Loughinisland

Loughinisland
Scots: Lochinislann[1]
Irish: Loch an Oileáin
 Loughinisland shown within County Down
Population ? (2001 Census)
DistrictDown
CountyCounty Down
CountryNorthern Ireland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post town DOWNPATRICK
Postcode district BT30
Dialling code 028
EU Parliament Northern Ireland
UK ParliamentSouth Down
NI AssemblySouth Down
List of places
UK
Northern Ireland
Down

Coordinates: 54°20′17″N 5°49′30″W / 54.338°N 5.825°W / 54.338; -5.825

Loughinisland Churches, 2010

Loughinisland (/ˈlɒxnlənd/ LOKH-in-EYE-lən(d), from Irish Loch an Oileáin, meaning "lake of the island")[2] is a small village and civil parish in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is between Downpatrick and Ballynahinch, about 21 miles (34 kilometres) south of Belfast.

History

The village grew up beside a lake, which has a small island on it. This island was the headquarters of the MacCartans, a Gaelic clan who ruled the surrounding territory of Kinelarty.[3] Three churches were built on this island between the 13th and 17th centuries. In 1659, following the Plantation of Ulster, there were 17 English/Scots and seven Irish Catholic families in Loughinisland. In 1836 it is recorded that there was a school there.[4] Today, the village is home to a primary school and a Catholic church, bothed named 'St Macartan's'.

Loughinisland was relatively untouched by the Troubles. However, on 18 June 1994 it was the scene of the Loughinisland massacre. The Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), a loyalist paramilitary group, attacked The Heights public house with assault rifles, killing six Catholic civilians and wounding five. That evening, about 24 people had gathered there to watch a football match.

Places of interest

Loughinisland Churches are a group of three ruined churches in a graveyard on the island in Loughinisland Lake reached by a causeway. The churches range in date from the 13th century to the 17th century.

Annadorn Dolmen is on the north east shore of Loughinisland Lake, within sight of the Churches. The dolmen consists of a slightly displaced capstone covering a rectangular chamber of which three side stones survive.

People

Edward Gribben, a World War I flying ace credited with five aerial victories, was born in Loughinisland.[5]

Sport

Loughinisland Gaelic Football Club has won the Down GAA Senior Football Championship on two occasions; 1975 and 1989. As well as a Down GAA Intermediate Football Championship and Ulster Intermediate Football Championship in 2015.

Civil parish of Loughinisland

The civil parish is in the historic barony of Kinelarty and contains the following villages:[6]

Townlands

The civil parish contains the following townlands:[6]

  • Annadorn
  • Ardilea
  • Ardtanagh
  • Castlenavan
  • Claragh
  • Clough
  • Creeghduff
  • Cumran
  • Drumanaghan (also known as Drumulcaw)
  • Drumanakelly
  • Drumcaw
  • Drumgooland
  • Drumroad
  • Drumulcaw (also known as Drumanaghan)
  • Dunnanew
  • Dunturk
  • Farranfad
  • Knocksticken
  • Naghan
  • Scrib
  • Seaforde Demesne
  • Seavaghan
  • Tannaghmore
  • Tievenadarragh
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Loughinisland.

References

  1. Inch Abbey – Ulster-Scots translation DOE. Retrieved 16 September 2011.
  2. Placenames Database of Ireland
  3. PlaceNames NI
  4. "Loughinisland village". Ros Davies' Co. Down, Northern Ireland Genealogy Research Site. Retrieved 16 July 2009.
  5. "Edward Gribben". The Aerodrome. Retrieved 6 February 2010.
  6. 1 2 "Loughinisland". IreAtlas Townlands Database. Retrieved 20 May 2015.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 6/9/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.