Broughshane ( , formerly spelt Brughshane, )Place Names NI
/ref> is a large

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

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. It is northeast of

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 ...

and north of Antrim, on the A42 road. It is part of

Mid and East Antrim District Council Mid and East Antrim Borough Council is a local authority that was established on 1 April 2015. It replaced Ballymena Borough Council, Carrickfergus Borough Council and Larne Borough Council. History On 2 December 2021, the councils chief exec ...

and had a population of 2,879 people in the 2011 census. This article contains quotations from this source, which is available under th
Open Government Licence v3.0
© Crown copyright. Its name comes from the Irish for "Shane's dwelling", and seemingly refers to a castle of Shane mac Brian O'Neill, ruler of the

Gaelic Gaelic (pronounced for Irish Gaelic and for Scots Gaelic) is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". It may refer to: Languages * Gaelic languages or Goidelic languages, a linguistic group that is one of the two branches of the Insul ...

territory of Lower

Clannaboy Clandeboye or Clannaboy ( Irish ''Clann Aodha Buí'', "family of Hugh the Blond") was a kingdom of Gaelic Ireland, comprising what is now south County Antrim, north County Down, and the barony of Loughinsholin. The entity was relatively late in ...

from 1595 to 1617, which formerly stood on the north side of the village street. The nearby pub, ''The Thatch Inn'', has a thatched roof and is a Grade B+

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

. Broughshane is known as the 'Garden Village of Ulster' with the motto 'People, Plants and Pride growing Together'. In 2018, the village won Channel Four's 'UK Village of the Year'. It has won Ulster in Bloom,

Britain in Bloom RHS Britain in Bloom is the largest horticultural campaign in the United Kingdom. It was first held in 1963, initiated by the British Tourist Board based on the example set by Fleurissement de France (now Conseil national de villes et villages ...

and ''Entente Florale'' (Europe in Bloom). In 2007 and again in 2012, the village won 'Champion of Champions' award in the Britain in Bloom competition. It has also won the All Ireland Tidy Town Award.BBC report on winning the Britain in Bloom award
/ref> Volunteers have established in the area around the village pond, a wildlife area which has some of every species of swan and many rare types of geese etc.

Sport

Broughshane's two

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

teams, Braid United FC and

Raceview FC Raceview is a suburb of Ipswich in the City of Ipswich, Queensland, Australia. In the , Raceview had a population of 9,699 people. Geography The Cunningham Highway passes through the south-eastern corner of Raceview, entering from Blackstone ...

, play in the Ballymena Saturday Morning League. Both clubs play their home matches at the village's football pitch at Knockan Road. Since 2008, the pitch has also been used as a venue for

Milk Cup SuperCupNI, formerly called the Northern Ireland Youth Soccer Tournament and the Dale Farm Milk Cup, is an international youth football tournament held annually in Northern Ireland. The cup matches are mainly played in the North Coast area of ...

games. Ballymena Golf Club, founded in 1903, is located just outside the village. Ballymena R.F.C.'s rugby grounds are on the road linking Ballymena to Broughshane.

Demographics

Broughshane had a population of 2,879 people (1,243 households) in the 2011 census. On census day in 2011: * 19.00% were under 16 years old and 21.74% were aged 65 and above; * 47.48% of the population were male and 52.52% were female; and * 4.52% were from a Catholic community background and 89.65% were from a 'Protestant and Other Christian (including Christian related)' community background.

Notable people

*Broughshane was the ancestral home of Sir George White VC, the most decorated soldier in the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

and the hero of the

Siege of Ladysmith The siege of Ladysmith was a protracted engagement in the Second Boer War, taking place between 2 November 1899 and 28 February 1900 at Ladysmith, Natal. Boer invasion of Natal Outbreak of war The Second Boer War began on 11 October 1899 wh ...

. There is a memorial in the

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...

Church graveyard. *His son, Captain James Robert "Jack" White", co-founded the

Irish Citizen Army The Irish Citizen Army (), or ICA, was a paramilitary group first formed in Dublin to defend the picket lines and street demonstrations of the Irish Transport and General Workers' Union (ITGWU) against the police during the Great Dublin Lock ...

during the

Dublin Lockout The Dublin lock-out was a major industrial dispute between approximately 20,000 workers and 300 employers that took place in Dublin, Ireland. The dispute, lasting from 26 August 1913 to 18 January 1914, is often viewed as the most severe and ...

and later went on to fight the Fascist uprising in the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

. * Sir James Russell, Chief Justice of Hong Kong, was from Broughshane and is buried there. * Guy Wilson, horticulturalist and nurseryman. *Actor

James Nesbitt William James Nesbitt (born 15 January 1965) is an actor from Northern Ireland. From 1987, Nesbitt spent seven years performing in plays that varied from the musical '' Up on the Roof'' (1987, 1989) to the political drama ''Paddywack'' (1994). ...

grew up in Broughshane before moving to

Coleraine Coleraine ( ; from , 'nook of the ferns'Flanaghan, Deirdre & Laurence; ''Irish Place Names'', page 194. Gill & Macmillan, 2002. ) is a town and Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish near the mouth of the River Bann in County Londonderry, No ...

. *

Ireland national rugby union team The Ireland national rugby union team is the men's representative national team for the island of Ireland in rugby union. The team represents both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. Ireland competes in the annual Six Nations Champio ...

and

British and Irish Lions The British & Irish Lions is a rugby union team selected from players eligible for the national teams of England national rugby union team, England, Ireland national rugby union team, Ireland, Scotland national rugby union team, Scotland, and ...

rugby player David Humphreys, from Broughshane, winning the Triple Crown and captaining the

Barbarian F.C. The Barbarian Football Club, known as the Barbarians, is a Great Britain, British-based invitational rugby union club. The Barbarians play in black and white hoops, though players wear socks from their own club strip. Membership is by invitatio ...

in his illustrious career. *

Ulster Rugby Ulster Rugby is one of the four professional provincial rugby union teams from the island of Ireland. They compete in the Irish regional pool of the United Rugby Championship and in the European Rugby Champions Cup, each of which they have won ...

player

Ian Humphreys Ian Humphreys (born 24 April 1982 in Belfast, Northern Ireland) is a retired Irish rugby union footballer, who played at fly-half for the Pro12 team Ulster Rugby and English sides Leicester Tigers and London Irish. He joined Ulster in 2008 from ...

, brother of David Humphreys is from Broughshane. *

British & Irish Lions The British & Irish Lions is a rugby union team selected from players eligible for the national teams of England national rugby union team, England, Ireland national rugby union team, Ireland, Scotland national rugby union team, Scotland, and ...

, Ireland national rugby union, Barbarian F.C,

Ballymena RFC Ballymena Rugby Football Club is a rugby union club based in the town of Ballymena, Northern Ireland, playing in 2024–25 All-Ireland League (rugby union)#Division 2A, Division 2A of the All-Ireland League (rugby union), All-Ireland League. It is ...

rugby player Steve Smith lives in Broughshane,

Darts Darts is a competitive sport in which two or more players bare-handedly throw small projectile point, sharp-pointed projectile, projectiles known as dart (missile), darts at a round shooting target, target known as a #Dartboard, dartboard. Point ...

player Josh Rock

References

External links

Welcome to Broughshane
- News and information relating to the village and the greater Braid Valley area
Culture Northern Ireland
(archived 2007) {{authority control Villages in County Antrim