Portaferry
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 Portaferry from the pier towards the north | |
  Location withinCounty Down | |
| Population | 2,514 (2011 Census) |
| Irish grid reference | J594509 |
| District | |
| County | |
| Country | Northern Ireland |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | NEWTOWNARDS |
| Postcode district | BT22 |
| Dialling code | 028 |
| Police | Northern Ireland |
| Fire | Northern Ireland |
| Ambulance | Northern Ireland |
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Portaferry (from Irish Port an Pheire 'landing place of the ferry') is a small town inCounty Down,Northern Ireland, at the southern end of theArds Peninsula, near the Narrows at the entrance toStrangford Lough. It is home to the Explorisaquarium and is well known for the annual Gala Week Float Parade. It hosts its own small Marina, thePortaferry Marina. ThePortaferry – Strangford Ferry service operates daily at 30-minute intervals (7.45 am to 10.45 pm) between the villages of Portaferry andStrangford, less than 1500 metres apart, conveying about 500,000 passengers per annum. It had a population of 2,514 people in the 2011 Census.[1] The town is located within theBarony ofArds Upper.[2]
Pot fishing, mainly for prawns and crabs and licensed shellfish farming takes place within Strangford Lough.Queen's University of Belfast[3] have a Marine Research Laboratory on the shorefront. The town is also home to a research centre for Swedish tidal-kite developerMinesto. The lough is one of the world's most important marine sites with over 2,000 marine species.
There are fine Georgian buildings in the town square, including a Market House, now used as a community centre.
Portaferry Lifeboat is an essential lifeline for local fishermen and yachtsmen. The Atlantic 75 is the fastest seagoing lifeboat in theRNLI's fleet and is capable of speeds up to 34 knots.[4][5]
About two miles from town is located Cooey's Wells which had a church thought to date to the about the 7th century. Three wells reputed to have healing properties are located at that site.[6]
Algae. Records of algae such asPolysiphonia fibrata,Haraldiophyllum bonnemaisonii have been recorded from Portaferry.[7]
Portaferry is classified as an intermediate settlement by the NI Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) (i.e. with population between 2,250 and 4,500 people). On Census day (27 March 2011) there were 2,511 people living in Portaferry. Of these:
The Portaferry area is popular with local and foreign tourists for its beauty, history, wildlife and other visitor attractions.Strangford Lough is the largest sea inlet in the British Isles.
It is Northern Ireland's first Marine Nature Reserve and is renowned as anArea of Outstanding Natural Beauty and Special Scientific Interest, with six National Nature Reserves within its reaches. Over 2000 species of marine animals have been found in the lough and internationally important flocks of wildfowl and wading birds converge there in winter. The lough is also the most important site in Ireland for breeding common seals.
| Climate data for Lough Cowey (10m elevation) 1991–2020 | |||||||||||||
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| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 8.5 (47.3) | 8.8 (47.8) | 10.1 (50.2) | 12.1 (53.8) | 14.8 (58.6) | 17.1 (62.8) | 18.9 (66.0) | 18.6 (65.5) | 16.9 (62.4) | 13.9 (57.0) | 10.9 (51.6) | 9.1 (48.4) | 13.3 (55.9) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 3.1 (37.6) | 3.1 (37.6) | 3.9 (39.0) | 5.1 (41.2) | 7.4 (45.3) | 9.8 (49.6) | 11.7 (53.1) | 11.7 (53.1) | 10.5 (50.9) | 8.1 (46.6) | 5.4 (41.7) | 3.7 (38.7) | 7.0 (44.6) |
| Average rainfall mm (inches) | 78.5 (3.09) | 60.1 (2.37) | 56.1 (2.21) | 53.8 (2.12) | 55.4 (2.18) | 62.9 (2.48) | 66.9 (2.63) | 79.2 (3.12) | 65.5 (2.58) | 87.1 (3.43) | 93.5 (3.68) | 81.2 (3.20) | 840.2 (33.09) |
| Average rainy days(≥ 1.0 mm) | 13.1 | 11.2 | 10.5 | 10.7 | 11.4 | 10.8 | 11.9 | 13.1 | 10.7 | 12.2 | 14.1 | 13.5 | 143.2 |
| Mean monthlysunshine hours | 54.7 | 79.1 | 117.9 | 168.7 | 204.6 | 169.7 | 170.3 | 164.0 | 135.7 | 101.4 | 67.0 | 49.4 | 1,482.5 |
| Source: metoffice.gov.uk[11] | |||||||||||||
GAA sports, particularlyhurling are popular in the area andPortaferry GAC were Ulster Club Hurling Champions in 2014. There are two other GAA clubs nearby, Ballygalget and Ballycran, and there is intense rivalry between the three.
Other pursuits are sailing, coastal rowing, angling, wildfowling, andbirdwatching. The town has the lough's longest established sailing club.
Portaferry industrial activities include agriculture, fishing, tourism. 'Suki Tea' announced as of 2014 that experimental tea growing will commence in the area, utilising the relatively warm and dry climate, with frost protection from Strangford Lough.
The lough is a centre for experimental marine current turbine technology development.Tidal energy, unlike wind orwave, is a renewable energy resource which can be predicted. In 2008 a twin-rotor 1.2 MWSeaGen was installed and successfully demonstrated this technology until its decommissioning which began in 2017.[12] Swedish companyMinesto have tested various versions of theirtidal-kite technology in the lough since 2011, and have a workshop and offices in Portaferry.[13][14]
Portaferry played a part in the linen industry. Many of the women in the town were employed to embroider handkerchiefs for Thomas Somerset and Co. one of the major linen companies in Ireland. The company realised that the women were more productive in the summer due to the light, so installed the first electric light outside of Belfast in Ulster. Each house with a working woman was given one light fitting and bulb. There was also a bus service introduced to bring more women from the Ards Peninsula to Portaferry to work in the factory that Somerset built.
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