portaferry

About two miles from town is located Cooey's Wells which had a church thought to date to the about the 7th century. Three wells reputed to have healing properties are located at that site.{{cite web |author= |date= |title=St Cooey's Wells |url=https://discovernorthernireland.com/things-to-do/st-cooeys-wells-p720191 |website=Official tourism website for Northern Ireland |location=Things to Do |publisher= |access-date=22 March 2025}}

Algae. Records of algae such as Polysiphonia fibrata, Haraldiophyllum bonnemaisonii have been recorded from Portaferry.Morton, O, 1994 Marine Algae of Northern Ireland. Ulster Museum. {{ISBN|0 900761 28 8}}

Portaferry 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 (27 March 2011) there were 2,511 people living in Portaferry. Of these:

• 20.23% were aged under 16 years and 16.65% were aged 65 and over
• 50.98% of the usually resident population were male and 49.02% were female
• 99.44% were from the white (including Irish Traveller) ethnic group
• 84.15% belong to or were brought up in the Catholic religion and 12.31% belong to or were brought up in a 'Protestant and Other Christian (including Christian related)' religion
• 32.02% indicated that they had a British national identity, 35.68% had an Irish national identity and 37.00% had a Northern Irish national identity

• Bishop Robert Echlin, Bishop of Down and Connor (1612–1635) is buried in the ancient ruins of Templecraney, Portaferry off Church St.
• Australian pastoralist Hugh Glass was born in Portaferry in 1817.{{Australian Dictionary of Biography|last=Senyard|first=J. E.|year=1972|volume=4|id2=glass-hugh-3620|title=Glass, Hugh (1817–1871)|accessdate=20 November 2014}}{{Cite news|date=1871-05-16|title=The Late Hugh Glass.|page=3|work=Age|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article203015908|access-date=2021-10-01}}
• Actor and playwright Joseph Tomelty, born in Portaferry in 1911.[http://www.culturenorthernireland.org/article.aspx?co=7&ca=29&to=&sca=&articleID=354 Culture Northern ireland – Joseph Tomelty] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070321142531/http://www.culturenorthernireland.org/article.aspx?co=7&ca=29&to=&sca=&articleID=354 |date=21 March 2007 }}
• Priest, philosopher and poet Father Vincent McNabb was born in Portaferry.
• Middle-distance runner Ciara Mageean was born in Portaferry in 1992.
• Singer/songwriter Ryan McMullan is from Portaferry.

File:Strangford Lough View From Windmill Hill, Portaferry.jpgThe Portaferry area is popular with local and foreign tourists for its beauty, history, wildlife and other visitor attractions. Strangford Lough is the largest sea inlet in the British Isles.

It is Northern Ireland's first Marine Nature Reserve and is renowned as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and Special Scientific Interest, with six National Nature Reserves within its reaches. Over 2000 species of marine animals have been found in the lough and internationally important flocks of wildfowl and wading birds converge there in winter. The lough is also the most important site in Ireland for breeding common seals.

