Portballintrae Knowpia

Portballintrae
Irish: *Port Bhaile an Trá*
Portballintrae Irish: Port Bhaile an Trá;
	Road leading into the village
	Location within Northern Ireland
Population	601 (2011 census)
District	Causeway Coast and Glens;
County	County Antrim;
Country	Northern Ireland
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	BUSHMILLS
Postcode district	BT57
Dialling code	028
UK Parliament	North Antrim;
NI Assembly	North Antrim;
	List of places UK Northern Ireland Antrim 55°12′50″N 6°32′44″W / 55.21389°N 6.54556°W

Portballintrae (from Irish Port Bhaile an Trá, meaning 'port of the beach settlement') is a small seaside village in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is four miles east of Portrush and two miles west of the Giant's Causeway. In the 2011 census, Portballintrae had a population of 601, a decline of 18% compared to 2001.^[2] It lies within the Causeway Coast and Glens District Council area.

History

Portballintrae from the A2 road to Bushmills.

Spanish Armada

Between 1967 and April 1968 a team of Belgian divers (including Robert Sténuit, the world's first aquanaut), located the remains of the wreck of the Girona off the coast of Portballintrae and brought up the greatest find of Spanish Armada treasure salvaged up until that time.^[3]^[4] The recovered artefacts are now on display in the Ulster Museum in Belfast.

Places of interest

Runkerry House as it stands today

The ruins of Dunluce Castle sit on the edge of a cliff between Portballintrae and Portrush. The castle was the main stronghold of the MacDonnell chiefs of Antrim.

Much of Portballintrae and its surrounding area is owned by the Macnaghten family of Dundarave House and Runkerry House. Runkerry, once the home of Edward Macnaghten, Baron Macnaghten, has since been converted into a series of apartments.^{[citation needed]}

The Giant's Causeway Tramway runs through the sand dunes above the largest beach in Portballintrae, commonly known as Runkerry Strand, and Bushfoot Golf Club. This tourist railway runs between The Giants Causeway and Bushmills.^{[citation needed]}

Proposed development

In 2007, Portballintrae was proposed as a location for a golf course development by American real-estate developer Donald Trump.^[5]

Demographics

Portballintrae is classified as a small village or hamlet by the NI Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) (i.e. with population between 500 and 1,000 people). On census day 2001 (29 April 2001), there were 734 people living in Portballintrae.^{[citation needed]} Of these:

12.0% were aged under 16 years and 33.4% were aged 60 and over
48.9% of the population were male and 51.1% were female
1.0% were from a Catholic background and 96.5% were from a Protestant background.
2.1% of people aged 16–74 were unemployed

References

^ "Portballintrae (Causeway Coast and Glens, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom)". citypopulation.de. Retrieved 9 January 2025.
^ "2011 Census key statistics tables on demography". Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency. 16 August 2022. Retrieved 14 January 2024.
^ "Girona gold: How a diver discovered 400-year-old treasure". BBC.co.uk. 27 May 2017. Retrieved 22 November 2021.
^ Sténuit, Robert (1973). Treasures of the Armada. Trans. Francine Barker. New York: E. P. Dutton & Co. ISBN 0-525-22245-6.
^ Caldwell, Johnny (2 December 2007). "Trump golf complex welcome in NI". BBC News. London, UK. Archived from the original on 9 January 2025.