Cappagh ( Irish: ''Ceapach'' (tilled or cultivated land)) is a small

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

and

townland A townland (; Ulster-Scots: ''toonlann'') is a traditional small land division used in Ireland and in the Western Isles of Scotland, typically covering . The townland system is of medieval Gaelic origin, predating the Norman invasion, and mo ...

in the

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

of Pomeroy in

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. Its county town is Omagh. Adjoined to the south-west shore of Lough Neagh, the cou ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

. Around north-west of

Dungannon Dungannon (, ) is a town in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is the second-largest town in the county (after Omagh) and had a population of 16,282 at the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2021 Census. The Dungannon and South Tyrone Borough Counci ...

, it is between Pomeroy, Ballygawley, Galbally and

Carrickmore Carrickmore () is a small town in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is situated in the historic barony of Omagh East, the civil parish of Termonmaguirk and the Roman Catholic Parish of Termonmaguirc between Cookstown, Dungannon and O ...

, with the hamlet of Galbally about one mile to the east. Most of the land around Cappagh is farmland although a quarry lies just outside the village. In County Tyrone, there is also the

of Cappagh which includes part of the town of

Omagh Omagh (; from , meaning 'the virgin plain') is the county town of County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is situated where the rivers River Drumragh, Drumragh and Camowen River, Camowen meet to form the River Strule, Strule. Northern Ireland's c ...

and small village of Mountfield.

Places of interest

The village is located on a hillside and immediately behind it stands Cappagh Mountain (948 feet tall). The area around Cappagh has fine mountain scenery where the land is a mixture of rural pastures and bog. These bog and peat lands still provide turf for the older generation of the area. Travelling towards

Altmore Altmore (from , meaning "great glen")) is a hamlet and townland in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is five miles from Carrickmore and four miles from Pomeroy. The townland is actually called Altmore (alias Barracktown) and is situated in th ...

on the right hand side of the road is "King James's Well". Further on was once a small house that occupied some of the finest miniature model houses and castles in Northern Ireland.

Cappagh Monument - In the middle of the village, a monument was installed in 2001 to commemorate all individuals from the area who were killed during

The Troubles The Troubles () were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted for about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it began in the late 1960s and is usually deemed t ...

. It features a stone figure of a

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

(IRA)

volunteer Volunteering is an elective and freely chosen act of an individual or group giving their time and labor, often for community service. Many volunteers are specifically trained in the areas they work, such as medicine, education, or emergency ...

, in front of a number of stone plaques commemorating various aspects of the conflict, such as the

1981 hunger strike The 1981 Irish hunger strike was the culmination of a five-year protest during the Troubles by Irish republicanism, Irish republican prisoners in Northern Ireland. The protest began as the blanket protest in 1976 when the British government wit ...

and local republicans who died. The focal point on the plaque are the names of eight IRA volunteers who died during an unsuccessful attack on a local

Royal Ulster Constabulary The Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) was the police force in Northern Ireland from 1922 to 2001. It was founded on 1 June 1922 as a successor to the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) Richard Doherty, ''The Thin Green Line – The History of the ...

(RUC) police station, which became known as the

Loughgall ambush The Loughgall ambush took place on 8 May 1987 in the village of Loughgall, County Armagh, Northern Ireland. An eight-man unit of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) launched an attack on the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) base in the vi ...

The Troubles in Cappagh

At least 10 people in and around Cappagh lost their lives during the Troubles, according to

CAIN Cain is a biblical figure in the Book of Genesis within Abrahamic religions. He is the elder brother of Abel, and the firstborn son of Adam and Eve, the first couple within the Bible. He was a farmer who gave an offering of his crops to God. How ...

website. Three were members of the IRA, three were RUC police officers, one was a former soldier in the

Ulster Defence Regiment The Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR) was an infantry regiment of the British Army established in 1970, with a comparatively short existence ending in 1992. Raised through public appeal, newspaper and television advertisements,Potter p25 their offi ...

