Attical or Atticall () is a small
village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...
and
townland
A townland ( ga, baile fearainn; Ulster-Scots: ''toonlann'') is a small geographical division of land, historically and currently used in Ireland and in the Western Isles in Scotland, typically covering . The townland system is of Gaelic orig ...
(of 396 acres)
in the
Mourne Mountains
The Mourne Mountains ( ; ga, Beanna Boirche), also called the Mournes or Mountains of Mourne, are a granite mountain range in County Down in the south-east of Northern Ireland. They include the highest mountains in Northern Ireland, the high ...
of
County Down
County Down () is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It covers an area of and has a population of 531,665. It borders County Antrim to th ...
,
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label=Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. North ...
. It is situated in the
civil parish
In England, a civil parish is a type of Parish (administrative division), administrative parish used for Local government in England, local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below district ...
of
Kilkeel
Kilkeel () is a small town, civil parish and townland (of 554 acres and 6521inh) in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is the southernmost town in Northern Ireland. It lies within the historic barony of Mourne. Kilkeel town is the main fishing ...
and the historic
barony of
Mourne.
In the
2001 Census it had a population of 153 people. It lies within the
Newry and Mourne District Council
Newry and Mourne District Council ( ga, Comhairle an Iúir agus Mhúrn) was a local council in Northern Ireland. It merged with Down District Council in May 2015 under local government reorganisation in Northern Ireland to become Newry, Mourne ...
area.
The village has a Catholic maintained primary school, called Holy Cross, for 4–11 year olds. There are a Roman Catholic church, a shop and a
Gaelic football
Gaelic football ( ga, Peil Ghaelach; short name '), commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA or Football is an Irish team sport. It is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score by ki ...
club. The Cnocnafeola Cultural and Residential Centre offers accommodation for trekkers and visitors to the Mournes.
The village is also home to the Holy Cross Accordion Band, which has won All Ireland
Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann
The Fleadh Cheoil (; meaning "festival of music") is an Irish music festival run by Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann (CCÉ), a non-profit organisation. The festival includes live music events as well as competition. Each year a single town or city ...
competitions on six occasions: 2010, 2011, 2014, 2016, 2017 and 2018. They were also crowned All Ireland Junior
Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann
The Fleadh Cheoil (; meaning "festival of music") is an Irish music festival run by Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann (CCÉ), a non-profit organisation. The festival includes live music events as well as competition. Each year a single town or city ...
champions in 2016.
Geography
At the end of the
ice age
An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages and gre ...
a deposit of stones is thought to have been left that runs through Atticall. This is known locally as the Stoney Rigg. The remains of this can be seen on
Slieve Muck, and it is said to flow down to Green Castle.
The
great spotted woodpecker
The great spotted woodpecker (''Dendrocopos major'') is a medium-sized woodpecker with pied black and white plumage and a red patch on the lower belly. Males and young birds also have red markings on the neck or head. This species is found acros ...
, Ireland's newest breeding bird species, has been seen in Cnocnafeola Wood.
See also
*
List of towns and villages in Northern Ireland
This is an alphabetical list of towns and villages in Northern Ireland. For a list sorted by population, see the list of settlements in Northern Ireland by population. The towns of Armagh, Lisburn and Newry are also classed as cities (see city s ...
*
List of townlands in County Down
In Ireland, Counties are divided into Civil Parishes and Parishes are further divided into townlands. The following is a list of townlands in County Down, Northern Ireland:
__NOTOC__
A
Acre McCricket, Aghacullion, Aghandunvarran, Aghavill ...
References
{{authority control
Villages in County Down
Townlands of County Down
Civil parish of Kilkeel