Editing Newtownards (section)

==History==

===Irish settlement===
In 540 AD, [[Finnian of Moville|St. Finian]] founded [[Movilla Abbey]], a [[monastery]], on a hill overlooking [[Strangford Lough]] about a mile northeast of present-day Newtownards town centre. "Movilla" (''Magh Bhile'') means "the plain of the sacred tree" in [[Irish language|Irish]], which suggests that the land had previously been a sacred [[Celtic paganism|pagan]] site. It became a significant Christian settlement – a centre for worship, study, mission and commercial trade, well known throughout Ireland. It was sacked by the [[Vikings]] sometime after AD 824, though survived for a thousand years as a monastic settlement (becoming part of the [[Augustinians|Augustinian]] Order in 1135), until the [[dissolution of the monasteries]] in 1542.<ref>{{cite web|title=Movilla Abbey|url=http://www.irishstones.org/place.aspx?p=1076|website=Irish Stones|accessdate=8 July 2017}}</ref>

The [[Normans in Ireland|Normans]] conquered east Ulster in the 1170s, founding the [[Earldom of Ulster]]. Around 1226, they established a new town around Movilla, which became known as the "New Town of Blathewic", after the Irish territory of [[Blathewyc|Uí Blathmhaic]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Newtownards, Co Down |url=http://www.placenamesni.org/resultdetails.php?entry=6802 |publisher=Place Names NI}}</ref> A [[Dominican Order|Dominican]] priory was built in 1244 by [[Walter de Burgh, 1st Earl of Ulster|Walter de Burgh]]<ref>{{cite EB1911 |wstitle=Newtownards |volume=19 |page=594}}</ref> and was also dissolved in 1542.<ref name="Thompson09">{{cite web|last1=Thompson|first1=Mark|title=Newtownards Priory – one of the great Ulster-Scots churches|url=http://clydesburn.blogspot.com/2009/02/newtownards-priory-one-of-great-ulster.html|website=clydesburn.blogspot.com (blog)|access-date=15 September 2016|date=2 February 2009}}</ref>

In 1572, both monasteries were burned by the [[Clannaboy]] [[O'Neill dynasty#O'Neills of Clanaboy|O'Neills]] under Sir [[Brian McPhelim O'Neill]] to deny buildings to the English, who were attempting to [[Plantations of Ireland#East Ulster|colonize the Ards]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Newtownards Priory|url=http://ulsterscotstrail.com/newtownards/newtownards-priory|website=Ulster Scots Heritage Trail|access-date=15 September 2016}}</ref><ref name="Thompson09"/> After this the urban settlement at Movilla disappeared and the area around it became known as "Ballylisnevin" ("the town of Nevin's fort").<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=e3r-DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT139|title=That Place We Call Home: A Journey Through the Place Names of Ireland|first=John|last= Creedon |year= 2020|publisher=Gill Books|isbn=978-0717189861}}</ref>

===The Scottish town===
[[File:Newtownards Town Hall - geograph.org.uk - 466808.jpg|thumb|280px|[[Market House, Newtownards]]]]
In 1605 (prior to the official [[Plantation of Ulster]] in 1610), [[Hugh Montgomery, 1st Viscount of the Great Ardes|Hugh Montgomery]] was granted the lands and set about rebuilding what was by then known as ''Newtown'', later expanded to ''Newtownards''. Official records show the town was established in 1606. Montgomery built a residence in the ruins of the old priory, the tower of which remains. Scottish Protestant settlers, particularly from [[Ayr]], and to a lesser extent [[Irvine, North Ayrshire|Irvine]], in [[Ayrshire]], arrived in large numbers and the town grew quickly.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Plantation of Ulster|last=Bardon|first=Jonathan|publisher=Gill Books|location=Dublin|date=2012}}</ref>

Due to the shallow mud of Strangford Lough, Newtown never developed as a port, with goods instead transported from the nearby town of [[Donaghadee]] on the [[Irish Sea]] coast of the Ards Peninsula. Instead, it became a market town, with the [[Market House, Newtownards|Market House]] in Conway Square constructed in 1771.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC27HPQ_newtownards-historical-series-9-the-market-house?guid=92e77800-b15f-47eb-9a76-b1b9ac4107d9|publisher= Newtownards Historical Series |title=The Market House|accessdate=21 April 2020}}</ref>

