Bryansford

Bryansford Irish: Áth Bhriain[1]
Kilcoo parish church, Bryansford
Location within County Down
Population	392 (2001 Census)
District	Newry, Mourne and Down
County	County Down
Country	Northern Ireland
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	NEWCASTLE
Postcode district	BT33
Dialling code	028
UK Parliament	South Down
NI Assembly	South Down

Bryansford is a small village in County Down, Northern Ireland. It sits at the northern side of Tollymore Forest Park, roughly halfway between the towns of Newcastle and Castlewellan. The village is within the townlands of Ballyhafry and Aghacullion, in the Civil parish of Kilcoo. It had a population of 392 people in the 2001 Census.

Places of interest

Kilcoo Parish Church was built in 1712 by the Annesley family, whose family seat is in nearby Castlewellan. Percy Jocelyn, the Bishop of Clogher from 1820 to 1822, is thought to have been buried in the Roden family vault in the church.[2]

Tollymore Forest Park, at the edge of the village, covers 630 hectares and was formerly owned by the Earl of Roden. Tollymore appears in Season 1 of Game of Thrones as part of "The North".

People

• Sir Norman Stronge was born in the village.
• Jack Kyle lived his later life here.

Sport

The village has a successful Gaelic football team, Bryansford GAC. The team have won the Ulster Senior Club Football Championship twice, in 1969 and 1970. They play their home matches in St. Patricks Park in the nearby town of Newcastle.[3]

2001 Census

Bryansford is classified as a rural settlement by the NI Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) On Census day (29 April 2001) there were 392 people living in Bryansford. Of these:

• 27.6% were under 16 years old and 14.8% were aged 60 and above
• 49.5% of the population were male and 50.5% were female
• 61.4% were from a Catholic Community Background and 34.3% were from a 'Protestant and Other Christian (including Christian related)' Community Background.
• 1.2% of people aged 16–74 were unemployed.[4]

References

1. Placenames Database of Ireland
2. "The Church of Ireland Diocese of Clogher". Archived from the original on 24 June 2007. Retrieved 23 May 2007.
3. "Bryansford GAC". Archived from the original on 24 April 2007. Retrieved 23 May 2007.
4. NI Neighbourhood Information Service