Aughnacloy, sometimes spelt Auchnacloy (Irish: ''Achadh na Cloiche'' (field of the stone)) is a village in

County Tyrone County Tyrone (; ) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the thirty-two traditional counties of Ireland. It is no longer used as an administrative division for local government but retai ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label=Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is #Descriptions, variously described as ...

. Close to the

border Borders are usually defined as geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other subnational entities. Political borders ca ...

with

County Monaghan County Monaghan ( ; ga, Contae Mhuineacháin) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Ulster and is part of Border strategic planning area of the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the town of Monaghan. Monaghan County C ...

in the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. ...

, the village is about 20 km southwest of

Dungannon Dungannon () is a town in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is the second-largest town in the county (after Omagh) and had a population of 14,340 at the 2011 Census. The Dungannon and South Tyrone Borough Council had its headquarters in t ...

, and 7 km southeast of Ballygawley. It is situated in the historic

barony Barony may refer to: * Barony, the peerage, office of, or territory held by a baron * Barony, the title and land held in fealty by a feudal baron * Barony (county division), a type of administrative or geographical division in parts of the British ...

of Dungannon Lower and the

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...

Carnteel Carnteel ()) is a hamlet, townland and civil parish, about 2 miles northeast of Aughnacloy in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is situated in the historic barony of Dungannon Lower. Carnteel Village The village is situated 14 kilometres sout ...

. In the 2011 Census it had a population of 1,045. This article contains quotations from this source, which is available under th
Open Government Licence v3.0
© Crown copyright.

History

Much of the town was built in the 18th Century by Acheson Moore, the local landlord. Because he backed the Jacobite cause, he planted his estate in the shape of a

thistle Thistle is the common name of a group of flowering plants characterised by leaves with sharp prickles on the margins, mostly in the family Asteraceae. Prickles can also occur all over the planton the stem and on the flat parts of the leaves ...

and planned out the town on the edge of it. Unable to rename it "Mooretown", he had to settle for naming the main street "Moore Street", and the side streets Sydney, Lettice, and Henrietta (now Ravella Road), after his three wives. The thistle is still visible from the air. Aughnacloy served as an important staging post on the road to

Derry Derry, officially Londonderry (), is the second-largest city in Northern Ireland and the fifth-largest city on the island of Ireland. The name ''Derry'' is an anglicisation of the Old Irish name (modern Irish: ) meaning 'oak grove'. The ...

. However, lacking large-scale industry, it started to wane in the late 19th century. Aughnacloy RC Church - geograph

Aughnacloy Presbyterian Church - geograph

The Troubles

In 1988,

Aidan McAnespie Aidan McAnespie (1965 – 21 February 1988) was an Irish Catholic man who was shot in the back by a serving soldier after passing through the Aughnacloy, County Tyrone border checkpoint in Northern Ireland during the Troubles. In 2022 former ...

, a Catholic civilian was killed by a bullet from a general purpose machine-gun held by a

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurkha ...

soldier at Aughnacloy. In June 2008, the

Police Service of Northern Ireland The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI; ga, Seirbhís Póilíneachta Thuaisceart Éireann; Ulster-Scots: ') is the police force that serves Northern Ireland. It is the successor to the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) after it was reform ...

Historical Enquiries Team The Historical Enquiries Team was a unit of the Police Service of Northern Ireland set up in September 2005 to investigate the 3,269 unsolved murders committed during the Troubles, specifically between 1968 and 1998. It was wound up in Septembe ...

published its findings on the case in a report.

Demographics

2011 Census

At the time of the 2011 census (27 March 2011), Aughnacloy had a population of 1,045, accounting for 0.06% of the total NI population. Of those 1,045 people: *99.14% were from the white (including Irish Traveller) ethnic group *56.84% belong to or were brought up in the Catholic religion and 41.34% belong to or were brought up in a 'Protestant and Other Christian (including Christian related)' religion *35.41% indicated that they had a British national identity, 30.62% had an Irish national identity and 22.39% had a Northern Irish national identity*. *14.81% had some knowledge of Irish *5.17% had some knowledge of Ulster-Scots *15.62% did not have English as their first language

Transport

Aughnacloy had its own railway station on the

Clogher Valley Railway The Clogher Valley Railway was a , narrow gauge railway in County Tyrone and County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. It opened in May 1887 and closed on 1 January 1942 (with the last trains running the previous day). Route The railway was mainly si ...

(CVR) from 2 May 1887 to 1 January 1942. The CVR's headquarters and locomotive workshop was also at Aughnacloy. Current proposals to upgrade the A5 road through the village to a dual carriageway and build a bypass have met with a mixed reaction in the town, with many traders and farmers strongly opposed.

Education

* Aughnacloy Primary School * Aughnacloy College (former names: Aughnacloy Secondary School; Aughnacloy High School) opened in 1963, designed by John MacGeagh. It occupies a rural site on the outskirts of Aughancloy, serving a catchment area stretching along the Blackwater valley including Caledon, Greystone, Innismagh, Ballygawley, Lisdoart and Favour Royal * St. Mary's Primary School, Aughnacloy

Sport

Aghaloo O'Neills Aghaloo O'Neills ( ga, Achadh Lú Uí Néill) is a Gaelic Athletic Association club. The club is based in Aughnacloy and Caledon which encompasses the parish after which the club is named, Aghaloo, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. The club ...

–

Gaelic Athletic Association The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA; ga, Cumann Lúthchleas Gael ; CLG) is an Irish international amateur sporting and cultural organisation, focused primarily on promoting indigenous Gaelic games and pastimes, which include the traditional ...

club. * Aughnacloy Golf Club – one of the founder clubs of the

Golfing Union of Ireland The Golfing Union of Ireland (GUI) ( Irish: ''Aontas Gailf na hÉireann (AGÉ)'') was the governing body for men's and boy's amateur golf across the island of Ireland. Formed in 1891, the GUI was the first national golfing union to be establishe ...

in 1890; reformed in 1994 and currently based at Lissenderry just outside the village * Aughnacloy Races – The ancient tradition of horse racing has been re-established in recent years

References

Sources

* Dungannon & South Tyrone Area Plan 2010 {{authority control Villages in County Tyrone Civil parish of Carnteel