(UDR), two were Catholic civilians and the tenth member was a Protestant civilian. The first person from the area to die was a Catholic civilian who was shot and killed in January 1974 by

loyalist Loyalism, in the United Kingdom, its overseas territories and its former colonies, refers to the allegiance to the British crown or the United Kingdom. In North America, the most common usage of the term refers to loyalty to the British Cr ...

assailants. The three IRA members and one of the Catholic civilians were killed by the

Ulster Volunteer Force The Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) is an Ulster loyalism, Ulster loyalist paramilitary group based in Northern Ireland. Formed in 1965, it first emerged in 1966. Its first leader was Gusty Spence, a former Royal Ulster Rifles soldier from North ...

(UVF) in an incident outside a local bar on 3 March 1991; a unit of the UVF's Mid-Ulster Brigade drove to the staunchly republican village and shot dead the four people at the bar. The remaining five people were killed by the IRA. The village, famed as being a Republican stronghold, was also the scene of another two significant events in the early 1990s. On 24 March 1990, there was a gun battle between an IRA unit and undercover

British troops The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Gurkhas, 25,742 volunteer reserve personnel and 4,697 "other personnel", for a total of 108,4 ...

when a civilian-type vehicle driven by a soldier was purportedly fired on by nearby volunteers without warning. Republican sources subsequently claimed a planned ambush against the IRA by the

Special Air Service The Special Air Service (SAS) is a special forces unit of the British Army. It was founded as a regiment in 1941 by David Stirling, and in 1950 it was reconstituted as a corps. The unit specialises in a number of roles including counter-terr ...

(SAS) was thwarted and at least two undercover soldiers in the car were killed.Toolis, Kevin (1995). ''Rebel hearts: journeys within the IRA's soul''. Two years later, another major incident occurred in the area. On 12 May 1992, a British patrol consisting of soldiers from the

3rd Battalion, Parachute Regiment The 3rd Battalion, Parachute Regiment (3 PARA), is a battalion sized formation of the British Army's Parachute Regiment and is a subordinate unit within 16 Air Assault Brigade. Roled as an Airborne light infantry unit, the battalion is capable ...

was struck by an IRA

improvised explosive device An improvised explosive device (IED) is a bomb constructed and deployed in ways other than in conventional warfare, conventional military action. It may be constructed of conventional military explosives, such as an artillery shell, attached t ...

, wounding one soldier who lost both his legs. Elements of the battalion present in the area subsequently clashed with residents in the nearby town of

Coalisland Coalisland () is a small town in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, with a population of 5,682 in the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 Census. Four miles from Lough Neagh, it was formerly a centre for coal mining. History Origins In the late 1 ...

, resulting in several people being injured on both sides. The RUC alleged that a

light machine gun A light machine gun (LMG) is a light-weight machine gun designed to be operated by a single infantryman, with or without an assistant, as an infantry support weapon. LMGs firing cartridge (firearms), cartridges of the same caliber as the othe ...

stolen during the clash was later recovered at a farmhouse near Cappagh, as part of a weapons cache. The incident led to the suspension of patrols before the official end of the battalion's deployment to Northern Ireland and to the discharge of the unit's commander,

Brigadier Brigadier ( ) is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore (rank), commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several t ...

Tom Longland.

Cappagh Townland

The townland is situated in the historic

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 ...

Dungannon Middle Dungannon Middle (named after Dungannon town) is a barony in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It was created in 1851 with the splitting of the barony of Dungannon. It is bordered by Lough Neagh to the east and six other baronies: Dungannon Uppe ...

and the civil parish of Pomeroy and covers an area of 464 acres. The population of the townland declined during the 19th century:

Notable people

* Martin Hurson: IRA

who died during the

1981 Irish hunger strike The 1981 Irish hunger strike was the culmination of a five-year protest during the Troubles by Irish republican prisoners in Northern Ireland. The protest began as the blanket protest in 1976 when the British government withdrew Special Categ ...

References

External links