Ahoghill ( or ; ) is a large village and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

County Antrim County Antrim (named after the town of Antrim, County Antrim, Antrim, ) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, located within the historic Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the c ...

, Northern Ireland, four miles from

Ballymena Ballymena ( ; from , meaning 'the middle townland') is a town in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It had a population of 31,205 people at the 2021 United Kingdom census, making it the List of localities in Northern Ireland by population, seven ...

. It is located in the Mid and East Antrim Borough Council area. It had a population of 3,417 people at the 2011 census. In early documents, Ahoghill is referred to as ''Magherahoghill'' meaning "the plain of the yew forest."

Demography

Ahoghill had a population of 3,417 people (1,327 households) at the 2011 census, an increase of 11.8% on the 2001 census population of 3,055. On census day in 2011: *22.2% were aged under 16 and 12.6% were aged 65 and over *48.8% of the population were male and 51.2% were female *3.8% were from a

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

background and 90.8% were from a

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

or other Christian background *3.5% of people aged 16–74 were unemployed

History

Religious revival

The 1859 Revival which swept through

Ulster Ulster (; or ; or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional or historic provinces of Ireland, Irish provinces. It is made up of nine Counties of Ireland, counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kingdom); t ...

has strong connections with Ahoghill. Thousands of ordinary folk had their lives changed at this time. Especially notable is the reports of men and women weeping in the streets of Ahoghill. On Monday 14 March 1859 a thanksgiving service took place in the new First Ahoghill Presbyterian Meetinghouse at which some of the converts from Connor spoke. It was estimated that 3,000 people attended and the commotion was such that the minister ordered the building to be emptied out of fear of the crowded gallery giving way. The crowd spent upwards of three hours in the rain continuing in prayer and praise. The gallery of First Ahoghill still bears the effects of this event; it is visibly sunken to one side. Today Ahoghill has three Presbyterian churches, First Ahoghill on Straid Road, Brookside on Brook Street and Trinity on Church Street. There is also St Colmanell's Church of Ireland on Church Street, a Gospel Hall on Glenhugh Road and a Roman Catholic Chapel on Ballynafie road.

The Troubles

On 19 April 1977 William Strathearn (39), a

shop owner was shot and killed by the

Ulster Volunteer Force The Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) is an Ulster loyalism, Ulster loyalist paramilitary group based in Northern Ireland. Formed in 1965, it first emerged in 1966. Its first leader was Gusty Spence, a former Royal Ulster Rifles soldier from North ...

(UVF) while at his home in Ahoghill. The murder was carried out by

Billy McCaughey William McCaughey (c. 1950 – 8 February 2006) was a member of the Royal Ulster Constabulary's Special Patrol Group and the illegal Ulster Volunteer Force's Glennane gang in the 1970s. He was imprisoned for 16 years for murder from 1980 t ...

who was a UVF member despite also being a former police officer."Hatred in Harryville", Henry McDonald, ''Sunday Times'', 9 February 1997 The village has seen frequent sectarian attacks, particularly in 2005 when several Catholic families left after attacks on their homes,UTV
and is considered a staunchly

loyalist Loyalism, in the United Kingdom, its overseas territories and its former colonies, refers to the allegiance to the British crown or the United Kingdom. In North America, the most common usage of the term refers to loyalty to the British Cr ...

area.

Sport

Ahoghill Thistle F.C. and Ahoghill Rovers F.C. are two local

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

teams. The local

Gaelic Athletic Association The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA; ; CLG) is an Irish international amateur sports, amateur sporting and cultural organisation, focused primarily on promoting indigenous Gaelic games and pastimes, which include the traditional Irish sports o ...

(GAA) clubs include St. Mary's GAC and Clooney Gaels GAC.

Notable people

References

External links

Culture Northern Ireland
(archived 2007) {{authority control Villages in County Antrim Civil parishes of County Antrim