Loughgall Explained

Official Name:Loughgall
Irish Name:Loch gCál
Static Image Name:St Luke's Loughgall - geograph.org.uk - 196910.jpg
Static Image Caption:St Luke's Church of Ireland
Map Type:Northern Ireland
Coordinates:54.4167°N -6.6°W
Label Position:none
Population:282
Population Ref:(2011 Census)
Irish Grid Reference:H908522
Unitary Northern Ireland:Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon
Country:Northern Ireland
Post Town:ARMAGH
Postcode Area:BT
Postcode District:BT61
Dial Code:028
Constituency Westminster:Newry and Armagh
Constituency Ni Assembly:Newry and Armagh
Lieutenancy Northern Ireland:County Armagh
Hide Services:yes

Loughgall (;)[1] [2] is a small village, townland (of 131 acres) and civil parish in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. It is in the historic baronies of Armagh and Oneilland West.[3] It had a population of 282 people (116 households) in the 2011 Census.[4] Loughgall was named after a small nearby loch. The village is surrounded by orchards.

History

In the Middle Ages the chiefs of the Uí Nialláin, a Gaelic clan, resided at Loughgall crannog, a fortified lake dwelling.[5] By the 16th century the O'Neills of Tír Eoghain had taken over the area, and the crannog became the residence of the O'Neill chief's brother or eldest son.[6]

In the early 1600s, the area was settled by English and Scottish Protestants as part of the Ulster Plantation. During the 1641 Irish Rebellion, settlers were held at a prison camp at Loughgall by Catholic rebels led by Manus O'Cane.[7]

In 1795, rival sectarian gangs, the Catholic Defenders and Protestant Peep-o'-Day Boys fought a bloody skirmish near the village, called the Battle of the Diamond, that left around 30 people dead. Following this, the Protestant Orange Order was founded in Dan Winter's House nearby.

The Troubles

See main article: article and The Troubles in Loughgall. The Loughgall area experienced a number of fatal incidents during The Troubles, the best known of which is arguably the 1987 Loughgall ambush.[8]

Sport

It is home to Loughgall Football Club, which plays in the NIFL Premiership, the top tier of football in Northern Ireland.

Education

People

Civil parish of Loughgall

The civil parish contains the villages of Annaghmore, Charlemont and Loughgall.[3]

The civil parish contains the following townlands:[3]

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. http://www.placenamesni.org/resultsdetail.phtml?entry=10180 Placenames NI
  2. http://www.logainm.ie/56547.aspx Placenames Database of Ireland
  3. Web site: Loughgall. IreAtlas Townlands Database. 13 May 2015.
  4. Web site: Loughgall . Census 2011 Results . NI Statistics and Research Agency . 22 April 2015 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20150422012413/http://www.nisra.gov.uk/census/2011/results/settlements.html . 22 April 2015 .
  5. http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~irlkik/ihm/colla.htm#nial Ireland's History in Maps - Uí Nialláin
  6. Web site: Plantation papers: containing a summary sketch of the great Ulster plantation in the year 1610 . 23 March 1889 . Belfast . 1 December 2013.
  7. Mac Cuarta, Brian. Ulster 1641: Aspects of the Rising. Institute of Irish Studies, Queen's University of Belfast, 1993. p.126
  8. Web site: McDonald . Henry . Henry McDonald (writer) . True tale of IRA 'martyrs' revealed . The Observer . 2 December 2024 . 29 September 2002.
  9. Web site: Introduction - WR Rodgers Papers. Public Record Office of Northern Ireland . 4 March 2009.