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
George Irby, 6th Baron Boston and died in September 1941, aged 81. He was succeeded in the barony by his nephew Greville. George Irby, 6th Baron Boston George Florance Irby, 6th Baron Boston (6 September 1860 – 16 September 1941) was a British scientist and Conservative politician. Boston was the eldest son of Florance George Henry Irby, 5th Baron Boston, and his wife Augusta Caroline (née Saumarez), and was educated at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford. He succeeded his father in the barony in 1877 at the age of sixteen and later took his seat on the Conservative benches in the House of Lords. Between