Dromore, County Down

Ask a question about 'Dromore, County Down' Start a new discussion about 'Dromore, County Down' Answer questions from other users Full Discussion Forum

History

• The town is of high antiquity
  Ancient history
  
  Ancient history is the history from the History of writing until the Early Middle Ages in Europe, the Qin Dynasty in China, the Chola Empire in India, and some less defined point in the rest of the world ....
  . It was the seat of the diocese of Dromore
  Diocese of Dromore
  
  Diocese of Dromore can refer to:*The Roman Catholic Diocese of Dromore*The Church of Ireland Diocese of Down and Dromore...
  , which grew out of an abbey
  Abbey
  
  An abbey , is a Christianity monastery or convent, under the government of an Abbot or an Abbess, who serves as the spiritual father or mother of the community....
   of Canons Regular
  Canons Regular
  
  Canons regular are members of certain bodies of Canon living in community under the Augustinians#The Augustinian Rule , and sharing their property in common as a type of vow of poverty....
   attributed to Saint Colman
  Colman of Dromore
  
  Saint Colman of Dromore was a 6th century Irish people saint.He seems to have spent most of his life in that area of County Down. Possibly he studied under Caetan of Nendrom, Co....
   in the 6th century. It was united in 1842 to the diocese of Down and Connor
  Diocese of Down and Connor
  
  The Roman Catholic Diocese of Down and Connor is an Ireland Roman Catholic Church diocese that stretches from Portrush and Portstewart to Kilkeel....
  . The diocese was then divided in 1945, with the diocese of Connor
  Diocese of Connor
  
  The Diocese of Connor, Territory of Dalriada, was established in the Synod of Rathbreasail in AD 1111. The diocese itself was erected in A.D. 480....
   being independent, and the diocese of Down and Dromore remaining united.
• The town and cathedral
  Cathedral
  
  A cathedral is a Christian church that contains the seat of a bishop. It is a Religion building for worship, specifically of a denomination with an episcopal hierarchy, such as the Roman Catholic Church, Anglicanism, Orthodox Christian and some Lutheranism churches, which serves as a bishop's seat, and thus as the central church of a dioc...
   were wholly destroyed during the rebellion of 1641
  Irish Rebellion of 1641
  
  The Irish Rebellion of 1641 began as an attempted coup d'?tat by Irish Roman Catholic Church gentry, but developed into inter communal violence between native Irish people and England and Scotland Protestant settlers, starting a conflict known as the Irish Confederate Wars....
  , and the present church was built by Bishop Jeremy Taylor
  Jeremy Taylor
  
  Jeremy Taylor was a clergyman in the Church of England who achieved fame as an author during The Protectorate of Oliver Cromwell. He is sometimes known as the "Shakespeare of Divines" for his poetic style of expression and was often presented as a model of prose writing....
   in 1661, who is buried there. Also buried in the cathedral is Thomas Percy
  Thomas Percy
  
  Thomas Percy , was Bishop of Dromore. Before being made bishop, he was chaplain to George III. Percy's greatest contribution is considered to be his Reliques of Ancient English Poetry , the first of the great ballad collections, which was the one work most responsible for the ballad revival in English poetry that was a significant part of...
  , another famous bishop of the diocese, who laid out the fine grounds of the palace. A monument
  Monument
  
  A monument is a type of structure either explicitly created to commemorate a person or important event or which has become important to a social group as a part of their remembrance of past events....
   to Thomas Percy
  Thomas Percy
  
  Thomas Percy , was Bishop of Dromore. Before being made bishop, he was chaplain to George III. Percy's greatest contribution is considered to be his Reliques of Ancient English Poetry , the first of the great ballad collections, which was the one work most responsible for the ballad revival in English poetry that was a significant part of...
   stands in the Town Park.
• Jacobites
  Jacobitism
  
  Jacobitism was the political movement dedicated to the restoration of the House of Stuart kings to the thrones of Kingdom of England, Kingdom of Scotland, and Kingdom of Ireland....
   under command of Richard Hamilton
  Richard Hamilton
  
