Parkgate, County Antrim
Parkgate is a small village in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It lies at the foot of Donegore Hill, near the Six Mile Water. It is about midway between Ballyclare and Antrim town. It lies within the Borough of Antrim. It had a population of 676 people in the 2011 Census.
Near Parkgate is a holestone with the hole being about 5 cm in diameter at its narrowest and situated around waist height in the stone. It is associated with marriages, where the bride and groom would hold hands through the hole during the ceremony. There is an old legend regarding a black horse that inhabits the field in which the holestone is situated. According to this legend a young couple were married at the stone, but the groom committed an act of adultery on their wedding night. For this act he was cursed by the stone to spend eternity as a horse, never dying, and never able to leave that field unless the gate is left open.
Joseph's belt
Parkgate was the site of the Cats For Peru hoax in 1870, related in Arthur McKeown's 1998 book, The Man From Peru. While McKeown's book is cast as a storybook, a primer for students of English as a second language, local historians attest to the truth of the story. See, for example, Where the Six Mile Water Flows by Jack McKinney (Friars Bush Press 1991).
In the 2011 Census Parkgate had a population of 676 people (256 households).
Parkgate is classified as a small village or hamlet by the NI Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) (i.e. with population between 500 and 1,000 people). On Census day (29 April 2001) there were 646 people living in Parkgate. Of these:
Parkgate and District Community Website - http://www.parkgate.org.uk
Coordinates: 54°42′58″N 6°06′24″W / 54.71615°N 6.10662°W
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