City in County Antrim, Northern Ireland
Lisburn
Lisburn's name may come from a fire, its linen trade owes plenty to French refugees, and the man who gave it a park left London a world-famous art collection.
Key information
- County
- County Antrim
- Nation
- Northern Ireland
- Known for
- Irish linen, Huguenot heritage, army headquarters, Wallace Park
- What locals are called
- Lisburnians
- Famous people
- Louis Crommelin, Sir Richard Wallace, John Nicholson
- Football clubs
- Lisburn Distillery
About Lisburn
The town that may be named after a fire
Before it was Lisburn, it was Lisnagarvey, from the Irish Lios na gCearrbhach, often translated as the fort of the gamblers. A traditional explanation links the name Lisburn to the town's burning during the 1641 rebellion: Lis-burnt, then Lisburn. The later fire of 1707 cannot account for the change, because the name was already in use by then. The settlement grew in the early 1600s as English and Welsh settlers arrived on land granted to Sir Fulke Conway. In November 1641, during the rising, the townspeople fought off an attack in the Battle of Lisnagarvey, which is one reason the place figures so heavily in Ulster's seventeenth-century story.
How French refugees stitched Lisburn into the linen trade
Lisburn's most famous chapter begins with Louis Crommelin, a Huguenot from Picardy who fled religious persecution in France. He arrived in Lisburn in the late 1690s, after an invitation from William III to help build up Ireland's linen industry. Crommelin brought better looms and spinning methods, and he ran the business with a stern eye for quality. Lisburn became a centre of fine linen, and the trade shaped the town for roughly two centuries. Crommelin is buried in the graveyard of Christ Church Cathedral, which still stands at the heart of the city. The story is told today at the Irish Linen Centre and Lisburn Museum in Market Square, where you can see how flax became cloth. The mills of Hilden, which turned out linen thread, are part of the same story.
The millionaire who gave Lisburn a park
Sir Richard Wallace was the heir to the Marquess of Hertford's fortune, and he is the reason one of London's best-loved galleries exists. The Wallace Collection, with its famous paintings and armour, passed to the nation after his widow's death. Wallace also looked after his Lisburn estates. He served as the town's MP in the 1870s and 1880s, and Wallace Park is named in his honour. It remains one of the city's most popular green spaces, with a statue of him in Castle Gardens nearby. Another local hero is John Nicholson, the soldier of the Indian Mutiny. Born in Dublin, he spent his formative years in Lisburn, and the cathedral holds a memorial to him.
A city that waited until 2002
For years Lisburn was one of the largest towns in Northern Ireland, with a population that dwarfed many places already called cities. In 2002, as part of the Queen's Golden Jubilee celebrations, it was finally granted city status, along with Newry. It is also a military town. Thiepval Barracks has long been the British Army's headquarters in Northern Ireland, a presence that left its mark on the town's modern history.
Hockey sticks, a brewery and a footballing nomad
Lisburn has more sporting character than its size suggests. Lisnagarvey Hockey Club, founded in 1901, is one of the best-known names in Irish hockey and has sent players to international teams for generations. In football, Lisburn Distillery were founded in 1880 as the works team of a Belfast whiskey distillery, before settling in Lisburn in the early 1980s. They won the League Cup in 2011. Hilden Brewery was established in 1981 in the grounds of Hilden House, beside the former linen mills, and was long described as Ireland's oldest independent brewery. It has since ceased brewing.