===United Irishmen rebellion===

North Down and the Ards were briefly held by [[Society of United Irishmen|United Irish]] insurgents in the [[Irish Rebellion of 1798]]. On the morning of 9 June, "Pike Sunday", United Irishmen, mainly from [[Bangor, County Down|Bangor]], [[Donaghadee]], [[Greyabbey]] and [[Ballywalter]], under the command of the Presbyterian licentiate (later American diplomat) [[David Bailie Warden]], marched on the town. They were driven off with [[musket]] fire from the Market House, but the garrison, consisting of troops from the [[Fencibles#Irish Rebellion of 1798|York Fencible Regiment of Foot]] subsequently withdrew, allowing the rebels to establish a French revolutionary-style [[Committee of Public Safety]]. The "Republic" in Newtownards did not survive the rout two days later of [[Battle of Ballynahinch|the main rebel force at Ballynahinch]].<ref>[[ATQ Stewart|Stewart, A.T.Q.]] (1995), ''The Summer Soldiers: The 1798 Rebellion in Antrim and Down'' Belfast, Blackstaff Press, 1995,{{ISBN|9780856405587}}.</ref>

===The Great Famine===
During the [[Great Famine (Ireland)|Great Famine]], which resulted from the dependence of small tenants and cottiers on a blighted potato crop, the largest local landowner, [[Charles Vane, 3rd Marquess of Londonderry|Lord Londonderry]], rejected rent reductions on grounds of "personal inconvenience". By 1847 the 800 inhabitants of the town were witness to "emaciated and half-famished souls" queuing at soup kitchens and overflowing the newly built [[workhouse]]. Despite Lord Londonderry's objection, with the upgrading of the road to Donaghadee several public works programs for famine relief were instigated. In general, conditions on the land, not as acutely subdivided as in western districts of Ireland, and the availability of weaving and other employments, saved the town from the worst.<ref>{{cite news |title=Irish Famine: How Ulster was devastated by its impact |publisher=BBC News |date=26 September 2015 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-34369080 |access-date=18 January 2021}}</ref><ref name="McCavery">{{cite book |last1=McCavery |first1=Trevor |title=Newtown: a History of Newtownards |date=1994 |publisher=Gatefold Paperback |isbn=978187013246-6}}</ref>

===Victorian growth===
The early 19th century saw the reclamation of the marshlands south of the town. At the same time, its growth was accelerated by integration into the Belfast and Lagan Valley industrial region and market. The [[Belfast and County Down Railway]] connected Newtownards to [[Belfast]], via [[Comber]] and [[Dundonald, County Down|Dundonald]], in 1850, and to Donaghadee in 1861. By the same year, the town's population had risen to 9,500. (This rail line was closed in 1950.) On 12 July 1867, despite the [[Party Processions Act]]s, the [[Orange Institution|Orange Order]] paraded from Bangor to Newtownards. The parade was organised by [[William Johnston (Irish politician)|William Johnston]] (sentenced to a short term in prison the next year for his actions) and about 30,000 took part.<ref>{{cite web|title=Parades and Marches – Chronology 2: Historical Dates and Events|work=Conflict Archive on the Internet (CAIN)|url=http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/issues/parade/chpa2.htm|access-date=28 January 2010}}</ref>

As the nineteenth century progressed the economy became increasingly tied to the growing city of Belfast and the town continued to prosper and by the 20th century had increasingly become a [[commuter]] town. Newtownards' population reached 13,100 in 1961 and had doubled to 28,000 by 2011.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nisra.gov.uk/sites/nisra.gov.uk/files/publications/2017%20Mid-year%20Population%20Estimates%20for%20District%20Electoral%20Areas%20-%20statistical%20bulletin.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190723174559/https://www.nisra.gov.uk/sites/nisra.gov.uk/files/publications/2017%20Mid-year%20Population%20Estimates%20for%20District%20Electoral%20Areas%20-%20statistical%20bulletin.pdf |archive-date=2019-07-23 |url-status=live|title=2017 Mid-year Population Estimates for District Electoral Areas|page=23|publisher=Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency|access-date=25 November 2022}}</ref>

===The Troubles===
During [[the Troubles]], Newtownards was the scene of a [[car bomb]] attack on 5 July 1993, when Roma's Bar in Regent Street was targeted. The pub was destroyed, but has since been rebuilt. The attack was carried out by the [[Provisional Irish Republican Army]] (PIRA) with a 700&nbsp;kg (1,500&nbsp;lb) device.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/othelem/chron/ch93.htm#Jul|title=CAIN: Chronology of the Conflict 1993|website=Cain.ulst.ac.uk|access-date=15 September 2016}}</ref> There were no fatalities. Police said the 10-minute warning, telephoned to a local radio station, was "totally inadequate." The warning said the bomb contained 1,500 pounds of explosives.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://journaltimes.com/news/national/ira-car-bomb-injures/article_56529e20-09d3-5675-aed8-8cd74c852494.html|title=IRA car bomb injures 17|website=Journaltimes.com|access-date=2 January 2018}}</ref>

===Recent times===
On 1 November 2021, a bus in the town was hijacked and set on fire by two masked assailants allegedly protesting the [[Northern Ireland Protocol]].<ref>{{Cite news|date=2021-11-01|title=Newtownards: Bus hijacked by masked men and set on fire|publisher=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-59117071|access-date=2021-11-02}}</ref>