Randalstown is a townland and small town in County Antrim, Northern Ireland, between Antrim and Toome. It has a very prominent disused railway viaduct and lies beside Lough Neagh and the Shane's Castle estate. The town is bypassed by the M22 motorway with junctions at both the eastern and western ends of the town. It had a population of 5,151 people in the 2021 census.

History

The townland of Randalstown was originally known as An Dún Mór ("the great fort"), anglicised as Dunmore. This refers to a medieval motte-and-bailey castle built by the Irish on the west bank of the river Main just south of the town. A castle known as Edenduffcarrick, later Shane's Castle, was built near Randalstown in the 14th century by the O'Neills of Clannaboy. From at least the 1650s the town was known as "Iron Mills" (Muilinn Iarainn in Irish, anglicised "Mullynieren"). In 1667, the town was created a free borough and was officially renamed Randalstown. It was renamed to mark the marriage of Randal MacDonnell, 1st Marquess of Antrim to Rose O'Neill of Shane's Castle. The 1798 United Irishmen rebellion began in Antrim following a meeting to prepare for revolt by the Ulster Directory on 1 February 1798, at McClean's Inn, Randalstown. Robert McClean's "Great Inn" had long been an Irish Volunteers meeting place. Following his death in 1790, his son Francis became the proprietor. Dunmore Park was used as a training camp for the Ulster Volunteers during the Irish Home Rule crisis. Randalstown has a strong history of linen and iron industries. A memorial to this history is in the middle of the town and made from the original turbine used to generate mains electricity for the town and items salvaged from the Old Bleach Linen Company founded by James Webb in 1864. An old linen mill chimney from the Old Bleach factory can be seen from most parts of the town. The Dorma Old Bleach factory which operated from a neighbouring site closed down in 2002. The town used to have an active railway station which opened in 1848 by the Belfast and Ballymena Railway. The station connected the town to the Northern Counties Committee line. The station was closed in 1950 and has been disused ever since. On 1 October 1989, a Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) car bomb exploded outside the town's police station on New Street causing serious damage to nearby property. On 8 January 2010, PSNI Constable Peadar Heffron was seriously injured as a bomb exploded under his car on the Milltown Road near Randalstown. Dissident republicans were blamed for the attack.

Demography

2021 census

On census day (21 March 2021) the usually resident population of Randalstown was 5,151. Of these:

2011 census

On census day (27 March 2011) the usually resident population of Randalstown was 5,126 accounting for 0.28% of the NI total. Of these:

Places of interest

Notable residents

Sport

Education