Coagh ( ; ) is a small village in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, five miles (8 km) east of

Cookstown Cookstown ( ga, An Chorr Chríochach, IPA: �anˠˈxoːɾˠɾˠˈçɾʲiːxəx is a small town in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is the fourth largest town in the county and had a population of 11,599 in the 2011 census. It, along with Maghe ...

. Part of the village also extends into

County Londonderry County Londonderry ( Ulster-Scots: ''Coontie Lunnonderrie''), also known as County Derry ( ga, Contae Dhoire), is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the thirty two counties of Ireland and one of the nine counties of Ulster. B ...

. It had a population of 545 people in the 2001 Census. It owes its existence to George Butle Conyngham of Springhill, and was founded in 1728 when King George II of Great Britain granted Conyngham a market charter allowing the village to host four fairs yearly. It is situated within Mid-Ulster District. The village nestles among gentle, low-lying land between the Sperrins and

Lough Neagh Lough Neagh ( ) is a freshwater lake in Northern Ireland and is the largest lake in the island of Ireland, the United Kingdom and the British Isles. It has a surface area of and supplies 40% of Northern Ireland's water. Its main inflows come ...

. The main feature of the village is Hanover Square, which was named after the reigning

Hanoverian The adjective Hanoverian is used to describe: * British monarchs or supporters of the House of Hanover, the dynasty which ruled the United Kingdom from 1714 to 1901 * things relating to; ** Electorate of Hanover ** Kingdom of Hanover ** Province o ...

George II by Conyngham. The village has been an ancient settlement for several thousand years; overlooking Coagh is Tamlaght Stone, a

Mesolithic The Mesolithic (Greek: μέσος, ''mesos'' 'middle' + λίθος, ''lithos'' 'stone') or Middle Stone Age is the Old World archaeological period between the Upper Paleolithic and the Neolithic. The term Epipaleolithic is often used synonymous ...

dolmen A dolmen () or portal tomb is a type of single-chamber megalithic tomb, usually consisting of two or more upright megaliths supporting a large flat horizontal capstone or "table". Most date from the early Neolithic (40003000 BCE) and were somet ...

erected c. 4500 BCE.

History

The Troubles

On 3 June 1991, Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) volunteers Lawrence McNally, Peter Ryan and Tony Doris were killed in an ambush by an

SAS SAS or Sas may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''SAS'' (novel series), a French book series by Gérard de Villiers * ''Shimmer and Shine'', an American animated children's television series * Southern All Stars, a Japanese rock ba ...

unit. The British Army stated that the IRA members had been intercepted on their way to an attack. Over 200 rounds were fired at the car.

Education

Coagh has its own primary school, Coagh Primary School, a feeder school for many local schools including

Cookstown High School Cookstown High School is a combined Grammar School and Secondary School in Northern Ireland. It is one of the largest in the area, falling within the Southern Region of the Education Authority Northern Ireland. Unlike many grammar providers i ...

Sport

* Coagh United Football Club, which plays in the IFA Championship

Amenities

Coagh has a surgery which serves local areas, such as Ardboe, Ballinderry, Moortown, Drummullan, The Loup and Moneymore.

Demography

19th century population

The population of the village increased slightly overall during the 19th century:

21st century population

Coagh is classified as a small village or hamlet by the NI Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) (i.e. with population between 500 and 1,000 people). On Census day (29 April 2001) there were 545 people living in Coagh. Of these: *20.9% were aged under 16 and 20.4% were aged 60 and over *48.3% of the population were male and 51.7% were female *26.4% were from a Catholic background and 72.8% were from a Protestant background *2.3% of people aged 16–74 were unemployed. For more details see
NI Neighbourhood Information Service

Coagh Townland

The townland 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 Upper and the civil parish of Tamlaght and covers an area of 616 acres. The population of the townland declined during the 19th century: In 1891, the town of Coagh, standing in the townlands of Coagh and Urbal, covered an estimated area of 13 acres.

Notable people

* Jimmy Kennedy, Tin Pan Alley composer, grew up here. * Stuart Dallas (born 1991), Northern Ireland international footballer, grew up in Coagh, having been born in

References

NI Conflict Archive on the Internet
{{authority control Villages in County Tyrone Villages in County Londonderry Townlands of County Tyrone Barony of Dungannon Upper Mid-Ulster District