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The Best Places to Move to in Northern Ireland
Why move to Northern Ireland? According to the Office for National Statistics, it’s one of the happiest places to live in the whole of the UK, with some stunning scenery alongside a number of vibrant, modern towns and cities.
East Anglian removals firm Hamiltons has been helping people move to Northern Ireland for many years. Here is our guide to five of the country’s best places to move to.
Lisburn
Lisburn, eight miles southwest of Belfast city centre, is the third largest city in Northern Ireland with a population standing at just over 70,000. It is situated in both County Down and County Antrim, and it is rated one of the country’s most desirable places to live. Low levels of council tax and unemployment, high life expectancy and excellent access to public services are all contributing factors to this.
One major tourist attraction is the Castle Gardens, a picturesque public park which was gifted to the town in 1903, on the site of a former manor house. The Irish Linen Centre and Lisburn Museum should not be missed either. It is based in the former Market House, the city’s oldest building, and is full of modern, interactive displays telling the story of the city and how its wealth was founded on the textile trade.
Belfast
Northern Ireland’s capital, which is in both County Antrim and County Down, has developed into a modern metropolitan city with plenty to see and do. Many tourists are drawn to the Titanic Museum, above, which tells the story of the ill-fated liner. Ulster Museum and Crumlin Road Gaol are also well worth a look, while the city’s zoo is home to more than 140 species of animals.
One popular part of Belfast to move to is the Ballyhackamore area in the east of the city. It is nicknamed Ballysnackamore because of the proliferation of eateries, and it has attracted a lot of young people and families looking to buy their first home. The area was recently rated the top place to live in Northern Ireland by The Sunday Times, which also named it as one of the top locations to live in the whole of Britain.
Portrush
This is also on the Sunday Times list of desirable places to move to. Portrush, above, in County Antrim, has a large student population, as it acts as a dormitory town for the University of Ulster in Coleraine. This helps keep the town lively during the off-season – in summer it relies heavily on the tourist trade, as it has plenty of sandy beaches to enjoy.
Royal Portrush Golf Club is due to host the 2019 Open, some 68 years after the tournament first came here, and should bring plenty of prestige and cash to the area. The city hosts an annual air show, an RNLI raft race, and the North West 2000, a prestigious motorcycle race which also runs through Portstewart and Coleraine.
Holywood
This coastal town’s name comes from an area of woodland surrounding a nearby monastery, which subsequently became a priory. Holywood town centre’s most striking feature is a maypole, thought to be a ship’s mast given to the town by grateful Dutch sailors. They were so impressed by the welcome they received after their ship ran aground in around 1700, they gifted it to the town.
The town, which lies in County Down, grew thanks to its popularity as a sea bathing resort. Holywood today is well known for its fashionable shops and boutiques, and the town benefits from good transport links with Belfast, just 15 minutes’ drive away. Belfast City Airport is nearby, and there are regular train services to and from the capital as well.
Newcastle
The town of Newcastle is also in County Down, and features in the Sunday Times list as well. Its name comes from a castle built in the 1580s at the mouth of the town’s Shimna River. The building was demolished in the 1830s.
Tourism is also a main driver of this seaside town’s economy, and it is keen to promote itself as an activity resort. Many visitors come for a round of golf at the world-famous Royal County Down links, or to enjoy walking and the wildlife at either Tollymore Forest Park or Donard Park. Both these parks lie in the stunning Mourne Mountains which tower over the town, including Slieve Donard, which at 850m is the highest peak in the country.
Moving to Northern Ireland with Hamiltons Removals
Wherever you want to move to in Northern Ireland, Hamiltons Removals can help. As a leading removals firm covering the whole of the UK, we can organise commercial and domestic removals to all cities, towns and villages in Northern Ireland, including Belfast, Lisburn, Portrush, Holywood and Newcastle.
Hamiltons can provide a free online removal quote and can offer additional services, including insurance and cleaning. We can also pack your items up for you – our friendly, professional team have many years of experience in making sure all your valuable or fragile items are fully protected during the move. To get in touch, follow the link above or call us on 01379 855203.
