62-552: Sprucefield is a major out-of-town retail park in the townland of Magherageery, County Down , Northern Ireland. It is on the southern edge of Lisburn ; about one mile from Lisburn city centre, and ten miles (16 km) from central Belfast . Sprucefield is located beside the M1 motorway and the A1 road . It is split in two parts: the Sprucefield Centre and Sprucefield Park . Sprucefield
124-465: A common summer pasturage by the people of a whole parish or barony". Until the 19th century most townlands were owned by single landlords and occupied by multiple tenants. The cess , used to fund roadworks and other local expenses, was charged at the same rate on each townland in a barony , regardless of its size and productive capacity. Thus, occupiers in a small or poor townland suffered in comparison to those of larger or more fertile townlands. This
186-557: A 220,000 sq ft (20,000 m) John Lewis department store and 29 additional units on the site. Despite objections from Lisburn retailers and the Belfast Chamber of Commerce the development was given approval in June 2005 by then Northern Ireland Environment Minister Jeff Rooker . However, in October 2005 six parties opposed to the development won the right to seek a judicial review of
248-603: A full one. Staffing is low. Compared to Aldi, there are generally more branded products offered. Lidl distributes many low-priced gourmet foods by producing each of them in a single European Union country for its whole worldwide chain, but it also sources many local products from the country where the store is located. Like Aldi, Lidl has special weekly offers, and its stock of non-food items often changes. In contrast to Aldi, Lidl advertises extensively in its homeland of Germany. Like Aldi, Lidl does not play mood music in most countries, including Germany. Exceptions include stores in
310-563: A hotel and three restaurants. The first phase, which includes the restaurants, will begin to open by October 2024. Townland A townland ( Irish : baile fearainn ; Ulster-Scots : toonlann ) is a small geographical division of land, historically and currently used in Ireland and in the Western Isles in Scotland, typically covering 100–500 acres (40–202 ha). The townland system
372-746: A new café, better lighting and customer friendly walkways. The expansion of their Sprucefield store makes it the largest store in Ireland and the third largest in the United Kingdom. In April 2016 Marks and Spencer reported that their Lisburn Sprucefield store recorded the highest food sales of any of their UK stores making it the most profitable store in the M&;S network. Sprucefield Park was opened in 2003, with Sainsbury's and B&Q as anchor tenants. There are four smaller units, occupied by B&M and The Range . The 21,500 m (231,000 sq ft) project
434-456: A postcode system was to be introduced (see Republic of Ireland postal addresses ). The system, known as Eircode , was introduced in 2014, but although more widely used by 2021, townlands remain predominant address identifiers in rural areas. Lidl Lidl ( German pronunciation: [ˈliːdl̩] LEE -dəl ) is a German international discount retailer chain that operates over 12,000 stores, present in every member state of
496-438: A presence with stores in 31 countries. In October 2009, Lidl Movies was launched in the United Kingdom, undercutting Tesco DVD Rental , which had previously been the United Kingdom's cheapest online rental service for DVDs. The service was powered by OutNow DVD Rental. OutNow went into liquidation in October 2011, taking Lidl Movies with it. In January 2012, Lidl launched bakeries in their stores across Europe. They consist of
558-567: A quarter), "gort" and "quarter" ( Irish : ceathrú ). In County Fermanagh the divisions were "ballybetagh", "quarter" and "tate". Further subdivisions in Fermanagh appear to be related to liquid or grain measures such as "gallons", "pottles" and "pints". In Ulster, the ballybetagh was the territorial unit controlled by an Irish sept, typically containing around 16 townlands. Fragmentation of ballybetaghs resulted in units consisting of four, eight, and twelve townlands. One of these fragmented units,
620-516: A sense of belonging. The Royal Mail's changes were seen as a severing of this link. At the time the county councils were the government bodies responsible for validating the change. However, as local government itself was undergoing changes, the Royal Mail's decision was "allowed ... to become law almost by default". County Fermanagh is the only county in Northern Ireland that managed to resist
682-676: A similarity between the Gaelic baile and the Norman bailey , both of which meant a settlement. Throughout most of Ulster, townlands were known as "ballyboes" ( Irish : baile bó , meaning "cow land"), and represented an area of pastoral economic value. In County Cavan similar units were called "polls", and in Counties Fermanagh and Monaghan , they were known as tates or taths . These names appear to be of English origin, but had become naturalised long before 1600. Modern townlands with