{{Weather box

|location = Lough Cowey (10m elevation) 1991–2020

|collapsed =

|metric first = y

|single line = y

|Jan high C = 8.5

|Feb high C = 8.8

|Mar high C = 10.1

|Apr high C = 12.1

|May high C = 14.8

|Jun high C = 17.1

|Jul high C = 18.9

|Aug high C = 18.6

|Sep high C = 16.9

|Oct high C = 13.9

|Nov high C = 10.9

|Dec high C = 9.1

|year high C = 13.3

|Jan low C = 3.1

|Feb low C = 3.1

|Mar low C = 3.9

|Apr low C = 5.1

|May low C = 7.4

|Jun low C = 9.8

|Jul low C = 11.7

|Aug low C = 11.7

|Sep low C = 10.5

|Oct low C = 8.1

|Nov low C = 5.4

|Dec low C = 3.7

|year low C = 7.0

|Jan rain mm = 78.5

|Feb rain mm = 60.1

|Mar rain mm = 56.1

|Apr rain mm = 53.8

|May rain mm = 55.4

|Jun rain mm = 62.9

|Jul rain mm = 66.9

|Aug rain mm = 79.2

|Sep rain mm = 65.5

|Oct rain mm = 87.1

|Nov rain mm = 93.5

|Dec rain mm = 81.2

|year rain mm =

|unit rain days= 1.0 mm

|Jan rain days = 13.1

|Feb rain days = 11.2

|Mar rain days = 10.5

|Apr rain days = 10.7

|May rain days = 11.4

|Jun rain days = 10.8

|Jul rain days = 11.9

|Aug rain days = 13.1

|Sep rain days = 10.7

|Oct rain days = 12.2

|Nov rain days = 14.1

|Dec rain days = 13.5

|year rain days =

| Jan sun = 54.7

| Feb sun = 79.1

| Mar sun = 117.9

| Apr sun = 168.7

| May sun = 204.6

| Jun sun = 169.7

| Jul sun = 170.3

| Aug sun = 164.0

| Sep sun = 135.7

| Oct sun = 101.4

| Nov sun = 67.0

| Dec sun = 49.4

| year sun =

|source 1 = metoffice.gov.uk{{cite web

| url=https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/research/climate/maps-and-data/uk-climate-averages/gcsj9cz35

| title=Climate Normals 1981–2010

| publisher=Met Office

| access-date=25 February 2021}}

| date=25 February 2021

}}

GAA sports, particularly hurling are popular in the area and Portaferry GAC were Ulster Club Hurling Champions in 2014. There are two other GAA clubs nearby, Ballygalget and Ballycran, and there is intense rivalry between the three.

Other pursuits are sailing, coastal rowing, angling, wildfowling, and birdwatching. The town has the lough's longest established sailing club.

Portaferry industrial activities include agriculture, fishing, tourism. 'Suki Tea' announced as of 2014 that experimental tea growing will commence in the area, utilising the relatively warm and dry climate, with frost protection from Strangford Lough.

The lough is a centre for experimental marine current turbine technology development. Tidal energy, unlike wind or wave, is a renewable energy resource which can be predicted. In 2008 a twin-rotor 1.2 MW SeaGen was installed and successfully demonstrated this technology until its decommissioning which began in 2017.{{Cite news |date=2016-01-27 |title=Strangford tidal energy turbine to be removed |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-35416282 |access-date=2024-02-18 |work=BBC News |language=en-GB}} Swedish company Minesto have tested various versions of their tidal-kite technology in the lough since 2011, and have a workshop and offices in Portaferry.{{Cite web |last=Garanovic |first=Amir |date=2022-02-15 |title=Minesto hires tidal test support crew |url=https://www.offshore-energy.biz/minesto-hires-tidal-test-support-crew/ |access-date=2024-02-18 |website=Offshore Energy |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last= |date=2023-01-01 |title=Strangford Lough test and demonstration site |url=https://minesto.com/strangford-lough/ |access-date=2024-02-18 |website=Minesto |language=en}}

Portaferry played a part in the linen industry. Many of the women in the town were employed to embroider handkerchiefs for Thomas Somerset and Co. one of the major linen companies in Ireland. The company realised that the women were more productive in the summer due to the light, so installed the first electric light outside of Belfast in Ulster. Each house with a working woman was given one light fitting and bulb. There was also a bus service introduced to bring more women from the Ards Peninsula to Portaferry to work in the factory that Somerset built.

File:Portaferry 1a.JPG|Portaferry from the pier towards the south

File:The Portaferry ferry returning from Strangford.JPG|The Portaferry ferry returning from Strangford.

File:Portaferry Marina.JPG|Portaferry Marina.

File:Portaferry Castle.JPG|Portaferry Castle.

File:Portaferry 1c.JPG|Portaferry from the pier towards the north

File:View Of Portaferry Across Strangford Lough From Castleward.jpg|Portaferry from Castleward

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Category:Ports and harbours of Northern Ireland

Category:Port cities and towns in Northern Ireland

Category:Civil parish of Ballyphilip