Ballygowan period, and subsequent to the introduction of the Belfast & County Down Railway in 1850, that the village began to grow. Ballygowan railway station opened on 10 September 1858, but finally closed on 16 January 1950. After the railway closed in 1950 the village became an attractive "dormitory" town and the ensuing 50 years have seen rapid growth. On Monday, 15 September 2014, the remains of The Baron Bannside (better known as The Rev. Ian Paisley) were buried in the graveyard attached to Ballygowan Free Presbyterian Church. Lord Bannside was a former First Minister of Northern Ireland and a former
Archbishop of Armagh archbishop in October 2012 and enthroned on 15 December 2012 at St Patrick's Church of Ireland Cathedral, Armagh. In the Roman Catholic Church, the Archbishop is Eamon Martin, who is the ecclesiastical head of the Roman Catholic Church in Ireland, metropolitan of the Province of Armagh and the ordinary of the Archdiocese of Armagh. He succeeded on 8 September 2014, having been ordained Coadjutor Archbishop of Armagh on 21 April 2013 at St Patrick's Roman Catholic Cathedral, Armagh. In the medieval Irish church, the earliest bishops doubled as abbots, with the bishop becoming the junior of the two positions. From