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Laurelvale

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Laurelvale
Mullavilly parish church
Population1,258 (2001)
Irish grid referenceJ006478
• Belfast25.5 mi (41.0 km)
District
County
CountryNorthern Ireland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townCRAIGAVON
Postcode districtBT62
Dialling code028, +44 28
UK Parliament
NI Assembly
List of places
UK
Northern Ireland
Armagh

Laurelvale is a village in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. It is beside the smaller village of Mullavilly and the two are sometimes referred to as Laurelvale-Mullavilly[2][3] or Mullavilly-Laurelvale.[4][5] The village is three miles south of Portadown and 1.5 miles northwest of Tandragee.[6] In the 2001 Census Laurelvale had a population of 1,258.

Name

Laurelvale is within the townland of Tamnaghvelton (formerly Tawnavaltiny, from Irish Tamhnaigh Bhealtaine, meaning 'Bealtaine field').[1][7] Laurelvale was taken from the name of a mansion that was built in the 19th Century. Mullavilly was named after the townland in which it lies. The name comes from Irish Mullach a' Bhile, meaning 'hilltop of the sacred tree'.[8][9]

History

Laurelvale was founded in the 1850s by Thomas Sinton JP (1826–1887) to house the workers in his linen mill of Thomas Sinton & Co. Ltd, which was in the village. At its height, Sintons' Mill had over 1000 workers. The mill has since been demolished. The company remained in family ownership until 1945 when it was taken over by the Ministry of Defence and operated by Hoffmans (who made ball bearings for gun turrets). The Sinton family also ran mills and bleach-works in Tandragee, Killyleagh, Tullylish and at Ravarnet outside Hillsborough, County Down.

Thomas Sinton also built a large house in the village, Laurelvale House, which, following the Second World War, was the home of Michael Torrens-Spence, Lord Lieutenant of County Armagh. Laurelvale House has since been demolished to make way for housing development.

Sintons' Mill

Schools

Churches

Sport

Laurelvale F.C. has a ground in the Laurel Park area of the village. Laurelvale Cricket Club has a clubhouse on Mullavilly Road.

2001 Census

Mullavilly-Laurelvale is classified as a village by the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) (i.e. with population between 1,000 and 2,250 people). On Census day (29 April 2001) there were 1,258 people living in Mullavilly-Laurelvale. Of these:

  • 25.0% were aged under 16 years and 12.7% were aged 60 and over
  • 49.5% of the population were male and 50.5% were female
  • 9.2% were from a Catholic background and 90.8% were from a Protestant background
  • 2.1% of people aged 16–74 were unemployed

For more details see: NI Neighbourhood Information Service

References

Further Reading

  • Mullavilly - Portrait of an Ulster Parish, by Brett Hannam, Lulu, 2010.