Introduction
Town in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland
Human settlement in Northern IrelandPortstewartIrish: Port StíobhairdPortstewartLocation within Northern IrelandPopulation7,854 (2021)DistrictCauseway Coast and GlensCountyCounty LondonderryCountryNorthern IrelandSovereign stateUnited KingdomPost townPORTSTEWARTPostcode districtBT55Dialling code028PoliceNorthern IrelandFireNorthern IrelandAmbulanceNorthern Ireland
UK ParliamentEast LondonderryNI AssemblyEast Londonderry
List of places
UK
Northern Ireland
County Londonderry
55°10′48″N 6°42′40″W / 55.18°N 6.711°W / 55.18; -6.711
Portstewart is a small seaside town in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It had a population of 7,854 people in the 2021 United Kingdom census. It is a seaside resort, neighbouring both Coleraine in County Londonderry and Portrush in County Antrim. Its harbour and scenic coastal paths form an Atlantic promenade leading to a two-mile beach (Portstewart Strand), popular with holidaymakers in summer and surfers year-round. The town is located within the Barony of the North East Liberties of Coleraine.
Profile
[edit]
Portstewart was a popular holiday destination for Victorian middle-class families. Its long, crescent-shaped seafront promenade is sheltered by rocky headlands. It is a reasonably prosperous town. Most of the town is contained in the Strand electoral ward and this is one of the most affluent areas in Northern Ireland. In a deprivation index of electoral wards in Northern Ireland the Strand Ward in the town was ranked 570th out of the 582 wards.
House prices in Portstewart have been amongst the highest in Northern Ireland. According to the University of Ulster's Quarterly House Price Index report, produced in partnership with the Bank of Ireland and the Northern Ireland Housing Executive, in the fourth quarter of 2010, the North Coast region (Coleraine/Limavady area) had higher property prices than those of affluent south Belfast.
Portstewart is one of the most integrated towns in Northern Ireland with the religious demographics similar to the population of Northern Ireland as a whole. Community relations are generally good within the town. Dominican College, a Catholic grammar school, is one of the main schools in the area.
History
[edit]
Portstewart seafront.
Portstewart was founded in 1792 by John Cromie, who named it after his maternal ancestors, the Stewarts of Ballylesse. A Lieutenant Stewart is said to have obtained a lease of land from The 5th Earl of Antrim (first creation; 1713–1775) in 1734.[citation needed] Prior to this, the area was formerly known in Irish as Port na Binne Uaine, a name related to the nearby island and townland of Benoney (an anglicisation of Binne Uaine). The name Port na Binne Uaine is still used today as the Irish language name of the town, alongside the Gaelicised version Port Stíobhaird.
Portstewart developed to a modest size seaside resort in the mid 19th century under the influence of a local landlord, John Cromie. Its development and character was influenced greatly by the Sabbatarian sensitivities of the Cromies and the consequent resistance to a railway connection in the mid 19th century.
