Very short clip of Portrush Co. Antrim, N. Ireland
Portrush (from Irish: Port Rois, meaning promontory port) is a small seaside resort town in County Antrim, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom, on the County Londonderry border. The main part of the old town, including the railway station as well as most hotels, restaurants and bars, is built on a mile–long peninsula, Ramore Head, pointing north-northwest. It had a population of 6,454 people as measured by the 2011 Census. In the off-season, Portrush is a dormitory town for the nearby campus of the University of Ulster at Coleraine. It neighbours the resort of Portstewart.
The town is well known for its three sandy beaches, the West Strand, East Strand and White Rocks, as well as the Royal Portrush Golf Club, the only golf club outside of mainland Great Britain which has hosted the Open Championship.
It was the base for the Katie Hannan (this life boat was damaged in 2008, after running aground during a rescue at Rathlin Island, Now based as a training boat for the RNLI), a Severn class lifeboat and Ken and Mary, a D–class inshore lifeboat of the RNLI. Lifeboats have operated out of Portrush Harbour since 1860, and currently stationed there are the Severn class William Gordon Burr and the D-class inshore vessel David Roulston.
Portrush is in the East Londonderry constituency for the UK Parliament and Northern Ireland Assembly.
History
Portrush Chapel, Ireland (1850)
A number of flint tools found during the late nineteenth century show that the site of Portrush was occupied during the Larnian (late Irish Mesolithic) period; recent estimates date this to around 4000 BC.
The site of Portrush, with its excellent natural defences, probably became a permanent settlement around the 12th or 13th century. A church is known to have existed on Ramore Head at this time, but no part of it now survives. From the records of the papal taxation of 1306, the Portrush church – and by extension the village – appears to have been reasonably wealthy. The promontory also held two castles, at varying periods. The first of these, Caisleán an Teenie, is believed to have been at the tip of Ramore Head, and probably destroyed in the late 16th century; the other, Portrush Castle, may have been built around the time of the Plantation of Ulster in the early 17th century. Nothing survives of either castle.
Following the Wars of the Three Kingdoms in the mid-seventeenth century, Portrush became a small fishing town. It grew heavily in the nineteenth century as a tourist destination, following the opening of the Ballymena, Ballymoney, Coleraine and Portrush Junction Railway in 1855, and by the turn of the twentieth century had become one of the major resort towns of Ireland, with a number of large hotels and boarding houses including the prominent Northern Counties Hotel. As well as the town's beaches and the Royal Portrush Golf Club (opened 1888), the nearby Giant's Causeway was a popular tourist destination, with the Giant's Causeway Tramway – at the time, one of the world's longest electrified railways – built in 1893 to cater to travellers coming from Portrush.
Places of interest
Portrush's West Strand Beach.Attractions in the town include The Coastal Zone (formerly the Portrush Countryside Centre), Waterworld swimming complex, and, on the edge of town, the links of the Royal Portrush Golf Club, which hosted the 1951 British Open golf championship, and Ballyreagh Golf Course. At the 1951 British Open golf championship young star Derek McLachlan won the hearts of the local crowd when he led on the third day by 3 strokes only to drive out of bounds twice on the final day of the Open and finish tied for 8th place.
There are two long sandy beaches in the town, known as the West and East Strand. White Rocks and Curran Strand stretch on from the East Strand and are backed by dunes. The coast continues past Dunluce Castle to the Giant's Causeway (it was once possible to travel to these attractions from Portrush on the Giant's Causeway Tramway). A 13 ft high bronze sculpture,[12] inspired by the sails of local traditional boats, is located at East Strand ('To the People of the Sea' by Cork-based sculptor Holger Lönze).
Portrush is home to one of Northern Ireland's best known nightclubs. The Kelly's complex consists of a multitude of bars and clubs and is Northern Ireland's largest nightclub complex.[citation needed] It includes the nightclub Lush! which attracts many of the world's top DJs and hosts BBC Radio 1 events.
Portrush is also home to Barry's Amusements, the largest amusement park in Northern Ireland. Actor James Nesbitt once worked in Barry's.
The Skerries, a collection of rocks located just off the coast, are an important habitat for several species, some unique to Northern Ireland.
Portrush parkrun is a free, weekly, timed 5 km run along East Strand beach to the White Rocks and back.
Dji Phantom 4 Quadcopter Drone multi-rotor