Newtownbutler

Newtownbutler or Newtown Butler is a small village in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. It is in the southeast corner of the county, near Lough Erne, the border with County Monaghan, and the town of Clones. It is surrounded by small lakes and bogland. In the 2011 Census it had a population of 989 people. This article contains quotations from this source, which is available under th
Open Government Licence v3.0
© Crown copyright.

History

Newtownbutler began to be built as a Plantation village in the early 18th century. It was built within the townland of Aghagay.Placenames Database of Ireland
(see archival records)

The Battle of Newtownbutler took place in 1689 and was part of the Williamite War in Ireland between the forces of William III and Mary II and those of King James II.

In Enniskillen, armed Williamite civilians drawn from the local Protestant population organised a formidable irregular military force. The armed civilians of Enniskillen ignored an order from Robert Lundy that they should fall back to Derry and instead launched guerrilla attacks against the Jacobites. Operating with Enniskillen as a base, they carried out raids against the Jacobite forces in Connacht and Ulster plundering Trillick, burning Augher Castle and raiding Clones.

A Jacobite army of about 3,000 men, led by Justin McCarthy, Viscount Mountcashel, advanced on them from Dublin. McCarthy's men consisted of three regiments of infantry and two of dragoons. The regiments included his own regiment Mountcashel (approx 650 men) in 13 companies, The O'Brien regiment, also 13 companies of 650 men and the Lord Bophin (Burke) regiment. He also had the dragoon regiments of Cotter and Clare each with seven companies of about 350 dragoons. On 28 July 1689, McCarthy's force encamped near Enniskillen and bombarded the Williamite outpost of Crom Castle to the south east of Enniskillen. Crom (pronounced Crumb) Castle is almost 20 miles (32 km) from Enniskillen by road and about 5 miles (8.0 km) from Newtownbutler.

The battle

Two days later, they were confronted by about 2,000 Williamite 'Inniskilliniers' under Colonel Berry, Colonel William Wolseley and Gustave Hamilton. The Jacobite dragoons under Anthony Hamilton stumbled into an ambush laid by Berry's men near Lisnaskea and were routed, taking 230 casualties. Mountcashel managed to drive off Berry's cavalry with his main force, but was then faced with the bulk of the Williamite strength under Wolseley. There is some debate in the sources over troop numbers, though it is thought that Mountcashel had a large number of poorly armed conscripts. Unwisely, McCarthy halted and drew up his men for battle about a mile south of Newtownbutler.

Williamite histories claim many of the Jacobite troops fled as the first shots were fired and up to 1,500 of them were hacked down or drowned in Upper Lough Erne when pursued by the Williamite cavalry. Of 500 men who tried to swim across the Lough only one survived. McCarthy, the Jacobite commander, along with about 400 Jacobite officers were captured and later exchanged for Williamite prisoners; the other Jacobites were killed. These claims seem unlikely for several reasons each Irish regiment included approximately 40 officers. The entire force therefore would have included only approximately 200 officers. Many of these officers are accounted for in an October 1689 roll call which shows approximately 15-20% change in the officer roll call since July for the infantry regiments and 5% for the dragoons. This would total some 20-30 officers in total. Also, the Mountcashel regiment who's roll call for October shows that companies which would normally have 50-60 men had around 25 which would result in a loss of approximately 300-400 men for this regiment. The Cotter and Clare dragoons who rode away from the battle did not have significant losses, based on the October 1689 roll call. Assuming the other two infantry regiments suffered similar losses would give a total loss of 1200 - 1300. Given their officers are recorded in the October roll and they show fewer losses than the Mountcashel regiment among officers there may have been fewer losses in the ranks also. The Williamite histories acknowledge they captured approximately 400 including men who were later sent to Derry, which would give a loss of killed, wounded and missing of 800-900 and likely less. This number is necessarily an estimate based on the available data but should be contrasted with Williamite claims that they killed and drowned 2000. It appears likely that a couple hundred men of Mountcashel's regiment may have fled into the bogs toward Lough Erne and some of them who made it to the river tried to swim and were drowned leading to the story of the hundreds drowned.

Mountcashel was wounded by a bullet and narrowly avoided being killed. He later escaped from Enniskillen and returned to lead the Irish Brigade in the French army.

The Williamite victory at Newtownbutler ensured that a landing by the Duke of Schomberg in County Down in August 1689 was unopposed.

The battle is still commemorated by the Orange Order celebrated in Northern Ireland, and is mentioned in the traditional unionist song, "The Sash".

The Battle is significant in another way in that the regiments on both sides went on to have long and famous histories on the Williamite side - the Innsikilling Regiment 27th foot and on the Jacobite side the Clare and Mountcashel/Lee/Bulkeley regiments of the Irish Brigade. The two Irish regiments would face off again at the Battle of Fontenoy in 1745, where the Irish Brigade famously drove the British army from the battlefield with a charge in the final stage of the battle.

