Moneymore () 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 ...

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 orig ...

in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It had a population of 1,897 in the 2011 Census. It is situated within

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

. It is an example of a

plantation A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. The ...

village in Mid-Ulster built by the

Drapers' Company The Worshipful Company of Drapers is one of the 110 livery companies of the City of London. It has the formal name The Master and Wardens and Brethren and Sisters of the Guild or Fraternity of the Blessed Mary the Virgin of the Mystery of Dr ...

of London.

Geography

Moneymore lies in a glen. The Ballymully River flows through the southern part of the village. The river rises on a large hill,

Slieve Gallion Slieve Gallion () is a mountain in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It is the easternmost of the Sperrin Mountains. It reaches a height of and dominates the western shore of Lough Neagh. Its prominent northeastern summit has a transmitte ...

(one of the

Sperrins The Sperrins or Sperrin Mountains () are a range of mountains in Northern Ireland and one of the largest upland areas in Northern Ireland. The range stretches from Strabane eastwards to Slieve Gallion in Desertmartin and north towards Limava ...

), which has a radio tower on top. The village is about 35 miles (56.3 km) from the sea to the north.

History

There was an important battle fought near Moneymore called the battle of Móin Daire Lothair in the year 563 between the

Northern Uí Néill The Northern Uí Néill is any of several dynasties in north-western medieval Ireland that claimed descent from a common ancestor, Niall of the Nine Hostages. Other dynasties in central and eastern Ireland who also claimed descent from Niall we ...

and the

Cruithin The Cruthin (; mga, Cruithnig or ; ga, label= Modern Irish, Cruithne ) were a people of early medieval Ireland. Their heartland was in Ulster and included parts of the present-day counties of Antrim, Down and Londonderry. They are also sai ...

tribe which the

won. This battle is recorded in the Annals of Ulster and would have been a major event at the time. Much of

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It i ...

and

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

would have descent from these two groups as there was notable mixing with

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

over the years and the

Uí Néill The Uí Néill (Irish pronunciation: ; meaning "descendants of Niall") are Irish dynasties who claim descent from Niall Noígíallach (Niall of the Nine Hostages), a historical King of Tara who died c. 405. They are generally divided into t ...

split to form the Southern

in the Irish midlands around this time. 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 " ...

, seven people were killed in or near Moneymore in violence related to the conflict, six of them by the

Provisional IRA The Irish Republican Army (IRA; ), also known as the Provisional Irish Republican Army, and informally as the Provos, was an Irish republicanism, Irish republican paramilitary organisation that sought to end British rule in Northern Ireland, fa ...

and one by the UDA.

People

Henry Conwell Henry Conwell ( – April 22, 1842) was an Irish-born Catholic bishop in the United States. He became a priest in 1776 and served in that capacity in Ireland for more than four decades. After the Pope declined to appoint him Archbishop of Arm ...

(c. 1748 – 22 April 1842), Roman Catholic bishop in the United States *

Richard William Enraght Richard William Enraght (23 February 1837 – 21 September 1898) was an Irish-born Church of England priest of the late nineteenth century. He was influenced by the Oxford Movement and was included amongst the priests commonly called "Secon ...

, Anglican priest and religious controversialist. He was born in Moneymore on 23 February 1837, the son of the Reverend Matthew Enraght the Assistant Curate of the parish. * John Harris, surgeon, early settler of Australia, born Moneymore 1754

Places of interest

The most notable building in the town is the 17th century Plantation house, Springhill, built and owned by the Conyngham, later Lenox-Conyngham family but since 1957 in the ownership of the

National Trust The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...

. Moneymore Model Village depicts life in rural Ulster at the time of the Plantation.

Transport

* Moneymore railway station opened on 10 November 1856 and shut on 2 May 1955.

Sport

Moneymore GAC Henry Joy McCracken's GFC Moneymore ( ga, CLG Mhic Reachtáin, Muine Mór) is a Gaelic Athletic Association club based in Moneymore, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. The club is a member of Derry GAA and currently caters for Gaelic foot ...

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.

Schools

There are two primary schools in Moneymore: Moneymore Primary School (the state

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...

) and St. Patrick's Primary School (a

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 let ...

primary school). Most children of secondary school age attend one of the schools in nearby Cookstown or

Magherafelt Magherafelt (, �mˠaxəɾʲəˈfʲiːlt̪ˠə is a small town and civil parish in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It had a population of 8,805 at the 2011 Census. It is the biggest town in the south of the county and is the social, econo ...

Churches

*St. John's Church (Church of Ireland) *Church of SS John & Trea (Roman Catholic) *Moneymore First Presbyterian Church *Moneymore Second Presbyterian Church *Moneymore Congregational Church *Moneymore Gospel Hall

Demography

2001 Census

Moneymore is classified as a village by the

Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency The Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA, ga, Gníomhaireacht Thuaisceart Éireann um Staitisticí agus Taighde, links=no) is an executive agency within the Department of Finance in Northern Ireland. The organisation is resp ...

(NISRA) (i.e. with population between 1,000 and 2,250 people). On Census day (29 April 2001) there were 1,369 people living in Moneymore. Of these: *25.0% were aged under 16 years and 16.1% were aged 60 and over *45.29% of the population were male and 52.1% were female *47.8% were from a

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

background and 51.0% were from a

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

background; *3.1% of people aged 16–74 were unemployed.

2011 Census

On Census Day (27 March 2011) the usually resident population of Moneymore Settlement was 1,897 accounting for 0.10% of the NI total. In Moneymore Settlement, considering the resident population: *98.52% were from the white (including Irish Traveller) ethnic group *45.65% belong to or were brought up in the Catholic religion and 50.34% belong to or were brought up in a 'Protestant and Other Christian (including Christian related)' religion *50.03% indicated that they had a British national identity, 23.35% had an Irish national identity and 29.78% had a Northern Irish national identity *9.35% had some knowledge of Irish *7.32% had some knowledge of Ulster-Scots *3.38% did not have English as their first language

External links

Moneymore and Draperstown: The Architecture and Planning of the Estates of the Drapers Company in Ulster

References

{{authority control Villages in County Londonderry Townlands of County Londonderry Mid-Ulster District