Castlewellan
Castlewellan (in
Irish:
Caisleán UidhilÃn, ie UidhilÃn's Castle) is a large
village in
County Down,
Northern Ireland, situated beside
Castlewellan Lake and
Slievenaslat mountain, 25
km south west of
Downpatrick. It lies between the
Mountains of Mourne and
Slieve Croob. It had a population of 2,392 people in the
2001 Census.
It is located in the
Down District Council area.
Castlwellan has a wide main street and two squares lined with chestnut trees. The upper square is a semicircle and the lower square is an oval. The old market house in the upper square was built in
1764 and now houses the public library.
|
Castlewellan Lake and Forest Park |
*
Drumena Cashel is a good example of a small stone built farmstead enclosure or cashel of the
Early Christian period. It is situated 2 miles south west of Castlewellan off the A25 road to
Rathfriland.
*
Castlewellan Forest Park and Castlewellan Lake are situated to the northwest of the village. The Arboretum in the park was begun in
1740 and contains plants and trees from many different countries. The
Peace Maze,is the world's largest permanent hedge maze according to Guinness World Records, was constructed in the park between
2000 and
2001.
*Castlewellan Castle, a Scottish baronial castle of
1856, overlooks the lake and the park. Nowadays the castle is used as a christian conference centre, and is not generally open to the public.
*The Irish writer
Séamus Ã" Néill was born here in
1910.
*The actress
Greer Garson was born here in
1904.
Castlewellan is classified as an intermediate settlement by the
NI Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) (ie with population between 2,250 and 4,500 people).On Census day (
29 April 2001) there were 2,392 people living in Castlewellan. Of these:
*29.8% were aged under 16 and 13.8% were aged 60 and over
*49.4% of the population were male and 50.6% were female
*92.1% were from a
Catholic background and 6.6% were from a
Protestant background
*4.8% of people aged 16-74 were unemployed.
For more details see:
NI Neighbourhood Information Service*
Culture Northern Ireland*
Castlewellan Market House*
List of villages in Northern Ireland*
List of towns in Northern Ireland
