Neha Patil (Editor)

Whitehead, County Antrim

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County
  
County Antrim

Sovereign state
  
United Kingdom

Postcode district
  
BT38

Population
  
3,786 (2011 Census)

Local time
  
Sunday 11:54 AM

Country
  
Northern Ireland

Post town
  
CARRICKFERGUS

Dialling code
  
028

Province
  
Ulster

District
  
Mid and East Antrim

Whitehead, County Antrim httpsuploadwikimediaorgwikipediacommonsthu

Weather
  
12°C, Wind SW at 13 km/h, 65% Humidity

Whitehead is a small seaside town on the east coast of County Antrim, Northern Ireland, lying almost midway between the towns of Carrickfergus and Larne. It lies within the civil parish of Templecorran, the historic barony of Belfast Lower, and is part of Mid and East Antrim. Before the Plantation of Ulster its name was recorded as both Whitehead and Kinbaine (from Irish an Cionn Bán, meaning 'the white head').

Contents

Map of Whitehead, Carrickfergus, UK

Located at the base of Muldersleigh Hill, at the entrance to Belfast Lough, Whitehead lies in a small bay between the limestone cliffs of Whitehead and the black volcanic cliff of Blackhead, with the Blackhead Lighthouse on top, marking the entrance to the Lough. It had a population of 3,786 in the 2011 Census. Whitehead is notable in that there are no streets with the suffix "Street" in their name, giving rise to the nickname 'The Town With No Streets'.

Education

One primary school exists within the town - Whitehead Primary School. Another school, Lourdes Primary School, operated until June 2011 when it closed down.

Whitehead High School, an all-girls secondary school, was present until its closure in 1986. It is now the site of a nursing home.

Churches

  • Whitehead Baptist Church
  • Whitehead Presbyterian Church
  • St Patrick's Church of Ireland
  • Whitehead Methodist Church
  • Our Lady of Lourdes (RC)
  • Bethany Hall, Christian Assembly
  • Whitehead Congregational Church

    • History

    In late Victorian and Edwardian times, Whitehead was a popular seaside holiday destination and visitors flocked from Belfast and the surrounding area each year. The town also was home to an aerodrome during the First World War which housed two airships. Whitehead is a Victorian railway village with a well preserved conservation area, including the railway station. It is home to the Railway Preservation Society of Ireland, County Antrim Yacht Club and the Council owned Bentra Golf Course, as well as being the starting point for the popular Gobbins Path seaside walk past Sunshine House, around Blackhead Lighthouse and along the Irish Sea cliffs of Islandmagee. Whitehead is about 20 miles from Belfast. On the opposite coast of Belfast Lough, the Copeland Islands, Bangor and part of the County Down coastline, are clearly visible. Whitehead received a silver at the Britain in Bloom awards in 2005 and 2006, and a bronze in 2007. The town's Brighter Whitehead group planted many of the flowers. In 2012 Northern Ireland's only Jubilee Wood was planted at Whitehead to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II.

    Sport

  • Whitehead Eagles F.C. play in the Northern Amateur Football League.
  • Bentra Golf Course -- Whitehead's own public golf course. The longest 9-hole course in Ireland.
  • Whitehead Golf Club
  • Whitehead Bowling Club -- Lawn Bowls club. 6-time winners of NIBA Division 1, most recently in 2015.

    • The Troubles

    For more information see The Troubles in Whitehead, County Antrim, which includes a list of incidents in Whitehead during the Troubles resulting in two or more fatalities. The UDA South East Antrim Brigade lists Whitehead as a base of operations.

    People

  • Neighbours actress Jackie Woodburne lived in Whitehead before her family emigrated to Australia.
  • Sting (Gordon Sumner) lived with ex-wife Frances Tomelty in Whitehead during the mid-1970s. The wooden house on the coastal path that they lived in was originally a temperance hotel and has recently been replaced with a new building.
  • Keith Gillespie (Northern Ireland footballer) went to Whitehead Primary School.

    • Railways

    Whitehead railway station is on the Larne Harbour to Belfast Central and Belfast Great Victoria Street line. Located on the Northern Ireland Railways network being part of the Belfast Suburban Rail as well as the home of the Railway Preservation Society of Ireland.

    Conservation and Energy Saving

    Transition Town Whitehead want to make Whitehead an example of a great place to live, a great place to work, a great place for visitors and to have a glowing reputation, not only in Northern Ireland but beyond. They would like Whitehead to be a town where local businesses would sell more locally produced food, where the local people could restore land and have local residents pay less for light and heat.

    Transition Town Whitehead are currently one of the six groups competing in the Power NI BIG Energy Saving Challenge, which is an exciting community based energy saving project in which six communities from across Northern Ireland compete over a year to win £20,000 worth of funding.

    2001 Census

    Whitehead 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 3,702 people living in Whitehead. Of these:

  • 20.3% were aged under 16 years and 24.1% were aged 60 and over
  • 15.4% were from a Catholic background and 76.8% were from a Protestant background
  • 2.7% of people aged 16–74 were unemployed.

    • For more details see: NI Neighbourhood Information Service

    References

    Whitehead, County Antrim Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA