Crumlin, County Antrim

History

The town's old linen mill was built in 1809.

A stone clock tower, built in 1897 as a memorial to a member of the Pakenham family who were landlords in the area, stands at the top of the village near the former railway station.

In 1972, during The Troubles, a bomb went off prematurely near Crumlin, killing two IRA members.

Education

Irish language

In recent years, a growing Irish-speaking community has evolved in the area and Crumlin now caters for both pre-school and primary school education through the medium of Irish. Naíscoil and Gaelscoil Ghleann Darach now has almost 70 children attending the Irish medium school and almost 30 in the nursery, with 15 members of staff. The Gaelscoil (primary school) is recognised by the Department of Education.

Two voluntary groups, Cumann Gaeilge and Cairde Ghleann Darach, encourage and support the school and promotion of the Irish language. The local societies help organise fund-raisers for the local schools and clubs and organise Irish language classes, an annual Irish language funday, a céilí, a bi-lingual pub quiz, and other events in the area.

Sport

Crumlin United Football Club is the main sporting club in the village. It provides association football for more than 500 men, women, boys and girls, from under-6 to senior level. Most recently, Crumlin United have constructed a 3G playing service at their headquarters in Mill Road. This facility is used for training all their teams as well as being offered to the community for hire and is the only such facility in the Crumlin/Glenavy area.

There also is a well established Gaelic Athletic Association club, Naomh Seamas, located on Glenavy Road . It provides structured Gaelic football for more than 300 boys and girls, as well as social and cultural events. Its seniors currently play Antrim Division 1.

Within Crumlin there are many dance classes available, the largest being Doogan Dance Academy, who have been running for over 15 years in Crumlin and now compete with a successful team internationally. Others include Irish Dancing classes, with Crawford School of Irish Dancing, among others.

Community relations

In recent decades Crumlin's population has increased as a result of an influx of residents from Belfast and surrounding areas. The majority of these residents are from an Irish nationalist background and as a result, Crumlin now has a nationalist majority. Until recently, Orange Order parades still occurred without incident and the main street in July is decorated with an Orange Arch which flies unionist flags from it.

In 2012, The Twelfth celebration for a wider area was held in Crumlin for the first time in 12 years, a march which surpassed previous parades in terms of size and the number of bands and participants taking part. Some pre-march tension was evident and a Parades Commission determination appeared to rule in favour of the residents opposed to the parade based on its size and because they felt they weren't given adequate notice by the organisers of the parade.

Talks were held between the residents and organisers, leading to the parade passing off peacefully. The agreement was heralded as a success and as a possible blueprint for other contentious marches.

2011 Census

In the 2011 Census Crumlin had a population of 5,099 people (1763 households).

2001 Census

Crumlin 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 4,259 people living in Crumlin. Of these:

For more details see: http://www.ninis.nisra.gov.uk/ NI Neighbourhood Information Service]

Transport

Crumlin railway station opened on 13 November 1871 but is now closed.