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#1732829927220744-604: A small baking area with a number of ovens, together with an area where bread and pastries, such as croissants, are displayed for sale. The bakeries were initially trialed in a limited number of stores, to determine whether there was a demand for freshly baked products in-store. The mobile phone brand Lidl Connect was launched in Germany in October 2015 and in Austria and Switzerland in June and July 2019. In August 2018, Lidl introduced its "Lidl Plus" supermarket loyalty card via an app on
806-528: A team of horses yoked to a plough). Thomas Larcom , the first Director of the Ordnance Survey of Ireland , made a study of the ancient land divisions of Ireland and summarised the traditional hierarchy of land divisions thus: 10 acres – 1 Gneeve; 2 Gneeves – 1 Sessiagh; 3 Sessiaghs – 1 Tate or Ballyboe; 2 Ballyboes – 1 Ploughland, Seisreagh or Carrow; 4 Ploughlands – 1 Ballybetagh, or Townland; 30 Ballybetaghs – Triocha Céad or Barony . This hierarchy
868-607: A total of one hundred U.S. stores by the summer of 2018. In November 2018, Lidl announced plans to acquire 27 Best Market stores in New York and New Jersey. In December 2018, Lidl opened its first location in New York City, in the Staten Island Mall . The company continued to expand throughout the eastern U.S., with over 100 stores by the end of 2020. In August 2020, Lidl announced that it planned to open up another 50 stores in
930-443: A townland is about 325 acres (1.32 km ; 132 ha), but they vary widely in size. William Reeves 's 1861 survey states that the smallest was Old Church Yard, near Carrickmore , in the parish of Termonmagurk , County Tyrone , at 0.625 acres (0.253 ha) and the largest, at 7,555 acres (30.57 km ; 11.805 sq mi), was and is Fionnán (also called Finnaun) in the parish of Killanin , County Galway . In fact,
992-420: A townland is generally the smallest administrative division of land, though a few large townlands are further divided into hundreds . The concept of townlands is based on the Gaelic system of land division, and the first official evidence of the existence of this Gaelic land division system can be found in church records from before the 12th century, it was in the 1600s that they began to be mapped and defined by
1054-571: Is also the site of the Lisnagarvey transmitting station . Sprucefield Centre was developed by Marks and Spencer on the site of Lisnagarvey Hockey Club and opened in March 1989. The proximity to the radio transmitter required the centre to be built as a Faraday cage to protect electronic equipment from the mast's electromagnetic field. Sprucefield Centre includes shops such as Marks and Spencer , Next , Pets At Home , Boots and McDonald's . The centre
1116-457: Is no mention of Lidl stores opening there. Their operations are likely limited to overseeing manufacturing contracts for most of non-food products, offered in Lidl stores, with local manufacturers based in these countries. In April 2021, Lidl in Ireland started offering customers coupons for free pads or tampons each month as an initiative against period poverty . In March 2023, Lidl was announced as
1178-579: Is of Gaelic origin, antedating the Norman invasion , and most have names of Irish origin. However, some townland names and boundaries come from Norman manors , plantation divisions, or later creations of the Ordnance Survey . The total number of inhabited townlands in Ireland was 60,679 in 1911. The total number recognised by the Irish Place Names database as of 2014 was 61,098, including uninhabited townlands, mainly small islands. In Ireland,
1240-527: Is the most dominant element used in Irish townland names. Today, the term "bally" denotes an urban settlement, but its precise meaning in ancient Ireland is unclear, as towns had no place in Gaelic social organisation. The modern Irish term for a townland is baile fearainn (plural: bailte fearainn ). The term fearann means "land, territory, quarter". The Normans left no major traces in townland names, but they adapted some of them for their own use, possibly seeing
1302-690: The Apple App Store and Google Play Store . The app is available in most European countries where Lidl operates, offering discounts on own brand products and on partner offers. In several countries, the app also has a bonus program with cashback. As of May 2019, Lidl US has partnered with Boxed.com to test a home delivery service using the online retailer's technology. Lidl also partners with Target Corporation 's subsidiary Shipt for grocery home delivery. Lidl also runs Representative Offices in Mainland China , Hong Kong , and Bangladesh , though there
