placenamesPriestland
Fearann an tSagairt
A farming settlement with links to the 1798 rebellion and a school rebuilt for successive generations.
The name
These Irish name elements are associated with this record in the Logainm glossary.
An element’s translation is a clue, rather than a complete explanation of the name. Its form and meaning depend on local history and the full Irish name.
Recorded forms
- Fearann an tSagairt · Irish · main form · validated name
- Priestland · English · main form
Place & story
William Dunlop and 1798
William Dunlop, a United Irishman associated with Priestland, was executed in Coleraine after the 1798 rebellion. Ballymoney Museum’s historical account records that his farm was burned and his family lost their home. His burial took place in Derrykeighan Old Churchyard. That precise local association connects Priestland with the upheaval in north Antrim, while the places of his execution and burial lie outside the settlement itself. [2]
Ballytober school
Ballytober Primary School’s premises on Priestland Road opened in September 1962 with forty-five pupils. Half a century later, an extension provided new classrooms and specialist facilities, while the older building was refurbished to contain a resource area and a multipurpose hall. For the planned June 2013 opening celebrations, the school sought its original pupils and invited former families to contribute photographs, uniforms, books and other objects for an exhibition of school life. [3]
Pedigree dairy farming
Priestland Farm records a change in its dairy enterprise during the 1990s, when its herd gained pedigree status. In 2008 the farm invested in embryos from Canadian and American cow families, developing its breeding stock through those imported lines. Its competition record includes NMR Perpetual Silver Salver awards in 2008 and 2009 and an overall Northern Ireland regional herds-competition win in 2019, showing how a local agricultural business developed wider breeding and showing connections. [4]
Geographic information
- Place type
- Population centre
- County
- Antrim
- Barony
- Dunluce Lower
- Civil parish
- Dunluce
- Coordinates
- 55.18055, -6.55568 (approximate)
- Logainm ID
- 135842 ↗
Sources & further reading
- Logainm.ie — Priestland. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
- Ballymoney Museum draft storyline, Appendix1 to committee minutes, 12 June 2008, p19 · Ballymoney Borough Council
- Ballytober Primary School past and present · The Newsroom, Northern Ireland World, 19 May 2013
- About Priestland Farm · Priestland Farm
Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2021-05-26. How this page was prepared.