Charlemont ( Irish: ''Achadh an Dá Chora'', "field of the two weirs") is a small

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred ...

County Armagh County Armagh (, named after its county town, Armagh) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. Adjoined to the southern shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of an ...

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 ...

. It sits on the right bank of the River Blackwater, five miles northwest of

Armagh Armagh ( ; ga, Ard Mhacha, , "Macha's height") is the county town of County Armagh and a city in Northern Ireland, as well as a civil parish. It is the ecclesiastical capital of Ireland – the seat of the Archbishops of Armagh, the ...

, and is linked to the neighbouring village of Moy by

Charlemont Bridge Charlemont Bridge is a stone bridge in Moy, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland The bridge spans the River Blackwater connecting the villages of Moy and Charlemont (on the east bank) on the old coaching route between Dungannon and Armagh Arm ...

. It had a population of 109 people (52 households) at the 2011 Census.

History

Charlemont takes its name from

Charles Blount, 8th Baron Mountjoy Charles Blount, 1st Earl of Devonshire, KG (pronounced ''Blunt''; 15633 April 1606) was an English nobleman and soldier who served as Lord Deputy of Ireland under Queen Elizabeth I, and later as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland under King James I. ...

, who built a bridge and fort here in 1602 in order to secure the Blackwater valley against the rebel

Earl of Tyrone The Earl of Tyrone is a title created three times in the Peerage of Ireland. It was first created as part of the Tudor attempt to establish a uniform social structure in Ireland by converting the Gaelic kings and chiefs into hereditary nobles of t ...

. Sir Toby Caulfeild became the fort's governor the following year. By 1611, a "towne" had grown up around the fort, "replenished with many inhabitants of English and Irish, who have built them good houses of coples." It was incorporated as a borough in 1613. Charlemont Fort retained its military significance after Tyrone's Rebellion came to an end. Caulfeild rebuilt the defences in 1622, adding a three-storied governor's house. At the outbreak of the 1641 Rebellion, the fort was taken by

Sir Phelim O'Neill Sir Phelim Roe O'Neill of Kinard ( Irish: ''Sir Féilim Rua Ó Néill na Ceann Ard''; 1604–1653) was an Irish politician and soldier who started the Irish rebellion in Ulster on 23 October 1641. He joined the Irish Catholic Confederat ...

in a surprise attack. A number of attempts were made to recapture it, but despite the efforts of both Royalists and

Covenanters Covenanters ( gd, Cùmhnantaich) were members of a 17th-century Scottish religious and political movement, who supported a Presbyterian Church of Scotland, and the primacy of its leaders in religious affairs. The name is derived from '' Covena ...

it remained in O'Neill's hands until 1650, when a Cromwellian force ousted him after a bloody

siege A siege is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition, or a well-prepared assault. This derives from la, sedere, lit=to sit. Siege warfare is a form of constant, low-intensity conflict characteriz ...

. In 1664, William Caulfeild sold Charlemont Fort to the crown for the sum of £3,500. James II installed Teig O'Regan as the fort's governor in 1689, and spent a night here on his way to the

Siege of Derry The siege of Derry in 1689 was the first major event in the Williamite War in Ireland. The siege was preceded by a first attempt against the town by Jacobite forces on 7 December 1688 that was foiled when 13 apprentices shut the gates ...

. It again came under siege in 1690 when

Marshal Schomberg Friedrich Hermann von Schönberg, 1st Duke of Schomberg, 1st Count of Mertola, (french: Frédéric-Armand; pt, Armando Frederico; 6 December 1615 – 1 July 1690) was a Marshal of France and a General in the English and Portuguese Army. He was ...

arrived, eventually forcing O'Regan to surrender. Charlemont Fort continued to be garrisoned throughout the 18th century, but its usefulness waned thereafter and the government withdrew the last garrison in 1856. In 1859 it was sold to the Earl of Charlemont for £12,884 5s. It was burned down by the IRA in 1920, leaving only the gatehouse there today.

The Troubles

On 15 May 1976, the

Ulster Volunteer Force The Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) is an Ulster loyalist paramilitary group. Formed in 1965, it first emerged in 1966. Its first leader was Gusty Spence, a former British Army soldier from Northern Ireland. The group undertook an armed campaign ...

launched two attacks on pubs in Charlemont. A bomb attack on Clancy's Bar left three

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

civilians dead: 54-year-old Felix Clancy, 22-year-old Sean O'Hagan, and 41-year-old Robert McCullough. Shortly after, a gun attack on the nearby Eagle Bar led to the death of another Catholic civilian: 49-year-old Frederick McLoughlin two weeks later. A UDR soldier was later convicted for taking part in the attacks, which have been linked to the "

Glenanne gang The Glenanne gang or Glenanne group was a secret informal alliance of Ulster loyalists who carried out shooting and bombing attacks against Catholics and Irish nationalists in the 1970s, during the Troubles.

".Cassell Report
(2006), pp. 53-54

Education

* St. Peter's Primary School

References

{{authority control Villages in County Armagh Former boroughs in Northern Ireland

History

The Troubles

Education

See also

References