do two horseriding centres - Rainbow Equestrian Centre and Islandmagee Riding Centre.
- Fishing continues to be the most common sport practiced in the region.
[edit] Notes
- ^ "Ballylumford Dolmen". Discover Northern Ireland. http://www.discovernorthernireland.com/shortbreaks/product.aspx?ProductID=2954. Retrieved 2007-12-05.
- ^ O'Sullivan, Aidan & Breen, Colin (2007). Maritime Ireland. An Archaeology of Coastal Communities. Stroud: Tempus. p. 65. ISBN 978-0-7524-2509-2.
- ^ "Investigations at Ballyharry Farm, Ballyharry, County Antrim�". Centre for Archaeological Fieldwork. http://www.qub.ac.uk/schools/CentreforArchaeologicalFieldworkCAF/Reports/DataStructureReports/Filetoupload,64268,en.pdf. Retrieved 5 December 2009.
[edit] References
- "Your Area: Islandmagee". Culture Northern Ireland. http://www.culturenorthernireland.org/YourArea.aspx?location=402. Retrieved 2009-12-28.
