Ireby

Ireby is a village in Cumbria, England, with a population of around 180. Historically it was in the county of Cumberland, since 1974 it has been in Cumbria.

It was granted a market charter in 1237.

Ireby has two village halls, the main "Globe Hall" and the smaller WI Hall. The village pub, now closed, was a haunt of John Peel. Ireby has a music festival attracting a wide range of popular musicians and capacity audiences. In 2010 the Festival had Kate Rusby playing amongst others and all the tickets were sold weeks before the event. A large marquee extends the venues which are all around the village - the two halls, St. James's Church and The Lion.

Location

It is located above the River Ellen, just outside the Lake District National Park, in the area locally called Back o'Skiddaw, with views to the Caldbeck Fells. The nearest towns are Wigton, away, and Cockermouth and Keswick, both away.

Nearby villages include Uldale, Torpenhow, Boltongate and, slightly further away, Caldbeck.

Governance

Ireby is in the parliamentary constituency of Workington. In the December 2019 general election, the Tory candidate for Workington, Mark Jenkinson, was elected the MP, overturning a 9.4 per cent Labour majority from the 2017 election to eject shadow environment secretary Sue Hayman by a margin of 4,136 votes. Until the December 2019 general election The Labour Party has won the seat in the constituency in every general election since 1979.The Conservative Party has only been elected once in Workington since World War 2, at the 1976 by-election.

Before Brexit, its residents were covered by the North West England European Parliamentary Constituency.

For Local Government purposes it is in the Boltons Ward of Allerdale Borough Council and the Bothel and Wharrels Ward of Cumbria County Council.

The village forms part of the civil parish of Ireby and Uldale and has its own Parish Council along with Uldale, Ireby and Uldale Parish Council.