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#17328299272201364-912: The European Union , Serbia, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States. Headquartered in Neckarsulm , Baden-Württemberg , the company belongs to the Schwarz Group , which also includes hypermarket chain Kaufland . Lidl is the chief competitor of the German discount chain Aldi in several markets. In 1930, Josef Schwarz became a partner in a company based in Heilbronn named Südfrüchte Großhandlung Lidl & Co. which had been established since at least 1858 under
1426-559: The "quarter", representing a quarter of a ballybetagh, was the universal land denomination recorded in the survey of County Donegal conducted in 1608. In the early 17th century 20 per cent of the total area of western Ulster was under the control of the church. These " termonn " lands consisted likewise of ballybetaghs and ballyboes, but were held by erenaghs instead of sept leaders. Other units of land division used throughout Ireland include: "Cartrons" were also sometimes called "ploughlands" or "seisreagh" ( Irish : seisreach , meaning
1488-522: The English administration for the purpose of confiscating land and apportioning it to investors or planters from Britain. The term "townland" in English is derived from the Old English word tūn , denoting an enclosure. The term describes the smallest unit of land division in Ireland, based on various forms of Gaelic land division, many of which had their own names. The term baile , anglicised as "bally",
1550-471: The Irish acre, the English acre, the Cunningham acre, the plantation acre and the statute acre. The Ordnance Survey maps used the statute acre measurement. The quality and situation of the land affected the size of these acres. The Cunningham acre is given as intermediate between the Irish and English acres. Many of these land division terms have been preserved in the names of modern townlands. For example,
1612-494: The U.S. by the end of 2021. As of 2024 there were 173 stores in the US. In April 2022, Lidl postponed its expansion in Ukraine due to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. In 2021, Lidl planned to phase out the selling of cigarettes in all its Dutch stores by 2024 as part of the 'smoke-free generation'. The key trends for Lidl are (as of the financial year ending February 28 ): In
1674-533: The United States, Ireland, Croatia, Spain (not all), Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Hungary. Additionally, in two stores in Denmark music is played as a test. Lidl stores have PA systems for important announcements but (with the exception of Hungary) do not broadcast commercials. The Lidl operation in the United Kingdom took a different approach from Germany, with a focus on marketing and public relations, and providing employee benefits not required by law, including paying
1736-618: The change completely. Nevertheless, many newer road signs in parts of Northern Ireland now show townland names (see picture). In 2001 the Northern Ireland Assembly passed a motion requesting government departments to make use of townland addresses in correspondence and publications. In the Republic of Ireland townlands continue to be used on addresses. In 2005 the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources announced that
1798-455: The changes. It was described as a "ground-level community effort". Taking place in the midst of The Troubles , the campaign was a rare example of unity between Catholics and Protestants , nationalists and unionists . Townlands and their names "seem to have been considered as a shared resource and heritage". Those involved in the campaign argued that, in many areas, people still strongly identified with their townlands and that this gave them
1860-704: The company announced it would establish a United States headquarters in Arlington, Virginia . Lidl has major distribution centers in Mebane , North Carolina , and Spotsylvania County, Virginia . The company initially focused on opening locations in East Coast states , between Pennsylvania and Georgia , and as far west as Ohio . In June 2017, Lidl opened its first stores in the United States in Virginia Beach, Virginia, and other mid-Atlantic cities. The company planned to open
1922-581: The company's shares in Sprucefield Park. Sprucefield Park (like the Sprucefield Centre) has faced major objections at almost every stage. Sainsbury's announced its move into Northern Ireland on 20 June 1995 and opened its first stores in 1997, however it would be eight years before its Sprucefield store was opened. An application for outline planning permission was submitted in July 1998 and final permission
