Dervock

Dervock (from Irish Dearbhóg^[1] or Dairbheog)^[2] is a small village and townland (of 132 acres) in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is about 3.5 miles (6 km) northeast of Ballymoney, on the banks of the River Bush. It is situated in the civil parish of Derrykeighan and the historic barony of Dunluce Lower.^[3] It had a population of 714 people (302 households) in the 2011 Census.^[4]

Dervock Irish: Dearbhóg/Dairbheog (little oak grove)
Dervock Location within Northern Ireland
Population	714 (2011 Census)
Irish grid reference	C978317
• Belfast	51 miles
District	Causeway Coast and Glens
County	County Antrim
Country	Northern Ireland
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	BALLYMONEY
Postcode district	BT53
Dialling code	028
UK Parliament	North Antrim
NI Assembly	North Antrim
List of places UK Northern Ireland Antrim 55.12346°N 6.46899°W / 55.12346; -6.46899

Features

The village includes a number of commercial businesses, a primary school and doctor's surgery, as well as recreational and community facilities.

The North Irish Horse Inn, a listed building, named after a famous British Army regiment, the namesake North Irish Horse, and has military memorabilia on display inside, and there is also a remembrance fountain built in 1878.

People

• Ken McArthur won a gold medal for running the marathon whilst representing his adopted country of South Africa at the Olympic games in 1912 held in Stockholm, Sweden.^[5] There is now an avenue in Dervock named in his honour.
• Richard Smyth (1826–1878), Presbyterian minister, and MP for County Londonderry
• Thomas McAfee (1866–1947), Presbyterian minister, member of the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan 1925–1929

Demography

Dervock is classified as a village by the NI Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) (i.e. with a population between 600 and 1,000 people). On Census day (29 April 2011) there were 711 people living in Dervock. Of these:^[6]*22.8% were aged under 16 years and 13.3% were aged 60 and over*47.9% of the population were male and 52.1% were female. 1.2% were from a Catholic background and 98.8% were from a Protestant background. 7.9% of people aged 16–74 were unemployed.

Transport

Dervock railway station opened on 18 October 1880 but closed on 3 July 1950.^[7] It was on the Ballycastle Railway, a narrow gauge railway which ran 17 miles connecting Ballycastle to Ballymoney, on the Belfast and Northern Counties Railway (BNCR), later Northern Counties Committee (NCC), main line to Derry~Londonderry.^[8]

A wall sign in Dervock showing support for the North Antrim and Londonderry brigade of the UDA.

See also

• List of towns and villages in Northern Ireland
• List of townlands in County Antrim

References

1. "Dearbhóg/Dervock". Logainm.ie (in Irish). Archived from the original on 7 May 2021. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
2. Placenames NI Archived 2012-06-02 at the Wayback Machine
3. "Dervock". IreAtlas Townlands Database. Archived from the original on 28 June 2015. Retrieved 9 May 2015.
4. "Dervock". Census 2011 Results. NI Statistics and Research Agency. Archived from the original on 22 April 2015. Retrieved 30 April 2015.
5. BBC news report Archived 27 October 2018 at the Wayback Machine, "Kennedy Kane McArthur: Flame still burns for Marathon messenger"
6. "Area Profile of Dervock - Based on 2011 Census". NI Neighbourhood Information Service. Archived from the original on 4 June 2011. Retrieved 15 July 2008.
7. "Dervock station" (PDF). Railscot - Irish Railways. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2 March 2011. Retrieved 23 September 2007.
8. Baker, Michael HC (1999). Irish Narrow Gauge Railways. A View from the Past. Ian Allan Publishing. ISBN 0-7110-2680-7.

External links

• Ballymoney Borough Council - McArthur Information