Stranraer

About Stanraer?

Stranraer (Scottish Gaelic : An t-Sròn Reamhar, is a beautiful small town in the south of Scotland in the west of the region of Dumfries and Galloway and in the county of Wigtownshire.

The name Stranraer is believed to come from the Scottish Gaelic "An t-Sròn Reamhar" meaning "The Fat Nose"

A person from Stranraer is known as a Clayeholer

Where is Stranraer?

Stranraer is the largest settlement in south west Scotland. It lies at the head of Loch Ryan, on the north side of the neck of land that prevents the Rhins of Galloway becoming an island.

History of Stranraer

Stranraers origins date back nearly 500 years to the construction in 1511 of Stranraer Castle which is also known as the Castle of St John. The castle still now stands in the centre of the town but it was originally constructed at the

Castle of St. John in the town centre

head of Loch Ryan. The Castle of St John now houses a museum, while the excellent Stranraer Museum can be found in the town hall.

In 1600 it had turned into a market town for the Rhins of Galloway to the west and the more rural areas in the east. By now Stranraer was reached by a road built from Dumfries to allow easy access to Portpatrick by the militery, then the main port for Ireland. This then led to Stranraer featuring on the main drove route used by cattle being moved from Ireland to market in Dumfries.

In the mid 1700s a harbour was built in Stranraer itself, and more port contruction took place in the 1820s. But it was the coming of the railway from Dumfries in 1861 which finally established Stranraer as the areas primary port.

In 1862 the line was extended to serve the port directly, and in the same year a link to Portpatrick was also built. Some time later a rail connection north to Girvan was constructed.

For most of the following 150 years Stranraer was unchallenged as the natural location for the main Scottish port for the Irish ferries. Roll-on roll-off ferries appeared on the Irish routes well ahead of elsewhere in the UK.

In the 1970s P&O moved their services from Stranraer to a new terminal built nearer the mouth of Loch Ryan at Cairnryan and in 2000 the SeaCat fast catamaran service from Belfast was switched from Stranraer to Troon. More recently it has been announced that Stena are also planning to move their Stranraer operations to Cairnryan, perhaps from 2012.