Talk:County Antrim
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, now in the public domain. |
 |
This article is within the scope of WikiProject Northern Ireland, an attempt to build a comprehensive and detailed guide to Northern Ireland on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, you can edit the article attached to this page, or visit the project page, where you can join the project and/or contribute to the discussion. | ||
| Start | This article has been rated as start-Class on the assessment scale. (If you rated the article please give a short summary at comments to explain the ratings and/or to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the article.) |
||
|
Article Grading: |
|||
|
WikiProject Northern Ireland tasks:
|
|||
 |
This article is within the scope of WikiProject Ireland, an attempt to build a comprehensive and detailed guide to Ireland on Wikipedia. For more information, or to get involved, visit the project page. | |
| Start | This article has been rated as Start-Class on the Project's quality scale. (If you rated the article please give a short summary at comments to explain the ratings and/or to identify the strengths and weaknesses.) |
|
| High | This article has been rated as High-importance on the priority scale. | |
 |
This article falls within the scope of WikiProject UK geography, a user-group dedicated to building a comprehensive and quality guide to places in the United Kingdom on Wikipedia. If you wish to participate, share ideas or merely get tips you can join us at the project page where there are resources, to do lists and guidelines on how to write about settlements. | |
| Start | This article has been rated as Start-Class on the assessment scale. (Add assessment comments) | |
| High | This article has been rated as high-importance within the UK geography WikiProject. | |
Contents |
[edit] 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica
It seems most of this article is a copy of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica, which is fine, but it is presented as it is up to date information. See the following two;
- Communications (The Railways no longer exist in that state, Translink operate all rail transportation in Northern Ireland at a somewhat smaller level.
- Population and Administration (the General Synod of Ulster has not excised since 1840, it is now part of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland. This section could probably mention the modern Administration through the Districts of Northern Ireland.
and to a lesser extent
- Industries (most of which could be considered history)
- History (ends at 1641)
Although I live in County Antrim, I was educated on the other side of the Bann, so only know the basics of its history. If anyone is able to rewrite this article please do so.
[edit] Removed Content (just in case)
[edit] Geology The first part was more up to date.
On entering the county at the south, a scarped barrier of hills is seen beyond the Lagan valley, marking the edge of the basaltic plateaus, and running almost continuously round the coast to Red Bay. Below it, Triassic beds are exposed from Lisburn to Island Magee, giving sections of red sands and marls. Above these, marine Rhaetic beds appear at intervals, notably near Larne, where they are succeeded by Lower Lias shales and limestones. At Portrush, the Lower Lias is seen on the shore, crowded with ammonites, but silicified and metamorphosed by invading dolerite. The next deposits, as the scarps are approached, are greensands of "Selbornian" age, succeeded by Cenomanian, and locally by Turonian, sands. The Senonian series is represented by the White Limestone, a hardened chalk with flints, which is often glauconitic and conglomeratic at the base. Denudation in earliest Eocene times has produced flint gravels above the chalk, and an ancient stream deposit of chalk pebbles occurs at Ballycastle. The volcanic fissures that allowed of the upwelling of basalt are represented by numerous dykes, many cutting the earlier lava-flows as well as all the beds below them. The accumulations of lava gave rise to the plateaus which form almost the whole interior of the county. In a quiet interval, the Lower Eocene plant-beds of Glenarm and Ballypalady were formed in lakes, where iron-ores also accumulated. Rhyolites were erupted locally near Tardree, Ballymena and Glenarm. The later basalts are especially marked by columnar jointing, which determines the famous structures of the Giant's Causeway and the coast near Bengore Head. Volcanic necks may be recognized at Carrick-a-rede, in the intrusive mass of dolerite at Slemish, at Carnmoney near Belfast, and a few other points. Fair Head is formed of intrusive dolerite, presenting a superb columnar seaward face. Faulting, probably in Pliocene times, lowered the basaltic plateaus to form the basin of Lough Neagh, leaving the eastern scarp at heights ranging up to 1800 feet. The glens of Antrim are deep notches cut by seaward-running streams through the basalt scarp, their floors being formed of Triassic or older rocks. Unlike most Irish counties, Antrim owes its principal features to rocks of Mesozoic and Cainozoic age. At Cushendun, however, a coarse conglomerate is believed to be Devonian, while Lower Carboniferous Sandstones, with several coal-seams, form a small productive basin at Ballycastle. The dolerite of Fair Head sends off sheets along the bedding-planes of these carboniferous strata. "Dalradian" schists and gneisses, with some dark limestones, come out in the north-east of the county, forming a moorland-region between Cushendun and Ballycastle. The dome of Knocklayd, capped by an outlier of chalk and basalt, consists mostly of this far more ancient series. Glacial gravels are well seen near Antrim town, and as drumlins between Ballymena and Ballycastle. The drift-phenomena connected with the flow of ice from Scotland are of special interest. Recently elevated marine clays, of post-glacial date, fringe the south-eastern coast, while gravels with marine shells, side by side with flint implements chipped by early man, have been lifted some 20 feet above sea-level near Larne.
