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Greysteel or Gresteel[1] is a village in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It lies 9 miles (14 km) to the east of Derry and 7 miles (11 km) to the west of Limavady on the main A2 coast road between Limavady and Derry, overlooking Lough Foyle. It is designated as a Large Village and in the 2001 Census it had a population of 1,229 people,[2] an increase of almost 20% compared to 1991.[3] It is situated within Causeway Coast and Glens district.

Greysteel Irish: Glas-stiall
Clooney Road, on the A2
Location within Northern Ireland
Population	1,229 (2001 Census)
District	Causeway Coast and Glens
County	County Londonderry
Country	Northern Ireland
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Postcode district	BT
Dialling code	028
Police	Northern Ireland
Fire	Northern Ireland
Ambulance	Northern Ireland
UK Parliament	East Londonderry
NI Assembly	East Londonderry
List of places UK Northern Ireland County Londonderry 55.031667°N 7.120556°W / 55.031667; -7.120556

History

The village lies mostly within the townlands of Gresteel More and Gresteel Beg. The name "Greysteel" may be a part-translation of the Irish Glas-stiall, meaning "grey strip (of land)",[4] and the Placenames Database of Ireland gives this as the Irish name of the village.[1] An older English name for the area was "Glasteele".[4]

The Troubles

During the Troubles, nine people were killed in the Greysteel area:

• On 14 November 1976, Jim Loughrey was shot dead by loyalists at his home.^{[citation needed]}
• On 30 October 1993, members of the Ulster Defence Association carried out a mass shooting at the Rising Sun public house, killing eight civilians. This became known as the Greysteel massacre.

Features

Places of interest

• Nearby Faughanvale Old church dates back to the medieval period and is dedicated to Saint Canice.[5]

Transport

The village is adequately served in terms of public transport and City of Derry Airport is located 4 km to the west.[3]

Sport

• Faughanvale GAC is the local Gaelic Athletic Association club.

2001 Census

Greysteel is classified as a village by the NI Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) (i.e. with a population between 1,000 and 2,250 people). On Census day (29 April 2001) there were 1,229 people living in Greysteel. Of these:

• 25.4% were aged under 16 years and 11.7% were aged 60 and over
• 50.2% of the population were male and 49.8% were female
• 96.6% were from a Catholic background and 2.9% were from a Protestant background
• 0.8% of people aged 16–74 were unemployed.

For more details see: NI Neighbourhood Information Service

See also

• List of towns and villages in Northern Ireland

References

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