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1984-478: The cost involved. In September 2016, Gottschlich unexpectedly left and was replaced by the Austrian sales and operations director, German-national Christian Härtnagel . Lidl continued to have ambitious investment plans in the United Kingdom, doubling the number of stores to 1,500. In the financial year 2015, Lidl Great Britain's revenue from its over 630 stores throughout Britain was £4.7 billion. As of 2024 , Lidl has
2046-529: The extension calls for the demolition and resiting of the transmitter station, although these plans never went ahead. In August 2007, Marks and Spencer opened a large homeware section (second largest in the UK after Manchester) on the Sprucefield site in what had been the adjoining Homebase shop. Homebase's lease on the building was not renewed by M&S who own the entire complex. M&S also upgraded its anchor store with
2108-414: The financial year 2022 Lidl made a profit of €1.64 billion, €500 million less than in the previous year. Like fellow German supermarket Aldi, Lidl has a zero waste , no-frills , "pass-the-savings-to-the-consumer" approach of displaying most products in their original delivery cartons, allowing the customers to take the product directly from the carton. When the carton is empty, it is simply replaced with
2170-443: The independently verified living wage and offering a staff discount. Upmarket products were introduced, especially in the lead-up to Christmas. This required significant investment in marketing to produce sales growth but had an effect on Lidl's logistical operation and pressure on profits. Ronny Gottschlich , who had run Lidl GB for the six years to 2016, was responsible for this approach, which led to friction with head office, due to
2232-512: The island, but in that year the Royal Mail decided that the townland element of the address was obsolete in Northern Ireland. Townland names were not banned, but they were deemed "superfluous information" and people were asked not to include them on addresses. They were to be replaced by house numbers, road names and postcodes . In response the Townlands Campaign emerged to protest against
2294-636: The judge, Mr Justice Girvan, said he was not ruling on the merits of the store itself, rather on the way the decision to grant permission was taken. This allowed a new planning application to be submitted. Westfield and Snoddens' reaffirmed their commitment to pursuing planning permission in November 2006 after a new legal challenge by Central Craigavon Ltd., owners of the Rushmere Shopping Centre . Westfield detailed its new planning application on 26 August 2008. The number of additional retail units planned
2356-418: The name A.Lidl & Cie specialising in the sale of exotic fruits. Schwarz renamed the company Lidl & Schwarz KG and expanded into a food wholesaler. In 1977, under his son Dieter Schwarz , the Schwarz Group began to focus on discount markets, larger supermarkets, and cash and carry wholesale markets. Dieter did not want to use the name Schwarz-Markt ( literally " black market ") and wanted to use
2418-503: The name of his father's former business partner, A. Lidl, but legal reasons prevented him from using that name for his discount stores. When he discovered a newspaper article about a painter and retired schoolteacher Ludwig Lidl, he bought the rights to the name from him for 1,000 German marks . Lidl is part of the Schwarz Group, the fifth-largest retailer in the world with sales of €104.3 billion (2018). The first Lidl discount store
2480-507: The planning permission. These parties were Belfast City Council, Belfast Chamber of Trade and Commerce, Lisburn Chamber of Commerce, the owners of Lisburn's Bow Street Mall, Central Craigavon Limited and AM Developments Limited (AM Developments is building the Victoria Square centre in Belfast city centre). On 10 May 2006 the appeal was upheld, effectively removing planning permission. However,
2542-526: The prefix pol- is widely found throughout western Ireland, its accepted meaning being "hole" or "hollow". In County Cavan, which contains over half of all townlands in Ulster with the prefix pol- , some should probably be better translated as "the poll of ...". In County Tyrone, the following hierarchy of land divisions was used: "ballybetagh" ( Irish : baile beithigh , meaning "cattle place"), "ballyboe", "sessiagh" ( Irish : séú cuid , meaning sixth part of
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2604-588: The prefix tat- are confined almost exclusively to the diocese of Clogher, which covers Counties Fermanagh and Monaghan, and the barony of Clogher in County Tyrone ), and cannot be confused with any other Irish word. The use of the term can also be seen in the diocese of Clogher parish of Inniskeen area within Louth where the townlands of Edenagrena, Drumsinnot, Killaconner and Torpass were referred to collectively as "the four tates of Ballyfoylan." In modern townland names
