Ballygawley or Ballygawly () is a

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 Tyrone County Tyrone (; ) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the thirty-two traditional counties of Ireland. It is no longer used as an administrative division for local government but retai ...

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 about 20 kilometres southwest of Dungannon, near the meeting of the A5 Derry–

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

and A4 Dungannon–

Enniskillen Enniskillen ( , from ga, Inis Ceithleann , ' Ceithlenn's island') is the largest town in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. It is in the middle of the county, between the Upper and Lower sections of Lough Erne. It had a population of 13,823 a ...

roads.

Geography

An American visitor in 1925 commented on the way the village was laid out: "...Ballygawley, which I found to be a village or settlement on two streets (or possibly on one street which turned at right angles to my left as I stood looking at the buildings when I came in sight of the place). It was a wide street, with excellent cement sidewalks not very wide, and the buildings came up flush with the sidewalks, and there were no alleys, driveways or paths between the buildings." It is a compact village around the ‘L’ shaped Main Street and Church Street, formerly Meeting House Street, with a second cluster of development to the southwest. The main cluster inholds most of the village's facilities; two primary schools, churches and a range of shops and services. The cluster of development to the southwest inholds a secondary school and housing. Ballygawley had a population of 642 at the 2001 Census.

History

Ballygawley is also known as "Errigal-Kerogue" or "Errigal-Kieran", supposedly from the dedication of an ancient church to St. Kieran (

Ciarán of Clonmacnoise Saint Ciarán of Clonmacnoise (c. 516 – c. 549), supposedly born Ciarán mac an tSaeir ("son of the carpenter"), was one of the Twelve Apostles of Ireland and the first abbot of Clonmacnoise. He is sometimes called Ciarán the Youn ...

). It was in the

Clogher (barony) Clogher is a barony in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is bordered by four other baronies in Northern Ireland: Omagh East to the north; Dungannon Lower to the east; Magherastephana to the south; and Tirkennedy to the south-west. It also ...

, along the River Blackwater. Some of the remains of the old church were known, and an ancient Franciscan friary, founded by

Conn O'Neill, 1st Earl of Tyrone Conn Bacagh O'Neill, 1st Earl of Tyrone ( Irish: ''Conn Bacach mac Cuinn Ó Néill'') (c. 1480–1559), was king of Tyrone. In 1541 O'Neill travelled to England to submit to Henry VIII as part of the surrender and regrant policy that coincide ...

. In the churchyard was a large stone cross, and a

holy well A holy well or sacred spring is a well, spring or small pool of water revered either in a Christian or pagan context, sometimes both. The water of holy wells is often thought to have healing qualities, through the numinous presence of its guar ...

The Troubles

For more information see The Troubles in Ballygawley, which includes a list of incidents in Ballygawley during

the Troubles The Troubles ( ga, Na Trioblóidí) were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it is sometimes described as an " ...

resulting in two or more fatalities, as well as: * Attack on Ballygawley barracks, 1985. * Ballygawley bus bombing, 1988.

People

Mickey Harte Mickey Harte (born 1952) is an Irish Gaelic football manager and former player. He has been manager of the Louth county team since 2020. Harte managed the Tyrone county team from 2002 until his resignation in 2020, at which time he was the ...

, the Gaelic football manager who led Tyrone to All Ireland glory in 2003, 2005 and 2008, was born in Ballygawley in 1952. * Michaela McAreavey, daughter of Mickey Harte, who was murdered in 2011 whilst on honeymoon in Mauritius. * Malachy O'Rourke, the footballer and manager, lived in Ballygawley from the early 1990s onwards Tirnaskea, Ballygawley - geograph

Development

Ballygawley is acquiring extensive development with the major upgrade to the A4 and the building of the new roundabout to accommodate the traffic congestion from the main Aughnacloy road. These road improvements many contractors have been submitting plans for extensive housing developments. The most exciting of all being the redevelopment of Main st leading onto Church Street, with plans for new bars and restaurants. There is speculation of the Stewart Arms hotel being reopened and other developments such as the health spa at 'Grangemount'. There are other developments such as the rebuilding of Loughrans Castle as a historical building to house historical items from the surrounding area. The Ballygawley River is a major tourist attraction supplying the finest of fresh water fishing in Ireland. The original hydro-electric station at the old Dungannon rd is being rebuilt to provide a large amount of the town's energy.

