Mullavilly-Laurelvale
Name
Laurelvale is within the townland of Tamnaghvelton (formerly Tawnavaltiny, from Irish Tamhnaigh Bhealtaine, meaning 'Bealtaine field'). 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'.
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.
Schools
Churches
Sport
Laurelvale F.C. has a ground in the Laurel Park area of the village. The football club currently play in the Mid-Ulster Football League Intermediate B Division.
Laurelvale Cricket Club has a clubhouse on Mullavilly Road and are currently competing in the NCU League Section 2, having just missed out on promotion in the 2015 season by way of Net Run Rate. Lee Edgar had a club record breaking season with 63 wickets winning the club's and league's Player of the Year.
Demography
2011 census
In the 2011 census Laurelvale-Mulavilly had a population of 1,288 people. Of these:
- 99.46% were from the white (including Irish Traveller) ethnic group;
- 7.53% belong to or were brought up in the Catholic religion and 86.96% belong to or were brought up in a 'Protestant and Other Christian (including Christian related)' religion; and
- 78.49% indicated that they had a British national identity, 5.75% had an Irish national identity and 23.68% had a Northern Irish national identity*.
2001 census
Mullavilly-Laurelvale is classified as a village by the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA). On census day (29 April 2001) there were 1,258 people living in Mullavilly-Laurelvale.
References
- ^ "Placenames Database of Ireland: Laurelvale". Archived from the original on 13 September 2012. Retrieved 24 January 2011.
- ^ "Roads Service to deliver new traffic calming measures for Laurelvale" Archived 30 December 2013 at the Wayback Machine. Portadown Times, 21 December 2007.
- ^ Armagh Area Plan 2004 Adoption Statement 1995 Archived 31 December 2013 at the Wayback Machine. Department of the Environment (Northern Ireland).
- ^ "Roundabout on way at Laurelvale accident hot-spot" Archived 30 December 2013 at the Wayback Machine. Portadown Times, 2 December 2008.
- ^ Mullavilly News, September 2010 issue Archived 2013-12-30 at the Wayback Machine.
- ^ "Free Map Tools". Archived from the original on 8 January 2015. Retrieved 5 January 2015.
- ^ "Census 2011 Population Statistics for Laurelvale / Mullavilly Settlement". NISRA. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
- ^ "Placenames NI: Tamnaghvelton". Archived from the original on 30 December 2013. Retrieved 29 December 2013.
- ^ "Placenames NI: Mullavilly". Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 29 December 2013.
- ^ "Placenames Database of Ireland: Mullavilly". Archived from the original on 21 July 2011. Retrieved 28 February 2011.
Further reading
- Mullavilly - Portrait of an Ulster Parish, by Brett Hannam, Lulu, 2010.