Cloughmills

Cloghmills
Irish: Muileann na Cloiche[1]
Ballycregagh Road in Cloghmills
Cloghmills shown within Northern Ireland
Population	1,309 (2011 Census)
District	Causeway Coast and Glens
County	County Antrim
Country	Northern Ireland
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	BALLYMENA
Postcode district	BT44
Dialling code	028
EU Parliament	Northern Ireland
UK Parliament	North Antrim
NI Assembly	North Antrim
List of places UK Northern Ireland Antrim

Coordinates: 55°00′04″N 6°17′10″W / 55.001°N 6.286°W

Cloughmills or Cloghmills^[2] (/klɒxˈmɪlz/ klokh-MILZ) is a village in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. Ballymoney is 15 km to the north-west and Ballymena is 16 km to the south. It had a population of 1,309 people in the 2011 Census.^[3] It is in Causeway Coast and Glens District Council.

Name

The name Cloughmills/Cloghmills is a combination of the Irish word cloch (meaning "stone") and the English word mill (referring to the linen mill around which the village grew). An older spelling was Clochmills.^[4]

Features

Cloghmills is a local service centre for its surrounding rural hinterland with a good range of retail, commercial, community and educational facilities. Recreational facilities are, however, limited, relative to the size of the village. A substantial number of private sector dwellings have been built over the past decade, which reflect its growing residential function.^[5]

Three private housing developments have been built in the village, substantially increasing the population to approximately 2000 individuals in 2008. The Cloughmills Community Action Team (CCAT), made up of local residents, is in the process of reviving a five-year action plan to develop the village for the all who live there, and promote and develop local business initiatives.^[6] Cloughmills is home to one of Northern Ireland's leading department stores, Logans of Cloughmills.

History

The industrial heritage of the village can be seen from the old linen mill which is located at the bottom end of the main street beside the medical centre. The mill was fed by the Cloughwater (also known as the Cloughmills Water) river which flows through the southern end of the village. This river feeds into the River Main.

In 1910, corn and flax scutching were the main industries and an Agricultural and Dairy Society and Co-operative Poultry and Egg Society had been established. The population was about 200.^[7]

The former main employer of the village, Cooneen Textiles, a clothing firm, closed down in 1999 with the loss of 128 jobs. The premises changed hands and Cooneen was replaced by a haulage company called Reid Transport. In November 2007 Reid Transport ceased trading with loss of 200 jobs following serious financial difficulties. The African Clothing Company took up residence in the vacated premises later changing its name to All-Tex Recyclers.

The Troubles

On 12 February 1977, an off duty Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) member, Samuel McKane (aged 33), was killed by the IRA outside his home in Cloughmills.^[8]

On 14 March 1978, Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) masked gunmen planted two explosive devices at the Cloughmills Cooperative Society and Spar supermarket complex. The gunmen fired two shots in the air and escaped by car. The homemade explosive devices exploded causing minor structural damage and starting a fire which destroyed the interior.^[9]

Transport

Cloughmills has good road links to Ballymoney and Ballymena and is located a short distance east of the A26 key transport corridor. However, it has limited public transport connections.^[5]

Education

• Cloughmills Primary School
• St Brigid's Primary School

Religion

• Killagan Church of Ireland Parish Church, just outside the village.^[6]
• Cloughmills Free Presbyterian Church
• Cloughmills Reformed Presbyterian Church
• Ballyweaney Presbyterian Church
• Church of the Sacred Heart (Roman Catholic)

Notable people

Notable people from Cloughmills include:

• Stumpy McCloskey – a singer and violin player. McCloskey played in many traditional music festivals throughout Ireland.^[6]
• Samuel Robinson – Emigrated to America in 1888 and became a successful multimillion-dollar businessman. Robinson settled in Philadelphia and founded the American Stores Company (more commonly known as the acronym ACME). He built the Robinson Memorial Hospital in Ballymoney in 1933 in memory of his late parents.^[6]

Demography

2011 Census

It had a population of 1,309 people (514 households) in the 2011 Census.^[3]

2001 Census

Cloughmills is classified as a Village by the NI Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) (i.e., with population between 1,000 and 2,250 people). On Census day (29 April 2001) there were 1,240 people living in Cloughmills. Of these:^[10]

• 24.1% were aged under 16 years and 16.2% were aged 60 and over
• 49.4% of the population were male and 50.7% were female
• 36.6% were from a Catholic background and 61.9% were from a Protestant background
• 3.6% of people aged 16–74 were unemployed

International relations

Twin towns - Sister cities

• Benbrook, Texas, USA
• Vanves, France

References

1. Placenames Database of Ireland
2. Northern Area Plan 2016 - Ballymoney Borough: Cloghmills, Northern Ireland Department of Environment
3. "Cloughmills". Census 2011 Results. NI Statistics and Research Agency. Retrieved 30 April 2015.
4. Tour through Ireland: Particularly the interior and least known parts, Volume 2. Printed for R.P. Moore, 1813.
5. "Cloughmills Settlement Designation". Planning Service - Draft Northern Area Plan 2016. Retrieved 15 July 2008.
6. "Cloughmills". Culture Northern Ireland. Archived from the original on 9 June 2008. Retrieved 15 July 2008.
7. "Cloughmills, County Antrim". Belfast and Ulster Towns Directory for 1910 (Library Ireland). Retrieved 15 July 2008.
8. Samuel McKane: CAIN List of deaths 1977, cain.ulst.ac.uk; accessed 23 October 2015.
9. "Bomb Attack (Cloughmills, County Antrim)". House of Commons Hansard (20 March 1978). Retrieved 15 July 2008.
10. "Area Profile of Cloughmills - Based on 2001 Census". NI Neighbourhood Information Service. Retrieved 15 July 2008.