The Troubles

There were 13 deaths in and around Newtownbutler during the Troubles.

Amenities

Crom Castle and Estate lie on the shores of Upper Lough Erne, just 3 miles from Newtownbutler. The estate was established in the early 17th century during the Plantation of Ulster. Crom Estate is owned by the Crichton family, Earls of Erne and is leased to the National Trust for public use. The estate covers over of woods, parkland and wetland. Crom Estate is also one of the most important sites in Northern Ireland for bats, with all eight Northern Ireland species recorded on the estate.

The present day Crom Castle was built in 1820 and, although Queen Victoria's reign began in 1837, the building was built in the Victorian style. The castle was designed by the English architect Edward Blore, who was also responsible for sections of Buckingham Palace.

The village currently has two pubs, An Chead Chumann and Mulligans Bar and Lounge which regularly host an array of events and attract crowds in from across the county. The Lanesborough Arms Hotel (formerly Reilly's Bar) was another well known public house in Newwtownbutler that closed in 2004. The traditional bar was removed and transferred to the Ulster American Folk Park in Omagh. The village also has two supermarkets, two takeaways, a butchers, a chemists, a credit union, a church and parish hall, an orange hall, a community centre, GAA grounds and a large community playpark.

People

* William Thompson (1733–1799) the first President of the Methodist Conference after Wesley's death was born in Newtownbutler.
* Charles Irwin (1824-8 April 1873) was born in Manorhamilton, County Leitrim, and was an Irish recipient of the Victoria Cross. During the Siege of Lucknow on 16 November 1857 at Lucknow, India, Private Irwin showed conspicuous bravery at the assault on the Secundra Bagh when, although severely wounded through the right shoulder, he was one of the first to enter the building under heavy fire. He died on 29 March 1873 at Newtownbutler and is buried in Saint Mark's Churchyard, Magheraveely, County Fermanagh.
* Constantine Scollen (4 April 1841 - 8 November 1902) was born just outside the village, on Galloon Island in Lough Erne. He became a famous missionary among the native peoples of North America and actually lived with the people of the Blackfoot Confederacy in Canada for almost a decade. In total he spent over thirty years on the prairies. He died in Dayton, Ohio, in 1902.

Transport

Newtownbutler railway station opened on 26 June 1858 and finally closed on 1 October 1957.

There are plans by Waterways Ireland to restore the nearby Ulster Canal from Lough Erne to Clones.

Demographics

Newtownbutler is classified as a small village or hamlet by the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) (i.e. with population between 500 and 1,000 people). On Census day (27 March 2011) there were 989 people living in Newtownbutler. Of these:
*20.9% were aged under 16 years and 13.8% were aged 60 and over
*49% of the population were male and 51% were female
*81.5% were from a Catholic background; 17% were from a Protestant background and 1.5% were from an Other background
*19% indicated that they had a British national identity, 53.5% had an Irish national identity and 27.8% had a Northern Irish national identity.

Sport

Newtownbutler is home to the Newtownbutler First Fermanaghs Gaelic football team. They play at all levels of football in both the men's and women's categories. Their last Fermanagh Senior Championship title came in 2007.

Groups

Marching bands

According to the Ulster Bands Forum there are six marching bands operating in Newtownbutler Ward. Four are from Newtownbutler while the other two operate in the nearby village of Magheraveely. The four from Newtownbutler are: Feaugh Pipe Band; Loughkillygreen Accordion Band; Newtownbutler Flute Band; and Wattlebridge Accordion Band.

Orange Lodges

According to The Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland, Newtownbutler District No.1 is the largest district in County Fermanagh with ten men's lodges and one women's lodge The District covers the wards of Newtownbutler and Roslea. Five lodges operate within Newtownbutler and its immediate surrounding area. These are: LOL 184 Newtownbutler; LOL 391 Wattlebridge; LOL 854 Loughkillygreen; LOL 1219 Crom Castle; and LOL 1320 Feaugh.

There are also three Royal Black Preceptory lodges operating in the Newtownbutler area. They are: RBP 154 Newtownbutler; RBP 204 Loughkillygreen; RBP 811 Drummully

Other

Newtownbutler Community Development Association,
Newtownbutler Together,
Newtownbutler Comhaltas,
Galloon and Drummully Mothers Union,
NTB Bowling Club,
NTB Badminton Club,
St Marys Youth Club,
Scouts and Girl Guides Clubs (Beavers, Cubs, Rainbows and Brownies),
Matt Fitzpatrick 1916 Society,
NTB Historical Society,
Newtownbutler Playgroup

See also

* Market Houses in Northern Ireland
* Wattlebridge

References

External links

Culture Northern Ireland

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Villages in County Fermanagh