The North West Liberties of Londonderry is a barony in

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 ...

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 ...

. It is bordered by two other baronies in Northern Ireland. They are

Tirkeeran Tirkeeran () is a barony in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It connects to the north-Londonderry coastline, and is bordered by four other baronies: Keenaght to the east; Strabane Lower to the south-east; North West Liberties of Londonder ...

to the east, across

Lough Foyle Lough Foyle, sometimes Loch Foyle ( or "loch of the lip"), is the estuary of the River Foyle, on the north coast of Ireland. It lies between County Londonderry in Northern Ireland and County Donegal in the Republic of Ireland. Sovereignty over ...

; and

Strabane Lower Strabane Lower (named after Strabane) is a barony in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is bordered by five other baronies in Northern Ireland: North West Liberties of Derry to the north; Tirkeeran to the north-east; Strabane Upper to the ea ...

to the south. It also borders two baronies in County Donegal 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. ...

. It borders Raphoe North, to the south-west; and Inishowen West to the north.

Boundaries

The boundaries of the North West Liberties of Londonderry consist of all parts of County Londonderry on the west bank of the

River Foyle The River Foyle () is a river in west Ulster in the northwest of the island of Ireland, which flows from the confluence of the rivers Finn and Mourne at the towns of Lifford in County Donegal, Republic of Ireland, and Strabane in County Ty ...

that is not a part of the City of

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 ...

, and it borders County Donegal in the

. The Liberties also historically included the shoreline of the east bank of the Foyle in addition. The original land of the Liberties originally was a part of County Donegal before being transferred to County Londonderry following a redistribution of land during the administration of the

Kingdom of Ireland The Kingdom of Ireland ( ga, label=Classical Irish, an Ríoghacht Éireann; ga, label=Modern Irish, an Ríocht Éireann, ) was a monarchy on the island of Ireland that was a client state of England and then of Great Britain. It existed fro ...

. The North West Liberties has only one administrative

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or ...

within it, the parish of Templemore (also known as Temple Derry).

History

The North West Liberties of Londonderry were established by

The Honourable The Irish Society The Honourable The Irish SocietyIn full, the "Society of the Governor and Assistants, London, of the New Plantation in Ulster, within the Realm of Ireland". is a consortium of livery companies of the City of London established during the Plantat ...

when they invested money to rebuild and expand the ruined town and monastic settlement of

, which had been destroyed in 1608, and enjoyed heavy influence over how the North West Liberties were run. There was originally doubt as to whether the freeholders of the North West Liberties of Londonderry were to be considered a separate barony from the City of Derry for election purposes. This was clarified in 1800 after an Act of the

Parliament of Ireland The Parliament of Ireland ( ga, Parlaimint na hÉireann) was the legislature of the Lordship of Ireland, and later the Kingdom of Ireland, from 1297 until 1800. It was modelled on the Parliament of England and from 1537 comprised two chambe ...

affirming that freeholders from the North West Liberties of Londonderry were separate from the Londonderry County constituency and were entitled to vote in the Londonderry City constituency. The North West Liberties joined with the newly rebuilt and renamed City of Londonderry (also known as the City of Derry) in establishing a unified Town Watch in 1829, in an agreement that would eventually evolve to become the Londonderry Borough Police. The joint policing partnership between the city and the Liberties was later adsorbed into the jurisdiction of the

Royal Irish Constabulary The Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC, ga, Constáblacht Ríoga na hÉireann; simply called the Irish Constabulary 1836–67) was the police force in Ireland from 1822 until 1922, when all of the country was part of the United Kingdom. A separate ...

(RIC) following the abolition of the Londonderry Borough Police in 1870.

List of major settlements

List of civil parishes

Below is a list of civil parishes in the North West Liberties of Londonderry: *

Templemore Templemore () is a town in County Tipperary, Ireland. It is a civil parish in the historical barony of Eliogarty. It is part of the parish of Templemore, Clonmore and Killea in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cashel and Emly. The 2011 Ce ...

References

{{coord missing, County Londonderry Baronies of County Londonderry