Lawrencetown, County Down

Laurencetown or Lawrencetown is a small village in County Down, Northern Ireland. It sits on the River Bann, along the main road between the towns of Banbridge and Portadown. It is within the parish of Tullylish and covers the townlands of Knocknagore and Drumnascamph. In the 2011 census it had a population of 956 people. In Irish, it is known as Baile Labhráis (Lawrence's Townland).

Places of interest

Lawrencetown House, close to the village, was built before 1834 and features a walled garden and extensive lawns stretching to the River Bann.

Lawrenctown park, between the Federal Tyres and Nearby Lawrenctown.

People

John Butler Yeats (1839-1922), an Irish artist and the father of William Butler Yeats and Jack Butler Yeats was born here
Lawrencetown was also the birthplace of William Dawson Lawrence (1817-1886), a successful shipbuilder, businessman and politician in Canada, who is reported to have built the largest wooden ship in the world in 1874

Demographics

956 Population [2011] – Census
0.3717 km² Area
2,572/km² Population Density
4.3% Annual Population Change [2001 → 2011]

Country of Birth (C 2011)

Northern Ireland 887
Great Britain 29
Republic of Ireland 21
EU (other) 5
Other country 9

Ethnic Group (C 2011)

White 948
Asian 2
Mixed/multiple 1

Religion (C 2011)

Roman Catholic 703
Christian (other) 141
Other religion 11
No religion 34

Main Language (C 2011)

English 895
Polish 1
Other language 4

Transport

Laurencetown had its own railway station from 1859 until 1955. The Laurencetown railway station opened on 23 March 1859. This Station acted as a stop between Banbridge (BJR) and Scarva until 1863 as Banbridge (BJR) railway station was closed in favour of the new Banbridge (BLBR) railway station. The Railway service resumed from Banridge with the opening of the Banbridge (BLBR) on 13 July 1863. On 1 January 1904 a new station between Banbridge and Laurencetown opened at Lenaderg. Laurencetown Railway Station Closed on 2 May 1955 as the Northern Irish Government Forced to Great Northern Railway of Ireland to close many of its stations as the Northern Irish Government wished to move away from Rail to invest more in roads.

Education

St. Colman's Primary School: Founded in the 20th century

Sport

Lawrencetown is home to Tullylish GAA club, which was formed in July 1944 and originally called 'St Patrick's GAA club'
Tullylish Running Club: Formed in 2017 by Shauna Corbett
Lawrencetown also had a football team called "Lawrencetown Celtic" c.1920