  Richard Hamilton may refer to:* Richard Hamilton , American actor* Richard Hamilton , American architect and cofounder of Goody, Clancy & Associates, Inc...
  , and rival Williamite
  Williamite
  
  Williamite refers to the followers of King William III of England who deposed King James II of England in the Glorious Revolution. William, the Stadtholder of the Dutch Republic, replaced James with the support of English British Whig Party, to ensure England's entry into his League of Augsburg against France in the Nine Years War....
  s fought a battle here on the 14 March 1689. The battle took place about a mile out of the town on the Milebush Road and was known as the 'Break of Dromore
  Break of Dromore
  
  The Break of Dromore is a name given to a battle fought during the Williamite War in Ireland on March 14, 1689. The battle was fought between Catholic Jacobitism troops under Richard Hamilton and Protestant Williamites....
  '. The Jacobites routed the Williamites and they fled in disorder, but with few casualties. After this Break of Dromore
  Break of Dromore
  
  The Break of Dromore is a name given to a battle fought during the Williamite War in Ireland on March 14, 1689. The battle was fought between Catholic Jacobitism troops under Richard Hamilton and Protestant Williamites....
   the Jacobites did not meet any resistance while advancing northwards and occupying Belfast.

• On 20 March 1920, the day of his 36th birthday Lord Mayor of Cork Tomás Mac Curtain
  Tomás Mac Curtain
  
  Tom?s Mac Curtain was a Sinn F?in Lord Mayor of Cork, Ireland. He was elected in January 1920.He was born at Ballyknockane in the Parish of Mourne Abbey in March 1884....
   was shot dead in front of his wife, by a group of men with blackened faces, who were found to be members of the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC), by the official inquest into the event. In the wake of the killing, Mac Curtain's house in Thomas Davis Street in the city's Blackpool area, was ransacked. The coroner's inquest passed a verdict of wilful murder against British Prime Minister Lloyd George and against certain members of the RIC. The IRA later killed the man who ordered the attack, District Inspector Swanzy, in Lisburn, County Antrim on 22 August 1920 using Mac Curtain's personal handgun. On July 17,1920 Gerard Brice Ferguson Smyth was shot dead in the smoking room of The Country Club, Cork. He was buried in the family burial ground at Newry Road Cemetery in Banbridge. Subsequent rioting and pograms in nearby Dromore led to the death of one local person. There were also fatalities in violence which broke out in Belfast.

The Troubles

Today

Demographics

• 23.9% were aged under 16 years and 17.5% were aged 60 and over
• 48.2% of the population were male and 51.8% were female
• 13.0% were from a Catholic
  Catholic
  
  Catholic is an adjective derived from the Greek language adjective , meaning "whole" or "complete". In the context of Christianity ecclesiology, it has a rich history and several usages....
   background and 83.4% were from a Protestant
  Protestantism
  
  Protestantism is a movement within Christianity that originated in the sixteenth-century Protestant Reformation. It is considered to be one of the three principal traditions of Christianity, together with Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy....
   background
• 2.5% of people aged 16-74 were unemployed.

Transport and Communications

Places of interest

• The Cathedral Church of Christ the Redeemer is situated on a monastic site founded by St Colman in 510 AD. Dromore Cathedral is the Anglican/Episcopal (Church of Ireland
  Church of Ireland
  