2666-537: The previous CEO Karl-Heinz Holland stepped down. Holland had served as chief executive since 2008 but left due to undisclosed "unbridgeable" differences over future strategy. Seidel stepped down from his position in February 2017 after Manager Magazin reported he had fallen out of favour with Klaus Gehrig , who has headed the Schwarz Group since 2004. Seidel was succeeded as CEO by Dane Jesper Højer , previously head of Lidl's international buying operation. In June 2015,
2728-402: The sponsor of the 2023 World Cycling Championship held in Scotland. In 2008, Lidl was accused by journalists of spying on their workers, listening to private phone calls, and sometimes even following them home or to doctor's appointments. In one instance, an employee's file was supposedly annotated to note that most of her friends were "drug users". Lidl responded to these claims, stating that
2790-537: The store mislabeled products of Israeli origin as originating from other countries, such as Morocco. The Lidl group attributed the issue to a display error. According to the General Directorate of Competition, Consumption & Repression of Frauds (DGCCRF), which oversees the legality and safety of products and services in France, "food presented for sale must offer clear and precise labelling in order to better inform
2852-513: The store remained open. In October 2022 German retailer Lidl announced its intention to open a branch at the retail park. In August 2023, The Range announced its intention to open a branch at the retail park in September, in the former Toys "R" Us unit. In 2024, Argos and Next Home closed their doors, Argos moved into the Sainsbury's supermarket. In June 2004 the developers announced plans for
2914-642: The supermarket to sign up to the Better Chicken Commitment (BCC), a set of welfare standards which prohibits the use of fast-growing breeds and requires the provision of more space and enrichment for chickens. While Lidl France already committed to the BCC in 2020, Lidl have so far not made a commitment for the rest of their European operations. In 2023, amid a widespread boycott movement against Israeli businesses and products , Lidl stores faced criticism after several customers in France and Belgium complained that
2976-546: The surveillance was intended to prevent shoplifting, and to detect "abnormal behavior". Lidl has also been accused by trade unions in Germany of shutting down stores when workers elect worker councils or opt to engage in collective bargaining with a trade union. In October 2022, animal welfare NGOs across Europe accused Lidl of a 'chicken scandal'. Investigation footage filmed on a Lidl supplier's farm in Germany showed sick and injured chickens unable to walk and lying in their own waste. In November 2022, another investigation
3038-453: The term "bally" in some townland names is that it can be difficult to distinguish between the Irish terms baile meaning "townland" and béal átha meaning "approach to a ford". An example of the latter is Ballyshannon , County Donegal , which is derived from Béal Átha Seanaidh . "Sub-townlands" ( Irish : fo-bhaile ) are also recorded in some areas, smaller divisions of a townland with their own traditional names. The average area of
3100-700: The term "cartron" in both its English and Irish forms has been preserved in the townland names of Carrowmeer, Cartron and Carrowvere, while the term "sessiagh" survives in the names Shesia, Sheshodonell, Sheshymore and Shessiv. The terms "ballyboe" and "ballybetagh" tend to be preserved in the truncated form of "bally" as a prefix for some townland names, such as Ballymacarattybeg near Poyntzpass , County Down. Less well-known land division terms may be found in other townland names such as Coogulla ( Irish : Cuige Uladh , "the Ulster fifth"), Treanmanagh ( Irish : an train meánach , "the third middle") and Dehomade ( Irish : an deichiú méid , "the tenth part"). A problem with
3162-463: The townland of Clonskeagh in the barony of Uppercross (abutting the main Clonskeagh townland in the barony of Dublin ) was only 0.3 acres (1,200 m ) although the area is now urbanised, so that the townlands are unused and their boundaries are uncertain. The ballyboe, a townland unit used in Ulster, was described in 1608 as containing 60 acres of arable land, meadow, and pasture. However, this
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#17328299272203224-507: The townland system. Slight adjustments are still made. There were 60,679 in 1911, compared to 60,462 townlands in 1901. Townlands form the building blocks for higher-level administrative units such as parishes and district electoral divisions (in the Republic of Ireland ) or wards (in Northern Ireland ). Before 1972 townlands were included on all rural postal addresses throughout
