Ahoghill

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Ahoghill main street

St Colmanell's Church of Ireland

Ahoghill (pronounced [əˈhɒhɪl] or /əˈhɒxɪl/ – from the Irish: Achadh Eochaille meaning "field of the yew forest") is a village in County Antrim, Northern Ireland, four miles from Ballymena. It has a population of 3,055 people (according to the 2001 Census). It is situated within the Ballymena Borough Council area.

In early documents, Ahoghill is referred to as Magherahoghill meaning "the plain of the yew forest".

The Diamond forms the heart of the village. Most of the houses are two storey terraces or cottages. The old Church of Ireland graveyard just off The Diamond has many interesting memorials.

[edit] 2001 Census

Ahoghill is classified as an Intermediate Settlement by the NI Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) (ie with a population of between 2,250 and 4,500 people). On Census day (29 April 2001) there were 3,055 people living in Ahoghill. Of these:

23.2% were aged under 16 and 14.8% were aged 60 and over
48.9% of the population were male and 51.1% were female
5.8% were from a Catholic background and 92.3% were from a Protestant background;
2.4% of people aged 16–74 were unemployed.

For more details see: NI Neighbourhood Information Service

[edit] Anti-Catholic Sectarianism

The village is notorious for anti-Catholic sectarianism and was seized by vicious sectarian violence in 2005 ^[1], which prompted the exodus of dozens of Catholic families.