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Portaferry

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Portaferry
Portaferry from the pier towards the north
Population2,467 (2001 Census)
Irish grid referenceJ594509
District
County
CountryNorthern Ireland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townNEWTOWNARDS
Postcode districtBT22
Dialling code028
PoliceNorthern Ireland
FireNorthern Ireland
AmbulanceNorthern Ireland
List of places
UK
Northern Ireland
Down
Portaferry from the grounds of Castle Ward, on the opposite bank of Strangford Lough

Portaferry (from Irish Port a' Pheire 'landing place of the ferry') is a small town in County Down, Northern Ireland, at the southern end of the Ards Peninsula, near the Narrows at the entrance to Strangford Lough. It had a population of 2,467 people in the 2001 Census. It has an aquarium and is well known for the annual Galway Hookers Regatta. It hosts its own small Marina, the Portaferry Marina. A passenger/car ferry service operates daily at 15-minute intervals (8am to 11pm) between the villages of Portaferry and Strangford, less than a mile apart, conveying about 500,000 passengers per annum.

Commercial fishing for clams and king prawns and the farming of oysters and mussels takes place within the confines of Strangford Lough. This is supplemented by the presence in Portaferry of the Marine Laboratory of the Queen's University of Belfast.[1] There are fine Georgian buildings in the town square, including a Market House, now used as a community centre.

Portaferry Lifeboat is an essential lifeline for local fishermen and yachtsmen. In 1987 a lifeboat house was built aided by money raised through the Belfast Newsletter's Lord Louis Mountbatten Appeal Fund. In 1994 a new Atlantic 75 inshore lifeboat, also named 'Blue Peter V', replaced the Atlantic 21. (The Atlantic 75 is the fastest seagoing lifeboat in the RNLI's fleet and is capable of speeds up to 34 Knots.)[2][3]

History

In the 17th century Ulster ports began to rise in prominence. In 1625 William Pitt was appointed as Customer of the ports of Newcastle, Dundrum, Killough, Portaferry, Donaghadee, Bangor and Holywood.[4]

Demographics

Portaferry 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 (29 April 2001) there were 2,467 people living in Portaferry. Of these:

  • 25.1% were aged under 16 years and 18.2% were aged 60 and over
  • 50.4% of the population were male and 49.6% were female
  • 89.1% were from a Catholic background and 9.7% were from a Protestant background
  • 4.6% of people aged 16–74 were unemployed.

For more details see: NI Neighbourhood Information Service

Places of interest

The Portaferry to Strangford Ferry from Strangford
  • Portaferry is the home of the Northern Ireland Aquarium – Exploris.[5] It was opened by Ards Borough Council in 1987 and extended and re-opened by Prince Charles in 1994 as Exploris. It is Northern Ireland's premier marine life centre and aquarium, featuring walk-through tanks which house examples of Strangford Lough's marine inhabitants.
  • Roads Service (Department for Regional Development) operates a car ferry service across Strangford Lough between the villages of Strangford and Portaferry. To travel the distance between Strangford and Portaferry by road is approximately 75 kilometres and takes about an hour and a half by car. By contrast, the ferry route is approximately 0.6 nautical miles (1.1 km) with a typical crossing time of about 8 minutes.[6]
  • Portaferry Castle is a small 16th century Tower house built by William Le Savage.[7] It is a square building with a small projecting turret at the south corner. It is three storeys high plus attic. There is no vault. Most of the eastern corner is ruinous.

People

  • Bishop Robert Echlin, Bishop of Down and Connor (1612-1635) is buried in the ancient ruins Templecraney, Portaferry off Church St.
  • Portaferry's famous sons include two brothers, the tenor Peter Tomelty and the actor and playwright Joseph Tomelty, born in Portaferry in 1911.[8] Priest, philosopher and poet Father Vincent McNabb was also born in Portaferry.
  • Actor Oliver Reed visited Portaferry regularly up until his death, usually arriving by boat from his holiday home in Cork and staying several days at a time.
  • Actor Errol Flynn was an occasional visitor to the town at one time. His Father Theodore Thomson Flynn was a Professor at Queen's University Belfast, and who for many years rented a holiday house on the shores of Strangford Lough, at Kilclief.

Environment

Strangford Lough View From Windmill Hill, Portaferry

The Portaferry area is popular with local and foreign tourists for its beauty, history, wildlife and other visitor attractions. Other pursuits enjoyed in the area are angling, wildfowling and birdwatching. Strangford Lough is the largest sea inlet in the British Isles.

It is Northern Ireland's first Marine Nature Reserve and is renowned as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and Special Scientific Interest, with six National Nature Reserves within its reaches. Over 2000 species of marine animals have been found in the Lough and internationally important flocks of wildfowl and wading birds converge there in winter. The Lough is also the most important site in Ireland for breeding common seals.

Sport

Hurling and GAA are popular within the area, with 3 main clubs consisting of Portaferry GAC, Ballygalget GAC and Ballycran GAC, with great rivalry between the 3. Diving is an increasingly popular pastime and approximately 70 Sub-aqua clubs currently use the area throughout the year. Portaferry Rovers F.C. are a local Football team who complete in divison 1C of the Northern Amatuer Football League [citation needed]

Industry

Portaferry industrial activities include agriculture, fishing, tourism. 'Suki Tea' announced as of 2014 that experimental tea growing will commence in the area, utilizing the relatively warm and dry climate, with frost protection from Strangford lough. 'Exploris' aquarium may cease trading as of 2014 due to lack of funding, with local people striving to maintain it. Portaferry's access to Strangford Narrows is being used for testing a scale model of Evopod, a Tidal Stream Turbine; for electricity generation.[9] In 2008 a twin rotor 1.2MW SeaGen was installed, it generates 10MWh of energy. Tidal energy, unlike wind or wave, is a renewaqble energy resource which can be predicted .[www.marineturbines.com]

  • Portaferry from the pier towards the south
    Portaferry from the pier towards the south
  • The Portaferry ferry returning from Strangford.
    The Portaferry ferry returning from Strangford.
  • Portaferry Marina.
    Portaferry Marina.
  • Portaferry Castle.
    Portaferry Castle.
  • Portaferry from the pier towards the north
    Portaferry from the pier towards the north
  • Portaferry From Castleward.
    Portaferry From Castleward.

See also

References

  1. ^ Marine Laboratory
  2. ^ Portaferry Lifeboat
  3. ^ Culture Northern Ireland – Portaferry Lifeboat Station
  4. ^ O'Sullivan, Aidan & Breen, Colin (2007). Maritime Ireland. An Archaeology of Coastal Communities. Stroud: Tempus. p. 211. ISBN 978-0-7524-2509-2.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  5. ^ Exploris
  6. ^ "About the Ferry". Northern Ireland Roads Department. Retrieved 13 September 2009.
  7. ^ Portaferry Castle
  8. ^ Culture Northern ireland – Joseph Tomelty
  9. ^ First Testing of Evopod at Strangford Narrows
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