Events

Although having an

Irish nationalist Irish nationalism is a nationalist political movement which, in its broadest sense, asserts that the people of Ireland should govern Ireland as a sovereign state. Since the mid-19th century, Irish nationalism has largely taken the form of c ...

majority, Ballygawley is paraded through by the unionist loyal orders without any incident and last held the Orange Orders " Twelfth" celebrations in 2018, and the Royal Black Institutions "Black Saturday" demonstration in 2011. Outdoor activity centre Todds Leap is located in Ballygawley hosting various events and outdoor activities.

Transport

Ballygawley railway station (on the narrow gauge

Clogher Valley Railway The Clogher Valley Railway was a , narrow gauge railway in County Tyrone and County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. It opened in May 1887 and closed on 1 January 1942 (with the last trains running the previous day). Route The railway was mainly si ...

) opened on 2 May 1887 but was shut on 1 January 1942.

Education

* Richmond Primary School * St. Mary's Primary School * St Ciaran's College

Sport

Errigal Ciarán GAC Errigal Ciarán GAC is a Gaelic Athletic Association Gaelic football club in southern County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It represents the parish of the same name, which incorporates the village of Ballygawley and its surrounding area. The club ...

is the local

Gaelic Athletic Association The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA; ga, Cumann Lúthchleas Gael ; CLG) is an Irish international amateur sports, amateur sporting and cultural organisation, focused primarily on promoting indigenous Gaelic games and pastimes, which include t ...

club.

Demography

19th century population

The population of the village decreased during the 19th century:

2011 Census

On Census Day (27 March 2011) the usually resident population of Ballygawley Settlement was 711, accounting for 0.04% of the NI total. This article contains quotations from this source, which is available under th
Open Government Licence v3.0
© Crown copyright. Of these: * 22.22% were aged under 16 and 13.22% were aged 65 and over * 46.55% of the population were male and 53.45% were female * 80.87% belong to or were brought up in the Catholic religion and 17.02% belong to or were brought up in a 'Protestant and Other Christian (including Christian related)' religion; and * 15.61% indicated that they had a British national identity, 44.59% had an Irish national identity and 36.43% had a Northern Irish national identity.

Ballygawley Townland

It is situated in the historic barony of

Clogher Clogher () is a village and civil parish in the border area of south County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It lies on the River Blackwater, 5.8 miles from the border crossing to County Monaghan. It stands on the townlands of Clogher Demesne and ...

and the

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 authorit ...

of Errigal Keerogue and covers an area of 123 acres. The population of the townland declined during the 19th century: The townland contains one Scheduled Historic Monument: a Castle (grid ref: H6324 5749).

Bibliography

* Ballygawley National School (Tyrone). 1990. Register of Ballygawley National School, 1893–1951. Salt Lake City, Utah: Filmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah. Ballygawley is a town in Errigal Keerogue Parish. The school was under the jurisdiction of the Southern School Board. Microfilm of original records at the Public Record Office, Belfast. Includes indexes.
Errigal Keerogue
1837. A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland. * Geological Survey of Ireland, J. Nolan, and E.T. Hardman. 1877. Sheet 34 Ballygawley. Dublin: Geological Survey of Ireland. Scale 1:63 360. Hand colored map. * Harris, Mary N.. 2004. MacRory, Joseph. Oxford: Oxford University Press. MacRory, Joseph (bap. 1861, d. 1945), cardinal, was born in Ballygawley, co. Tyrone, where he was baptized on 10 March 1861, one of ten children of Francis MacRory (d. 1867?), a small farmer, and Rose Montague. * Ingram, Brett. 1970. The Armavigil. Ballygawley: the Author. Produced for the Irish Church Independence Centenary pageant. 61 pages. * Ingram, Brett. 1960. The Ulstertide. Ireland: s.n. Ulster (Ireland) -- Emigration and immigration. * KIRKLAND, RICHARD. 2009. "Ballygawley, Ballylynn, Belfast: Writing about Modernity and Settlement in Northern Ireland". The Irish Review. (40/41): 18–32. * Latimer, W. T. 1900. "Interesting Find at Ballygawley". The Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland. 10 (4): 368. * Ordnance Survey of Ireland. 2011. Mid Tyrone 1900. Dunston .a. Godfrey. Map: English: Surveyed in 1833–34, rev. in 1900 and publ. 1902, printed 1904. Scale: 1:63.360. * Pringle, Margaret. 1960. History of Pringle family. Salt Lake City, Utah: Filmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah. Margaret Pringle was born in 1836, married a Presbyterian clergyman of Ballygawley, and died 1906.

References

{{authority control Villages in County Tyrone Townlands of County Tyrone Barony of Clogher