Dunloy () is a village and

townland A townland (; Ulster-Scots: ''toonlann'') is a traditional small land division used in Ireland and in the Western Isles of Scotland, typically covering . The townland system is of medieval Gaelic origin, predating the Norman invasion, and mo ...

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 Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

. It is located north 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-west is

Ballymoney Ballymoney ( , meaning 'townland of the moor') is a town and Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is within the Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council area. The civil parish of Ballymoney is situated ...

. It is located in the

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 ...

of Finvoy, in the former

barony Barony may refer to: * Barony, the peerage, office of, or territory held by a baron * Barony, the title and land held in fealty by a feudal baron * Barony (county division), a type of administrative or geographical division in parts of the British ...

Kilconway Kilconway () is a barony in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is bordered by six other baronies: Dunluce Upper to the north; Glenarm Lower to the east; Antrim Lower to the south-east; Toome Lower to the south; Loughinsholin to the south-wes ...

. The village had a population of 1,150 people in the 2021 Census. This article contains quotations from this source, which is available under th
Open Government Licence v3.0
© Crown copyright.

History

Dunloy lies in the ancient Irish

district A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municip ...

of "Killimorrie", which is now known as Killymurris.O'Laverty; ''An Historical Account of the Diocese of Down and Connor, Ancient and Modern'', volume 4. Killymurris is claimed as being derived from the Irish ''Coill Ui Mhuireadhaigh'' meaning "the wood of Murry". An alternate origin given for Killymurris is that it derives from ''Choill Mhuiris'' meaning "the wood of Morris".Place Names NI
- Killymurris Just south of Dunloy village, in the townland of Ballymacaldrack is " Dooey's Cairn". This open

court tomb The court cairn or court tomb is a megalithic type of chambered cairn or gallery grave. During the period, 3900–3500 BC, more than 390 court cairns were built in Ireland and over 100 in southwest Scotland. The Neolithic (New Stone Age) monu ...

, named after the landowner, is located on the slopes of Long Mountain and overlooks the valley of the

River Main The Main () is the longest tributary of the Rhine, one of the major European rivers. It rises as the White Main in the Fichtel Mountains of northeastern Bavaria and flows west through central Germany for to meet the Rhine below Rüsselsheim, ...

. The earliest known activity within the tomb is estimated at around 4000BC. Also on Long Mountain is another court Tomb, known as Broadstone. See:

List of megalithic monuments in Ireland A list is a set of discrete items of information collected and set forth in some format for utility, entertainment, or other purposes. A list may be memorialized in any number of ways, including existing only in the mind of the list-maker, but ...

In the same townland lies the ancient graveyard of Caldernagh.

Railways

Dunloy railway station Dunloy railway station served the village of Dunloy in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. History The station was opened by the Ballymena, Ballymoney, Coleraine and Portrush Junction Railway on 1 July 1856. It was taken over by the Northern Cou ...

is currently closed on the Belfast-Derry railway line run by

Northern Ireland Railways NI Railways, also known as Northern Ireland Railways (NIR; and for a brief period Ulster Transport Railways; UTR), is the railway operator in Northern Ireland. NIR is a subsidiary of Translink, whose parent company is the Northern Ireland Tr ...

Recent history

Since 1996 residents have shown opposition to Loyal Order parades in Dunloy. Parades are currently prohibited from entering the centre of the village. Loyalists in nearby Ballymena counter-protested by holding weekly protests at a Catholic church situated in the predominantly loyalist Harryville area of Ballymena. These protests have since ended. There have been many attacks on the local Orange Hall. On 12 July 2005, locals blocked the road in an attempt to stop the Orange Order from marching through the village.

The Troubles

On 11 July 1978, John Boyle, a 16-year-old civilian, was shot dead by SAS soldiers in a graveyard in the village. The previous day he had discovered an IRA arms cache under a fallen tombstone when he was visiting a family grave and reported the weapons to his father. His father then contacted the

Royal Ulster Constabulary The Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) was the police force in Northern Ireland from 1922 to 2001. It was founded on 1 June 1922 as a successor to the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) Richard Doherty, ''The Thin Green Line – The History of the ...

who, rather than removing the weapons, passed the information to the British Army, who placed SAS operatives at the site. The next day, Boyle returned to the graveyard (presumably out of curiosity to see if the weapons were still there). He was then shot dead by the British soldiers, who alleged he picked up a rifle and aimed it towards them; however a leaked RUC document confirmed that Boyle was shot in the back and his fingerprints were not on any of the recovered weapons. Two soldiers were put on trial for the killing, but both were acquitted and the Boyle family never received any form of apology from the security forces. On 21 February 1984, 26-year-old Sergeant Paul Oram, a member of 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 ...

(

14 Intelligence Company The Special Reconnaissance Unit, also known as the 14 Field Security and Intelligence Company, was a unit of the British Army's Intelligence Corps which conducted covert operations in Northern Ireland during the Troubles. It conducted undercov ...

, parent regiment

9th/12th Royal Lancers The 9th/12th Royal Lancers (Prince of Wales's) was a Cavalry regiments of the British Army, cavalry regiment of the British Army, formed in 1960 by the amalgamation of the 9th Queen's Royal Lancers and the 12th Royal Lancers. In the later years ...

), along with 18-year-old Declan Martin and 21-year-old Henry Hogan, both

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 ...

members of the

Provisional Irish Republican Army The Provisional Irish Republican Army (Provisional IRA), officially known as the Irish Republican Army (IRA; ) and informally known as the Provos, was an Irish republican paramilitary force that sought to end British rule in Northern Ireland ...

, were killed in a gun battle between undercover British Army members and Provisional Irish Republican Army members in Dunloy.

Demography

As of the 2011 census, Dunloy had a population of 1,194 people (381 households). On census day in 2011: * 98.91% were from the white (including Irish traveller)ethnic group; * 94.47% were from a Catholic community background and 4.19% were from a 'Protestant and Other Christian (including Christian related)' community background; * 10.89% indicated that they had a British national identity, 59.13% indicated an Irish national identity and 29.82% indicated a Northern Irish identity.

Notable people

Philip McGuigan Philip McGuigan (born 1973) is an Irish Sinn Féin politician who has been a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for North Antrim since 2016, having served from 2003 to 2007. He was a Ballymoney Borough Councillor for the Bann Va ...

(born 1973),

Sinn Féin Sinn Féin ( ; ; ) is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The History of Sinn Féin, original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffit ...

Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs; ; ) are representatives elected by the voters to the Northern Ireland Assembly. About The Northern Ireland Assembly has 90 elected members – five from each of 18 constituencies, the boundaries o ...

(MLA) for North Antrim since 2016, lives in Dunloy

References

*Draft Northern Area Plan 2016
Culture Northern Ireland

External links

Village standoff ends after talks
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BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

News article {{authority control Villages in County Antrim Civil parish of Finvoy