Lisburn
This article is about the city of Lisburn, for the council, see Lisburn City Council, and for the towwn see Lisburn (town). Irish Place|
name = Lisburn |
gaeilge = Lios na gCearrbhach |
crest image = LisburnCityCrest.jpg |
motto = Ex Ignr Resrugam
"I will arise out of the fire" |
map image = NorthernIrelandLisburn.png |
pin coords = left: 146px; top: 89px |
north coord = 54.512 |
west coord = 6.031 |
area = ? km² |
province = Ulster |
county =
County Antrim &
County Down | NI district =
Lisburn|
population = 71,465 |
census yr = 2001 |
web = www.lisburn.gov.uk |}}
Lisburn is a
city split between
County Antrim &
County Down,
Northern Ireland. The
River Lagan denotes the county boundary. Lisburn had a population of 71,465 people in the
2001 Census. Due to its largely rural farming make up and the fact it is an amalgamation of many small towns and villages, including,
Moira,
Glenavy,
Dunmurry,
Drumbo as well as the see of Lisburn, most residents still consider Lisburn a borough, and indeed for many of those outside the town of Lisburn the term "city" is very unpopular.
The city of Lisburn takes its name from its main town Lisburn, which seats its local administrative offices. The 'Lis' element in Lisburn derives from Lisnagarvy, a
townland incorporated in the modern city and whose name is from the
Irish:
Lios na gCearrbhach, meaning fort of the gamesters or gamblers.
Lisburn is also known as the birthplace of the Irish
linen industry, which was established in
1698 by Louis Crommelin and other
Huguenots. An exhibition about the Irish linen industry is now housed in the Irish Linen Centre, which can be found in the town's old Market House in Market Square.
The borough was made a city in
2002 (along with
Newry) as part of
Queen Elizabeth II's
Golden Jubilee celebrations. The city is a popular shopping centre, with a wide range of retail outlets both in the Lisburn town centre and in the out-of-town
Sprucefield and Sprucefield Park centres. Also in the town centre is the Irish linen centre and Lisburn Museum, which is free to enter and contains displays about the history of the linen industry (which was a key industry in the history of
Ulster).
The
unionist-controlled Lisburn Council recently decided to fly the
Union Flag from its offices all year round, a decision which has angered many of the city's
nationalists.
Lisburn is home to many important political, civil and military bodies with associated infrastructure. Including the headquarters of
Down Lisburn Trust, one of the largest of Northern Ireland's Health and Social Services trusts,
Thiepval Barracks, the headquarters of the
British Army in Northern Ireland, and the
Northern Ireland Fire Brigade headquarters are also located in the town.
In elections for the
Westminster Parliament it is located within
Lagan Valley constituency and
West Belfast.
Negotiations preceding the
American War of Independence between
Ben Franklin and
Lord Hillsborough took place at the parish of
Hillsborough in Lisburn.
Sir Richard Wallace made quite an impact on Lisburn. His bequests include the
Wallace Park and
Wallace High School. In
1872 he donated drinking fountains, known as
Wallace fountains, two of which can still be seen near the cricket pitch in Wallace Park, another in front of Lisburn Linen Museum in Bow Street and another in Castle Gardens. Wallace was created
baronet in
1871 and was
Member of Parliament for
Lisburn from
1873 to
1885.
On
15 June 1988 Derek Green (20), Michael Winkler (31), Mark Clavey (24), Graham Lambie (22), William Paterson (22) and Ian Metcalfe (36), all off-duty members of the
British Army, were killed by a
Provisional Irish Republican Army booby trap bomb attached to a British Army minibus at Market Square, Lisburn on the evening of the town's annual Fun Run.
Lisburn Urban Area is within
Belfast Metropolitan Urban Area (BMUA)and is classified as a Large Town by the
NI Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) (ie with population between 18,000 and 75,000 people). On Census day (
29 April 2001) there were 71,465 people living in Lisburn. Of these:
*25.4% were aged under 16 years and 15.6% were aged 60 and over
*52.1% were female and 47.9% were male
*54.2% were from a
Protestant background and 41.7% were from a
Catholic background
*4.0% of people aged 16-74 were unemployed.
For more details see:
NI neighbourhood Information Service*
Friends School*
Lisnagarvey High School*
Wallace High School* Forthill College Lisburn
*
NI Conflict Archive on the Internet*
Culture Northern Ireland*
lisburn.com*
Lisburn Market House*
List of towns in Northern Ireland*
List of villages in Northern Ireland
