Melanagh () is an ancient Irish district in what is now north-eastern County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. Melanagh along with

Tarraghter Tarraghter, also recorded as Erraghter and Farraghter (), is an ancient Irish tuatha, district in what is now north-eastern County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. Tarraghter along with Melanagh were once part of the barony of Loughinsholin until the Pla ...

were once part of the barony of

Loughinsholin Loughinsholin () is a barony in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. Its southeast borders the northwest shore of Lough Neagh, and itself is bordered by seven other baronies: Dungannon Upper to the south; Strabane Upper to the west; Keenaght ...

until the

Plantation of Ulster The Plantation of Ulster ( gle, Plandáil Uladh; Ulster-Scots: ''Plantin o Ulstèr'') was the organised colonisation (''plantation'') of Ulstera province of Irelandby people from Great Britain during the reign of King James I. Most of the sett ...

, which saw them merged with the barony of Mountjoy (modern-day barony of Dungannon Upper). Situated to the south of Slieve Gallion, Melanagh was divided into two portions. One portion lay in between Tarraghter and Killetra, in an area roughly in between the Ballinderry and Lissan Rivers. The other portion lay in between Tarraghter, Killetra, and Glenconkeyne. Both portions were connected by Tarraghters termon lands.

History

Melanagh derives its name from the Irish ''Meallanacht'', which means "O'Mellans country". It was a termon (church land) of which the O'Mellans were the erenaghs. During the

it passed into ownership of the Church of Ireland, thus Melanagh passed into the hands of the Archbishop of Armagh, who in turn leased it to English and Scottish settlers. In 1628, Dr. Allen Cooke, an English ecclesiastical lawyer, received a grant from King Charles I to build a market town, which was to become known as Cooke's Town (modern day

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 ...

). Cooke purchased extensive areas of land in Malenagh from the Archbishop of Armagh, including the townland of "Core Criche" on which Cookstown was founded. Despite deriving from the same origin, the O'Mellans who gave their name to the district were originally located south of the Sperrin Mountains, whilst the O'Mullans were located north of them.

References

{{coord missing, County Tyrone Barony of Loughinsholin Barony of Dungannon Upper History of County Londonderry