  The Church of Ireland is an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion, operating across the island of Ireland. Like other Anglican churches, it considers itself to be both Catholicism and Protestant Reformation....
  ) parish in the town of Dromore, County Down, Northern Ireland, as well as being one of the sister Cathedral churches in the United Diocese of Down and Dromore. The Cathedral Church of Christ the Redeemer is a Seventeenth Century Church, built on a site used for Christian worship for almost 1500 years. St Colman of Dromore set up a small daub and wattle church on this site in 510 AD. Probably thatched with reeds from the River Lagan which flows beside it, this church site has been, for the fifteen centuries since, a location for the worship of Jesus Christ, the Redeemer of all humanity. The Cathedral stands in the centre of the historic, yet rapidly growing market town of Dromore in the heart of County Down, on the North bank of the River Lagan. Some 570 families make up the Parish of Dromore and the pattern of worship in the Cathedral reflects the wide range of ages and tastes across the parish. The Church serves mainly as a Parish church for the developing community but is also a centre of Diocesan life. Little evidence is available for the first 700 years of St Colman’s Church. There is no indication of either its size or style. In the twelfth century, the English King Henry II revised a system of dioceses and bishops which covered the entire island of Ireland. One of those dioceses, named Dromore, took as its base this Cathedral Church. There had been bishops and abbots before then, but from this time the history becomes more complete. A medieval church, about which no record exists, was destroyed in the late 1500’s. it was King James I who, in 1609, issued letters Patent giving the Church of St Colman a new title and a new status: The Cathedral Church of Christ the Redeemer, Dromore (known as Dromore Cathedral). That building was destroyed in 1641 by Irish Insurgents. A new structure, of which small portions are still visible, was built by Bishop Jeremy Taylor some twenty years later in 1661. A narrow structure of around twenty feet wide and one hundred feet long was first built. This forms the base of the current tower aisle. A tower was then built, but soon dismantled. The Percy aisle was added by Bishop Thomas Percy in 1811. This aisle sits at right angles to the Tower aisle, opposite the pulpit. A semi-circular Sanctuary in memory of Jeremy Taylor was designed by Thomas Drew FRSA during the ministry of Canon Beresford Knox in 1870. The Organ aisle and Baptistery were added at the same time creating an ‘L’ shaped building. Finally, the church was made rectangular with the addition of the Harding aisle parallel to the Tower aisle in 1899.

• A Celtic High cross
  High cross
  
  File:Cloncha cross church.jpgA high cross is a free-standing Christianity cross made of stone and often richly decorated. They were raised primarily in Ireland, Great Britain and Scandinavia during the Early Middle Ages and sometimes later....
   stands in the Cathedral grounds. The cross is made of granite
  Granite
  
  Granite is a common and widely occurring type of Intrusion , felsic, igneous rock rock . Granite has a medium to coarse texture, occasionally with some individual crystals larger than the groundmass forming a rock known as Porphyry ....
   and survives from the early monastery
  Monastery
  
  Monastery , a term derived from the Greek language word ???ast?????, neut. of ???ast????? - monasterios denotes the building, or complex of buildings, that houses a room reserved for prayer as well as the domestic quarters and workplace of Monk, whether monks or nuns, and whether living in Cenobium or alone ....
  .

• Dromore contains the best preserved Anglo-Norman motte-and-bailey
  Motte-and-bailey
  
  A motte-and-bailey is a form of castle. Many were built in Britain in the Middle Ages, Ireland and France in the 11th and 12th centuries, favoured as a relatively cheap but effective defensive fortification that could repel most small attack forces....
   castle in Ireland, which dates from the 13th century. Dromore Mound or Dromore Motte and Bailey as it is commonly known is probably Dromore’s most recognisable feature. It was built by Sir John de Courcy after the Norman Conquest in the 13th Century. The bailey or lower courtyard was said to have been protected by palisading and the mound itself was an archery tower, which gave good vision and a reasonable field of fire. The height and well-defined slopes provide unsurpassed views of the town and the upper Lagan Valley
  Lagan Valley
  
  Lagan Valley is an area of Northern Ireland. It is between Belfast and Lisburn. The Lagan is a famous river that flows into Belfast Lough. For a section, the river forms part of the border between the counties of County Antrim and County Down....
  .

People

• Harry Ferguson
  Harry Ferguson
  
  Henry George Ferguson was an United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland engineer and inventor who is noted for his role in the development of the modern agricultural tractor, becoming the first Irishman to build and fly his own aeroplane, and for developing the first four-wheel drive Formula One car, the Ferguson P99....
   - (1884-1960) - inventor of tractor.
• Jeffery Donaldson
  Jeffery Donaldson
  
  Jeffery Donaldson is a Canadian poet, critic, and theorist.Born in Toronto, Ontario, Ontario, Donaldson was educated at Victoria College, University of Toronto....
   - Northern Ireland politician, presently both DUP
  Democratic Unionist Party
  