3286-450: Was closed for approximately six months. In January 2005 another firebomb was discovered in the centre's Sainsbury's store, however this was successfully defused. Both incidents, and others such as the destruction of a Next store at Forestside Shopping Centre in Belfast, were blamed on dissident republicans . In September 2015 B&Q announced that its Sprucefield branch was one of five Northern Ireland stores that it would close. However
3348-486: Was granted in February 2001. The planning permission for the centre also included a multiplex cinema and a 150-bed hotel, however these have yet to be built. Lisnagarvey Hockey Club, which sold its pitches to Marks and Spencer for its development in 1989, had again to relocate when it sold its pitches to the developers of Sprucefield Park. In December 2004 the B&;Q store was extensively damaged by an incendiary device. The store
3410-497: Was managed by a Stannifer/Snoddons Construction joint venture. Stannifer is a British property development company, while the latter is a construction company based in Hillsborough, County Down . Construction was carried out by McLaughlin & Harvey . Stannifer took ownership of the site, while it retained a 50% share of the proposed second phase. In 2004 The Westfield Group acquired Stannifer's parent (Chelsfield) and took control of
3472-536: Was misleading, as the size of townlands under the Gaelic system varied depending upon their quality, situation and economic potential. This economic potential varied from the extent of land required to graze cattle to the land required to support several families. The highest density of townland units recorded in Ulster in 1609 corresponds to the areas with the highest land valuations in the 1860s. It seems that many moorland areas were not divided into townlands until fairly recently. These areas were "formerly shared as
3534-518: Was not applied uniformly across Ireland. For example, a ballybetagh or townland could contain more or less than four ploughlands. Further confusion arises when it is taken into account that, while Larcom used the general term "acres" in his summary, terms such as "great acres", "large acres" and "small acres" were also used in records. Writing in 1846, Larcom remarked that the "large" and "small" acres had no fixed ratio between them, and that there were various other kinds of acre in use in Ireland, including
3596-422: Was opened in 1973, copying the Aldi concept. Schwarz rigorously removed merchandise that did not sell from the shelves, and cut costs by keeping the size of the retail outlets as small as possible. By 1977, the Lidl chain comprised 33 discount stores. Lidl opened its first UK store in 1994. Its grocery market share in the UK was 5.9% in 2019. Sven Seidel was appointed CEO of the company in March 2014, after
3658-596: Was published showing similar conditions at Lidl supplier farms in Spain. Further investigations in Italy and Austria have also revealed severe chicken welfare issues. In the Austrian investigation footage, birds are seen attempting to eat the rotting carcasses of other dead chickens. The chickens in the footage are fast-growing breeds, which reach their kill weight in just 35 days and have higher levels of mortality, lameness and muscle disease than slower-growing breeds. NGOs have called on
3720-433: Was reduced from 29 to 19, however the developers conceded that the proposal is "ostensibly the same" at a total floor space of approximately 50,000 square metres (540,000 square feet). In March 2014 Westfield agreed to sell Sprucefield Park to Intu Properties plc for £70 million. It is now owned by PIMCO (90% stake) and NewRiver (10%). In 2023, an expansion plan was discussed again, which would include more retail space,
3782-463: Was reformed by Griffith's Valuation . During the 19th century an extensive series of maps of Ireland was created by the Irish division of the Ordnance Survey for taxation purposes. These maps both documented and standardised the boundaries of the more than 60,000 townlands in Ireland. The process often involved dividing or amalgamating existing townlands, and defining townland boundaries in areas such as mountain or bog that had previously been outside
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#17328299272203844-531: Was virtually destroyed in January 1991 in an IRA incendiary attack. Three of four stores were destroyed, ( MFI , Allied Maples and Texas ), while the Marks and Spencer wing suffered only water damage. An expansion of Marks and Spencer has been reported for many years. An outline planning application was submitted in 1995, followed by a public inquiry in 1999. The Planning Service recommended the proposal be accepted. If built
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