Swatragh ()
/ref> 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 to ...

and

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 ...

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 ...

. Swatragh is on the main

A29 road A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes'' ...

north of

Maghera Maghera (pronounced , ) is a small town at the foot of the Glenshane Pass in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. Its population was 4,220 in the 2011 Census, increasing from 3,711 in the 2001 Census. It is situated within Mid-Ulster Distric ...

, and is situated within

Mid-Ulster District , settlement_type = District , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_type1 = Constituent country , subdivision_type2 = , subdivision_type3 = , subdivisi ...

. The population was 438 in the 2011 Census. The village has three churches: one

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

, one

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 ...

, and one

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 ...

. The Catholic and Church of Ireland churches are

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

s. St John's is the local primary school. Swatragh Bridge Over The Clady River

Swatragh's name in Irish, ''an Suaitreach'', is derived from a shortened form of ''Baile an tSuaitrigh'' meaning "townland of the billeted soldier".

Sport

Swatragh is home to Michael Davitt Gaelic Athletic Club. Several of the club's

Gaelic football Gaelic football ( ga, Peil Ghaelach; short name '), commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA or Football is an Irish team sport. It is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score by kic ...

players have represented

Derry GAA The Derry County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) ( ga, Cumann Lúthchleas Gael Coiste Chontae Dhoire) or Derry GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland. It is responsible for Gaelic games in County Londonderry ...

. There is also a boxing club located within the village.

People

Anthony Tohill Anthony Tohill (born 2 August 1971) is an Irish former Gaelic footballer who played for the Derry county team in the 1990s and early 2000s. He is a former chief executive of the Mid Ulster District Council. Early life and family Tohill was bo ...

er *

Terry McFlynn Terence Martin "Terry" McFlynn (born 27 March 1981) is a retired footballer from Northern Ireland who is most well known for playing for the A-League club Sydney FC. He is currently serving as the W-League and Academy manager for Perth Glory FC. ...

- professional

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

player

Rivers

The

Knockoneil River The Knockoneil River sometimes spelled Knockoneill and is even called Clady River this river is a small to medium sized river in Northern Ireland located near Maghera and is a major artery river which merges with the Grillagh River to form the ...

flows through the village and is leased by the Clady And District Angling Club. The rivers best access is mainly downstream from the Swatragh Bridge downstream towards Beagh Bridge. The river can also be easy fished so far upstream about a fields length before becoming wild and overgrown Brown trout is plentiful along this stretch of the river as well as late Salmon and Bann Trout. The Knockoneil is an artery of the

Clady River The River Clady is a mid-scale river in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland, a tributary of the Lower Bann. It forms from the confluence of the Grillagh River and Knockoneil River. Course The river flows through the flatlands outside C ...

along with the

Grillagh River The Grillagh River is a small river located outside Maghera, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It starts in Slaughtneil a rural area northwest of Maghera southwest of Swatragh south of Glenullin and north of Glen. Slaughtneil means Niall ...

References

NI Neighbourhood Information ServiceNI population of settlements estimates from 2011 census
*Draft Magherafelt Area Plan 2015
Culture Northern Ireland
Villages in County Londonderry Mid-Ulster District {{Londonderry-geo-stub