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Portballintrae (in Irish: Port Bhaile an Trá, ie harbour of the settlement of the shore) is a small village in County Antrim, Northern Ireland, seven miles east of Portrush and two miles west of the Giant's Causeway. In the 2001 Census it had a population of 734 people, a decline of 10% compared to 1991. It lies within the Coleraine Borough Council area.

Originally a fishing village, nestled around the horse shoe-shaped Ballintrae Bay, it was a cluster of whitewashed cottages nestling around the bay. Many of its earlier buildings have been restored and maintained. The original village houses were built in a line along the seashore and many old cottages still stand on the shore.

Portballintrae has experienced rapid physical growth since the 1970s. But there has been a steady change in its character, with almost all the recent dwellings completed acquired as second homes, and a considerable proportion of the older housing changing also to second homes. Considerably less than half of the dwellings in the village remain as permanent residences.

Contents 1 History 2 Places of interest 3 2001 Census 4 References 5 External links 6 See also

Off the coast a team of Belgian divers brought up the greatest find of Spanish Armada treasure ever recovered from a wrecked ship. The Girona’s recovered gold jewellery is on show in the Ulster Museum in Belfast.

The ruins of Dunluce Castle sit on the edge of a cliff between Portballintrae and Portrush. The castle was the main stronghold of the MacDonnell chiefs of Antrim.

Portballintrae is classified as a small village or hamlet by the NI Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) (ie with population between 500 and 1,000 people). On Census day (29 April 2001) there were 734 people living in Portballintrae. Of these:

• 12.0% were aged under 16 years and 33.4% were aged 60 and over
• 48.9% of the population were male and 51.1% were female
• 1.0% were from a Catholic background and 96.5% were from a Protestant background
• 2.1% of people aged 16-74 were unemployed

For more details see: NI Neighbourhood Information Service

• Coleraine Borough Council
• Draft Northern Area Plan 2016
• Culture Northern Ireland

• Portballintrae website
• Portballintrae.net

• List of villages in Northern Ireland
• List of towns in Northern Ireland