Bangor, United Kingdom

The Annals of Ulster says that the monastery of Bangor was founded by Saint Comgall from Antrim in the year 555, while other annals give the year as 558. It was where the Antiphonary of Bangor (Antiphonarium Benchorense) was written, a copy of which can be seen in the town's heritage centre. The monastery had such widespread influence that the city is one of only four places in Ireland to be named in the Hereford Mappa Mundi in 1300. The monastery, situated roughly where the Church of Ireland Bangor Abbey stands at the head of the city, became a centre of great learning and was among the most eminent of Europe's missionary institutions in the Early Middle Ages.At Bangor, Comgall instituted a rigid monastic rule of incessant prayer and fasting. Far from turning people away, this ascetic rule attracted thousands. When Comgall died in 602, the annals report that three thousand monks looked to him for guidance. Named Bennchor Mór, "the great Bangor", to distinguish it from its British contemporaries, it became the greatest monastic school in Ulster as well as one of the three leading monasteries of Celtic Christianity. The others were Iona, the great missionary centre founded by Columba, and Bangor on the Dee, founded by Dinooth; the ancient Welsh Triads also confirm the "Perpetual Harmonies" at the house.

Throughout the sixth century, Bangor became famous for its choral psalmody. "It was this music which was carried to the continent by the Bangor missionaries in the following century". Divine services of the seven hours of prayer were carried out throughout Bangor's existence, however the monks went further and carried out the practice of laus perennis. In the twelfth century, Bernard of Clairvaux spoke of Comgall and Bangor, stating, "the solemnization of divine offices was kept up by companies, who relieved each other in succession, so that not for one moment day and night was there an intermission of their devotions." This continuous singing was antiphonal in nature, based on the call and response reminiscent of Patrick's vision, but also practised by St. Martin's houses in France. Many of these psalms and hymns were later written down in the Antiphonary of Bangor which came to reside in Colombanus' monastery at Bobbio, Italy.

In 580, a Bangor monk named Mirin took Christianity to Paisley in the west of Scotland, where he died "full of sanctity and miracles". In 590, the fiery Colombanus, one of Comgall's leaders, set out from Bangor with twelve other brothers, including Saint Gall who planted monasteries throughout Switzerland. In Burgundy, Columbanus established a severe monastic rule at Luxeuil which mirrored that of Bangor. From there he went to Bobbio in Italy and established the house which became one of the largest monasteries in Europe.

Saint Malachy was elected abbot of the monastery in 1123, a year before being consecrated Bishop of Connor. His extensive travels around Europe inspired him to rejuvenate the monasteries in Ireland, and he replaced the existing wooden huts with stone buildings.

The modern city had its origins in the early 17th century when James Hamilton, a Lowland Scot, arrived in Bangor, having been granted lands in North Down by King James VI and I in 1605. In 1612, King James made Bangor a borough which permitted it to elect two MPs to the Irish Parliament in Dublin. The Old Custom House, which was completed by Hamilton in 1637 after James I granted Bangor the status of a port in 1620, is a visible reminder of the new order introduced by Hamilton and his Scots settlers.

In 1689 during the Williamite War in Ireland, Marshal Schomberg's expedition landed at Ballyholme Bay and captured Bangor, before going on to besiege Carrickfergus. Schomberg's force went south to Dundalk Camp and were present at the Battle of the Boyne the following year.

The city was an important source of customs revenue for the Crown and in the 1780s Colonel Robert Ward improved the harbour and promoted the cotton industries; today's seafront was the location of several large steam-powered cotton mills, which employed a large workforce.

The end of the 18th century was a time of great political and social turmoil in Ireland. The United Irishmen, inspired by the American and French Revolutions, sought to achieve a greater degree of independence from Britain. On the morning of 10 June during the Irish Rebellion of 1798, a force of United Irishmen, mainly from Bangor, Donaghadee, Greyabbey and Ballywalter attempted to occupy the nearby town of Newtownards. They met with musket fire from the market house and were subsequently defeated.

By the middle of the 19th century, the cotton mills had declined and the city changed in character once again. The laying of the railway in 1865 meant that inexpensive travel from Belfast was possible, and working-class people could afford for the first time to holiday in the city. Bangor soon became a fashionable resort for Victorian holidaymakers, as well as a desirable home to the wealthy. Many of the houses overlooking Bangor Bay (some of which have been demolished to make way for modern flats) date from this period. The belief in the restorative powers of the sea air meant that the city became a location for sea bathing and marine sports, and the number of visitors from Great Britain increased during the Edwardian era at the beginning of the 20th century, which also saw the improvement of Ward Park.