The North West Liberties of Londonderry is a

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 ...

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. It is bordered by two other baronies in Northern Ireland. They are Tirkeeran 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 to the south. It also borders two baronies in County Donegal in the Republic of Ireland. It borders

Raphoe North Raphoe North (; ), or North Raphoe, is a barony in County Donegal, Republic of Ireland. Baronies were mainly cadastral rather than administrative units. They acquired modest local taxation and spending functions in the 19th century before being ...

, to the south-west; and

Inishowen West Inishowen West (), also called West Inishowen or Innishowen West, is a Barony (Ireland), barony in County Donegal, Republic of Ireland. Baronies were mainly cadastre, cadastral rather than administrative units. They acquired modest local taxatio ...

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 Republic of Ireland. 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 from ...

. The North West Liberties has only one administrative parish 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 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 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 Londonderry Borough Police was the police force in the city of Derry, County Londonderry, Ireland, from 1848 to 1870, nicknamed the Horney Dicks after the bones used in their helmets. They replaced the earlier town watch and were in turn rep ...

. The joint policing partnership between the city and the Liberties was later adsorbed into the jurisdiction of the Royal Irish Constabulary (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

References

{{coord missing, County Londonderry Baronies of County Londonderry