Castledawson

The village sits on the River Moyola and was originally called "Dawson's Bridge". The bridge that crossed the river here was once the largest single span stone bridge in Ireland. The village was named after its 'castle' (actually a large manor house) built by Joshua Dawson in 1713. He was Chief Secretary for Ireland and founded the village in 1710. The Dawson estate, Shanemullagh, shares its name with the original townland name.[http://www.placenamesni.org/resultdetails.php?entry=5298 Place Names NI] The Dawson family also founded Christ Church, on the edge of that estate, in the early 18th century.{{cite web | title=Parades and Marches - Chronology 2: Historical Dates and Events| work=Conflict Archive on the Internet (CAIN)| url=http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/issues/parade/chpa2.htm| access-date=28 January 2010}}

On 29 June 1912, a large group of Ancient Order of Hibernians members, allegedly drunk after having held a parade, clashed with a party of Presbyterian Sunday School children in Castledawson, who were returning from their annual excursion, in what became known as the Castledawson Incident. The prominent Presbyterian reverend James Armour laid the blame for the incident on alcohol and "the mad Orangemen of the locality," who he believed may have set up the incident. The response to this incident saw rioting in Belfast that resulted in roughly 2,000 Catholic shipyard workers and 500 Protestant Home Rulers being violently driven from their jobs at the Workman and Clarke shipyard.{{cite book|last1=McGaughey|first1=Jane G. V.|title=Ulster's Men: Protestant Unionist Masculinities and Militarization in the North of Ireland, 1912-1923|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vbUjbk_TyPsC&q=castledawson+incident&pg=PA54|publisher=McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP|access-date=24 February 2018|pages=53–4|language=en|date=9 March 2012|isbn=9780773539723}}

In March 1922, during the Irish War of Independence, the Irish Republican Army shot dead an off-duty Special Constable while carrying out a bomb attack on the Moyola Bridge at Castledawson.Lawlor, Pearse. The Outrages: The IRA and the Ulster Special Constabulary in the Border Campaign. Mercier Press, 2011. p.252

In 1943, Nestlé built and opened a factory that made sweetened condensed milk. However, it was closed in the 1970s. Today it is the home of the award-winning Ditty's Bakery and Moyola Precision Engineering, a noted innovator of aerospace components.

The River Moyola is popular with anglers and has managed stocks of salmon (but also has perch, eel, trout, bream and pike). Dominating the horizon to the south-west of the village is a dramatic ráth.

File:Castledawson Bridge.jpg

Image:Raith castledawson.jpg at the southern edge of Castledawson]]

{{See also|Category:People from Castledawson}}

Famous natives have included:

• James Chichester-Clark, a direct descendant of the Dawsons, who was the Prime Minister of Northern Ireland from 1969 to 1971.
• Marian Donnelly, former President of the Workers' Party, was born in Castledawson in 1938.
• Ciaran Gribbin, singer-songwriter and producer
• Seamus Heaney, Irish poet, playwright and translator, was born near Castledawson in 1939.

Castledawson railway station opened on 10 November 1856, closed for passenger traffic on 28 August 1950, and finally closed altogether on 1 October 1959.{{cite web | title= Castledawson station| work=Railscot - Irish Railways | url=http://www.railscot.co.uk/Ireland/Irish_railways.pdf | access-date=2007-09-15}}

The main A6 Belfast to Derry road passed through Castledawson from 1971, when the nearby Castledawson roundabout was built, in anticipation of the completion of the M22, which was never forthcoming, until 1992, when it was finally bypassed by a single-carriageway A6 upgrade.

This section is currently being dualled, marking the end of a 47-year wait for the high-quality bypass it was promised, all those decades ago.

• Castledawson Primary School
• New Row Saint Patrick's Primary School

Castledawson is home to the association football club Moyola Park, the Gaelic Athletic Association club St Malachys G.A.C. Castledawson and the eighteen hole Moyola golf club.

According to the 2011 census, Castledawson has 3,329 residents. 53.44% of the Castledawson ward were Catholic, while 43.47% were Protestant.[http://www.ninis2.nisra.gov.uk/public/InteractiveMapTheme.aspx?themeNumber=136&themeName=Census%202011 2011 Census for Northern Ireland]

In terms of National Identity, 8 choices were provided and the breakdown is as follows[http://www.ninis2.nisra.gov.uk/public/pivotgrid.aspx?dataSetVars=ds-3963-lh-73-yn-2011-sk-136-sn-Census+2011-yearfilter-- Culture Northern Ireland]

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{{County Londonderry}}

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Category:Villages in County Londonderry

Category:Mid-Ulster District

Category:Populated places established in 1710