Kircubbin, County Down

Kircubbin (Irish: Cill Ghobáin, possibly derived from Scots Kirk and Irish Gobáin meaning "church of Gobáin") is a village and townland in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is on the shores of Strangford Lough, between Newtownards and Portaferry, in the Borough of Ards. The village harbour contains leisure craft, yachts, and a sailing club. The main street was redone in 2008 with some old houses knocked down and rebuilt as new buildings.It had a population of 1,153 people in the 2011 Census.

History

Kircubbin (then known as Cubinhillis) and nearby Inishargy are mentioned in early medieval records. This possible translation of the Irish name is the only evidence that connects the Irish Saint Goban to the village. John de Courcy, a Norman knight who invaded Ulster, brought Benedictines from Stoke Courcy in Somerset and Lonlay in France, for whom he founded Black Abbey (St Andrews in Ards), near Inishargy in the 1180s.

1798 Rebellion

The Rev. William Warwick, a Presbyterian minister in Kircubbin, was hanged in 1798 near his church, for the writing of seditious documents in support of the Irish Rebellion of 1798.