Portrush, NIR - Postcode - BT56 8FS

Description of Portrush

Portrush, Northern Ireland is a small coastal resort town in County Antrim. The name Portrush comes from the Irish word for "port of the promontory," Port Rois. It is close to the popular vacation destination of Portstewart. The majority of the hotels, restaurants, and taverns in the old town are located on a 1 mile (1.6 km) long peninsula called Ramore Head. At the time of the 2011 Census, Portrush was home to 6,454 people. When the tourist season is over, the city transforms into a dormitory for students attending the adjacent campus of the University of Ulster in Coleraine.

The West Strand, the East Strand, and White Rocks are three sandy beaches in the town, and the Royal Portrush Golf Club is the only course outside of Great Britain to have hosted The Open Championship twice (1951 and 2019).

History of Portrush

Portrush was inhabited throughout the "Larnian" (late Irish Mesolithic) period, as evidenced by flint tools discovered in the late 19th century; current estimates place this occupation at around 4000 BC. Around the 12th or 13th century, a permanent colony was established in the Portrush area thanks to the site's good natural defenses. Ramore Head was once the site of a church, but nothing from that building is still standing today. The church in Portrush, and by extension its surrounding community, appears to have been reasonably prosperous according to records of the papal taxation of 1306. In addition, the promontory was home to not one but two castles, each built in a different era. Caisleán a Teenie was likely located on Ramore Head and abandoned in the late 16th century, whereas Portrush Castle was possibly constructed in the early 17th century, around the time of the Plantation of Ulster. Neither castle is still standing.

Since the mid-17th century, when the Wars of the Three Kingdoms ended, Portrush has been a quiet fishing village. After the completion of the Ballymena, Ballymoney, Coleraine, and Portrush Junction Railway in 1855, the town experienced rapid development as a resort destination, eventually becoming one of Ireland's most important resort towns at the turn of the twentieth century. With the nearby Giant's Causeway serving as a major tourist attraction alongside the town's beaches and the Royal Portrush Golf Club (established in 1888), the Giant's Causeway Tramway was constructed in 1893 as one of the world's longest electric trains to service visitors travelling from Portrush . The town's prosperity peaked in the late 19th and early 20th century, and it has since deteriorated due to increased international travel during World War II. A series of bombings on 3 August 1976 destroyed many buildings but caused no casualties. In a second incident in April 1987, two officers of the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) were shot in the rear by the Provisional Irish Republican Army while on foot patrol on Main Street.