Donegore (historically ''Dunogcurra'', ) is the name of a hill, a

townland A townland ( ga, baile fearainn; Ulster-Scots: ''toonlann'') is a small geographical division of land, historically and currently used in Ireland and in the Western Isles in Scotland, typically covering . The townland system is of Gaelic origi ...

, a small cluster of residences, and a

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 authority ...

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 ...

Antrim Upper Antrim Upper is a barony in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is bordered by six other baronies: Antrim Lower to the north; Toome Upper to the west; Massereene Lower to the south-west; Belfast Upper to the south; Belfast Lower to the south-eas ...

County Antrim County Antrim (named after the town of Antrim, ) is one of six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the thirty-two counties of Ireland. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of and has a population o ...

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

. Donegore lies approximately 5 miles (8 km) east of Antrim town. 154 acres of the townland lies in the civil parish of

Grange of Nilteen Grange of Nilteen is a civil parish in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is situated in the historic barony of Antrim Upper. It is 3.5 miles east of Antrim on the Six Mile Water River. Civil parish of Grange of Nilteen The civil parish include ...

(also in Antrim Upper). The largest settlement in the parish is the village of Parkgate. Donegore Hill stands prominently above the

Six Mile Water The Six Mile Water is a river in southern County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is an indirect tributary of the River Bann, via Lough Neagh. Name The river was historically called the ''(river) Ollar'' and is known in Irish as ''Abhainn na bhFiodh ...

valley, with views to the east, south, and most notably the west, where it overlooks

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 ...

and the

Sperrins The Sperrins or Sperrin Mountains () are a range of mountains in Northern Ireland and one of the largest upland areas in Northern Ireland. The range stretches from Strabane eastwards to Slieve Gallion in Desertmartin and north towards Limava ...

beyond.

History

The area was the site of main camp of the

United Irishmen The Society of United Irishmen was a sworn association in the Kingdom of Ireland formed in the wake of the French Revolution to secure "an equal representation of all the people" in a national government. Despairing of constitutional reform, ...

prior to the

Battle of Antrim The Battle of Antrim was fought on 7 June 1798, in County Antrim, Ireland during the Irish Rebellion of 1798 between British troops and Irish insurgents led by Henry Joy McCracken. The British won the battle, beating off a rebel attack on Antri ...

, in the

Irish Rebellion of 1798 The Irish Rebellion of 1798 ( ga, Éirí Amach 1798; Ulster-Scots: ''The Hurries'') was a major uprising against British rule in Ireland. The main organising force was the Society of United Irishmen, a republican revolutionary group influence ...

. Weaver poet, James Orr wrote a poem entitled ''Donegore Hill'' on the subject. The parish contains fortified earthworks and other

archaeological Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

remains, both ancient (including a neolithic

causewayed enclosure A causewayed enclosure is a type of large prehistoric earthwork common to the early Neolithic in Europe. It is an enclosure marked out by ditches and banks, with a number of causeways crossing the ditches. More than 100 examples are recorded i ...

) and mediaeval. The

Church of Ireland The Church of Ireland ( ga, Eaglais na hÉireann, ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Kirk o Airlann, ) is a Christian church in Ireland and an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the second ...

(Anglican) parish church, St. John's, dates back at least to the 14th century. The churchyard is the burial site of (among others) poet and artist Sir

Samuel Ferguson Sir Samuel Ferguson (10 March 1810 – 9 August 1886) was an Irish poet, barrister, antiquarian, artist and public servant. He was an acclaimed 19th-century Irish poet, and his interest in Irish mythology and early Irish history can be seen ...

. Since 1922, the

parish has been united with the adjacent parish of

Templepatrick Templepatrick (; ) is a village and civil parish in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is northwest of Belfast, and halfway between the towns of Ballyclare and Antrim. It is also close to Belfast International Airport and the village has sever ...

. The parish is served also by two

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

churches: First Donegore in Parkgate and Second straddling the boundary of Dunamuggy and Ballywee.

Townlands in the Parish of Donegore

* Ballyclaverty *

Ballygowan Ballygowan () is a village in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is within the Ards and North Down Borough. The town of Comber is a short distance to the north-east, the town of Saintfield to the south, and the city of Belfast further to the no ...

* Ballynoe * Ballysavage * Ballywee * Ballywoodock * Browndod * Cromy and Taggarts Land *Donegore * Drumagorgan * Dunamuggy * Durham's Land * Ferguson's Land * Freemanstown * Halftown * Rathbeg * Rathmore * Tobergill

References

Villages in County Antrim Townlands of County Antrim Civil parish of Grange of Nilteen Causewayed enclosures {{Antrim-geo-stub

History

Townlands in the Parish of Donegore

See also

References