Rock-salt some 80 feet thick is mined in the Trias near Carrickfergus. The Keuper clays yield material for bricks. Bauxite, probably derived from the decay of lavas, is found between Glenarm and Broughshane, associated with brown and red pisolitic iron-ores; both these materials are worked commercially. Bauxite occurs also near Ballintoy. The Ballycastle coal is raised and sold locally.
[edit] Industries Not up to date
The climate is very temperate. The soil varies greatly according to the district, being in some cases a rich loam, in others a chalky marl, and elsewhere showing a coating of peat. The proportion of barren land to the total area is roughly as 1 to 9; and of tillage to pasture as 2 to 3. Tillage is therefore, relatively to other counties, well advanced, and oats and potatoes are largely, though decreasingly, cultivated. Flax is a less important crop than formerly. The numbers of cattle, sheep, pigs and poultry are generally increasing. Dutch, Ayrshire and other breeds are used to improve the breed of cattle by crossing. Little natural wood remains in the county, but plantations flourish on the great estates, and orchards have proved successful.
There are several paper-mills at Bushmills in the north; whisky-distilling is carried on; and there are valuable sea-fisheries divided between the district of Ballycastle and Carrickfergus, while the former is the headquarters of a salmon-fishery district. The workings at the Ballycastle collieries are probably the oldest in Ireland. In 1770 the miners accidentally discovered a complete gallery, which has been driven many hundred yards into the bed of coal, branching into thirty-six chambers dressed quite square, and in a workman-like manner. No tradition of the mine having been formerly worked remained in the neighbourhood. The coal of some of the beds is bituminous, and of others anthracite.
[edit] A Reference
Anyone think it'd be worth mentioning that the Antrim Rifles (a battalion featured in Garth Ennis's "D-Day Dodgers" comic book, set in Italy during World War II) were supposedly almost entirely formed of men from Antrim?
[edit] Arms
This is probably more related to all the counties of Northern Ireland/Ireland but there doesn't seem to be a single page for this. The arms displayed in the Co. Antrim page - are they the arms of the county or are they an invention of the GAA? I'd like to believe the former, but it seems the GAA are the only group to use them. beano 16:45, 29 November 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Religion
Under religion it states that,
Presbyterianism is the largest religious denomination, followed by Catholicism and Anglicanism.
However, considering that most of Antrims population resides in greater Belfast and under Belfasts census section it states that
- 47.2% were from a Catholic background and 48.6% were from a Protestant background
Could it very well be possible that the largest denomination of Christianity is in fact Catholicisim not Presbyterianism?
Just throwing that out there, I could very well be wrong. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Cee em bee (talk • contribs) 01:08, 14 January 2007 (UTC).
- I wouldn't be too sure. Most of the other big towns (Newtownabbey with about 80k people, Larne, Carrickfergus, Ballymena etc) are all very much predominantly Protestant, although I don't know about individual denominations. Most of the Catholics outside Belfast in Co. Antrim live in rural areas around the Glens and north coast (Ballycastle). North Antrim, South Antrim and East Antrim also tend to have large majorities voting for unionist parties in elections, for what that's worth. beano 20:48, 17 April 2007 (UTC)
It looked like someone was vandalising this section adding one religion was more important than another. I reverted the copy to an earlier version as it seemed to be correct by the last census (2001). Free free to alter - especially to remove any perceived religious bias or if you know the size of the non-practicing/atheist population. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.86.217.91 (talk) 21:02, 24 March 2008 (UTC)
[edit] Map
-
- I uploaded a newer county map on par with the county maps for counties of ireland. these maps highlights the position of the county within the island of Ireland as well as Northern Ireland thus satisfying the pattern shown for the other county maps. I am aware that the other maps was just of Northern Ireland counties, however the location of the county on an "island-wide" basis is more beneficial to tourists and is a compromise that should satisfy both Nationalists and Unionists. -- RÓNÁN "Caint / Talk" 17:17, 11 September 2007 (UTC)