Hamiltons – A Famous Name Across the World
Hamiltons is a worldwide name – and not just because we are one of the leading moving companies in East Anglia. There are around 50 places around the world called Hamilton, in countries as varied as Australia, America, Suriname, South Africa and Sierra Leone.
Here we look at five of the biggest and most interesting Hamiltons – and how we can help you move to all of them.
Hamilton, Australia
Probably the best known of Australia’s five Hamiltons is a suburb of the city of Newcastle in New South Wales. Officially founded in 1871, it was originally a mining town, and was named after Edward Terrick Hamilton, who was governor of the board of the Australian Agricultural Company, who owned and mined much of the land.
Hamilton has now become a thriving retail centre, with a distinctly cosmopolitan feel. In the 1940s, a group of families from southern Italy settled in the town and there is still a thriving Italian community here, known as ‘Little Italy’. The total population stands at around the 4,000 mark.
Hamilton, Canada
The largest Canadian Hamilton is a port city on the banks of Lake Ontario, which has a population of more than half a million people. It is named after George Hamilton, a 19th century businessman and politician. It is about 60 km to the south-west of Toronto.
The city’s economy is largely based on agriculture and manufacturing. It produces 60% of the country’s steel and has been called the Steel Capital of Canada. Hamilton’s most notable landmark is the Niagara Escarpment, a ridge which divides the city and is marked by a series of conservation areas and waterfalls.
Hamilton, New Zealand
This is a city on the country’s North Island, with a population of around 160,000 people. It was founded in 1864 and was named after Captain John Fane Charles Hamilton, who was killed during a battle between Maoris and New Zealand government forces for control of the land.
Hamilton is a great place for young people to move to – the Waikato Institute of Technology (Wintec) and Waikato University account for around 40,000 of the city’s population. Dairy farming, manufacturing and retail are all key elements of the city’s economy. The biggest tourist attraction is Hamilton Gardens, a 54-acre park with open lawns, a lake, a nursery, a convention centre and a cemetery.
Hamilton, USA
If you are moving house to America, then there are more than 30 places called Hamilton to choose from – for instance, Alabama has one, while California has two, and Indiana three. Americans were always keen on naming their hometowns after prominent local people or landmarks, and they weren’t too worried if someone else had got there first. Lots of these were named after Alexander Hamilton, one of the country’s founding fathers.
One of these is a city in Ohio, which started out life as a fort built during the North-West Indian war in the 1790s. Now it is a town with a population of more than 60,000, In 1986, in a publicity-seeking move, the city authorities voted to add an exclamation mark to the official name – although most maps don’t use it.
Hamilton, Scotland
If you are interested in house removals to Scotland, then this Lanarkshire town is around 12 miles south-east of Glasgow. It wasn’t called Hamilton originally, but Cadzow. Its name was changed in the 15th century, after the Hamilton family, who were major landowners at the time, and who still are today.
Hamilton Palace, to the north-east of the town, was the family seat for almost 300 years and was one of the largest and grandest stately homes in Britain. However, it was demolished in 1927, and all its fabulous treasures – furniture, antiques and artworks – sold off. This was due to the cost of maintenance and subsidence caused by the Hamiltons’ own coal mine in nearby Bothwellhaugh.
However, probably the most famous name to be associated with the town is that of Dr David Livingston, the celebrated explorer. He went to church here – St James’s Congregational Church – and lived in the town’s Burnbank Road for a short while. There is a plaque outside the property marking this connection. Today, Hamilton has a population of over 50,000, making it the ninth largest place in Scotland. Service industries and local government are among the town’s major employers.
Move to Hamilton with Hamiltons Removals
Hamiltons Removals don’t just share a name with all these places – as one of East Anglia’s top removal companies, we can help you move there as well. Our international department can help you with domestic and commercial moves to New Zealand, Australia, Canada and the USA, as well as South Africa, Abu Dhabi and many other countries. Our extensive network of international contacts within the removals industry means we can keep our prices competitive and tailor a package to meet your specific needs.
We can also coordinate moves to and from all locations in the UK, including Scotland and Wales. Our packing service can take even more of the work out of your house move – we arrive the day before our removal team and will wrap up and label all your possessions, taking great care not to damage anything.
If you would like to know more about any of our removals services, follow the link above.