Portpatrick

Portpatrick is a port town in the far west of the Unitary Authority of Dumfries and Galloway in Scotland and has 585 inhabitants (as of 2001).

Portpatrick is located on the west coast of the Rhins of Galloway, a hammer-shaped peninsula in the west of Dumfries and Galloway. Since its founding 500 years ago the village was used primarily as a starting point for a fast ferry to Ireland and was connected by a military road to Dumfries. In the 1830s the ferry were one extended to Glasgow, Liverpool and the Isle of, but also with a connection to the rail network. However, because of the exposed and unprotected location on the west coast of Scotland, it was from the 1860s for the then used bigger ships and more difficult to call at the port. Therefore, the vessel traffic shifted increasingly to Stranraer. In 1875 the rail link was removed to Dumfries and cut the rail link to Stranraer in the 1950s. Today Portpatrick is economically insignificant, but has established itself as a tourist destination.

Portpatrick has a Navtex station.