  The Democratic Unionist Party is the larger of the two main Unionism political party in Northern Ireland. Founded by Ian Paisley and currently led by Peter Robinson , it is the largest party in Northern Ireland and the fourth-largest party in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom....
   MLA
  Member of the Legislative Assembly (Northern Ireland)
  
  Member of the Legislative Assembly is a representative elected by the voters to the Northern Ireland Assembly in Northern Ireland....
   and MP
  Member of Parliament
  
  A Member of Parliament, or MP, is a representative of the voters to a parliament. In many countries the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a unique title, such as senate, and thus also have unique titles for its members, such as senators....
   for Lagan Valley
  Lagan Valley (UK Parliament constituency)
  
  Lagan Valley is a Parliamentary Constituency in the United Kingdom House of Commons....
  .
• David Humphreys
  David Humphreys (rugby player)
  
  David Humphreys Order of the British Empire is a retired Rugby union player. He played for 72 times for Ireland national rugby union team and for Ulster Rugby....
   - Irish
  Ireland national rugby union team
  
  The Ireland rugby union team represents the island of Ireland in rugby union, which is a popular sport throughout both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, though only dominant in limited geographical areas....
   rugby international
• Sir Clarence Graham, Bt.
  Clarence Graham
  
  Sir Clarence Johnston Graham, 1st Baronet was an Ulster Unionist Party politician in Northern Ireland. Controversially, along with Brian Maginess, he called from the UUP to encourage Roman Catholic membership whilst speaking at a Young Unionists meeting in 1959....
   - former Ulster Unionist Party
  Ulster Unionist Party
  
  The Ulster Unionist Party is the more moderate of the two main Unionist political parties in Northern Ireland. Prior to the split in Unionism in the late 1960s, when the former Protestant Unionist Party began to attract more hard line support away from the UUP, it governed Northern Ireland between 1921 and 1972 as the sole Unionist party....
   politician.
• Tyrone Howe
  Tyrone Howe
  
  Tyrone Gyle Howe is a former rugby union footballer who played on the Rugby union positions#14. and 11. Wing for Ulster Rugby, Ireland national rugby union team and the British and Irish Lions....
   - Irish rugby
  Ireland national rugby union team
  
  The Ireland rugby union team represents the island of Ireland in rugby union, which is a popular sport throughout both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, though only dominant in limited geographical areas....
   international and former local UUP
  Ulster Unionist Party
  
  The Ulster Unionist Party is the more moderate of the two main Unionist political parties in Northern Ireland. Prior to the split in Unionism in the late 1960s, when the former Protestant Unionist Party began to attract more hard line support away from the UUP, it governed Northern Ireland between 1921 and 1972 as the sole Unionist party....
   Councillor.

Education

• Primary Schools
• Dromore Central Primary School
  Dromore Central Primary School
  
  Dromore Central Primary School is a Primary education located in Dromore, County Down, County Down, Northern Ireland. The school was built in 1938 and has 600 pupils aged from 4-11 years in 21 classes....
   - opened 1938.
• St. Colman's Primary School
  St. Colman's Primary School, Dromore
  
  St. Colman's Primary School is a Primary education located in Dromore, County Down, County Down, Northern Ireland. It caters for girls and boys aged from 3 to 11 and has 90 pupils....
  
• Secondary Schools
• Dromore High School - opened 1958.
  formerly Dromore Secondary Intermediate School.

Sport

See also

• List of towns in Northern Ireland
  List of towns in Northern Ireland
  
  This is a list page for towns in Northern Ireland. In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, a town is any settlement which has received a charter of incorporation, more commonly known as a town charter, approved by the monarch....
  
• List of villages in Northern Ireland
  List of villages in Northern Ireland
  
  This is a list page for villages in Northern Ireland.The defines a town as having a population of 4,500 or more. Settlements of 2,250 to 4,500 people are defined as intermediate settlements, villages are defined as having populations of 1,000 to 2,250 people and small villages and hamlets are defined as having fewer than 1,000 people ...
  
• Market Houses in Northern Ireland
  Market Houses in Northern Ireland
  
  Market houses are a notable feature of many Northern Ireland towns with varying styles of architecture, size and ornamentation making for a most interesting feature of the streetscape....
  

External links