Bellaghy
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Village | |
![]() Entering Bellaghy from Old Town Road, Seamus Heaney HomePlace in centre, August 2023 | |
Location within Northern Ireland | |
Population | 1,063 (2001 Census) |
District | |
County | |
Country | Northern Ireland |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | MAGHERAFELT |
Postcode district | BT45 |
Dialling code | 028 |
Police | Northern Ireland |
Fire | Northern Ireland |
Ambulance | Northern Ireland |
UK Parliament | |
NI Assembly | |
Bellaghy (from Irish Baile Eachaidh, meaning 'Eachaidh's townland') [1] [2] is a village in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It lies north west of Lough Neagh and about 5 miles north east of Magherafelt. In the centre of the village (known locally as The Diamond) three main roads lead to Magherafelt, Portglenone and Toome. It had a population of 1,063 people in the 2001 Census and is within Mid-Ulster District.
Bellaghy is home to various historical landmarks, including a well-preserved 17th century fortified house, Bellaghy Bawn, which is now a museum. A Grade B+ thatched cottage is present in the Bellaghy outskirts. The village is also known as the birthplace, childhood home and resting place of poet Seamus Heaney (1939–2013), who won the Nobel Prize for Literature. There is an arts centre in the village dedicated to Heaney. [3]
There had long been Gaelic settlements in this area. Archaeological evidence has been found in the village of a Gaelic ringfort. [4] [5]
In the early 17th century, Bellaghy became one of many towns planned, built and settled under the authority of the Vintners Company of London, as part of the English Plantation of Ulster. In 1622, according to a manuscript of a Captain Thomas Ash, Bellaghy consisted of a church, a castle, a corn mill and twelve houses. [6]
During the Plantation, English colonials built a fortified house in the village. It had surrounding walls and two circular towers at opposite corners. Recent excavations have revealed that the fortified house was built on the site of a former Gaelic ringfort. During the 1641 rebellion the house was attacked by Irish rebels, but it remained intact. [6] [5] Many other houses in the village were burnt to the ground. [5] Locally it was called "The Castle" and is located on Castle Street. The refurbished house was opened to the public in 1996 as Bellaghy Bawn. It is a museum featuring exhibitions on local history. [7]
On 2 May 1922, during the Irish War of Independence, the Irish Republican Army launched an attack on Bellaghy Royal Irish Constabulary barracks - the IRA men gained access after the outer gate was mistakenly left unlocked while a 'farewell party' was being held inside for a retiring police officer. [8] One RIC officer was killed and at least two others wounded. [8] An IRA volunteer was also killed when he went to inspect a room and was shot 'through the woodwork' by a B-Special who had concealed himself behind a half-open door. [8] The three other IRA volunteers subsequently withdrew, but were captured shortly afterwards. [8] [9]
Seamus Heaney, who became a Nobel Prize-winning poet, was born as the eldest of nine children at Mossbawn, his family's farm in Bellaghy. He later lived in Dublin but is buried in the graveyard of St Mary's Catholic Church, Bellaghy. The village has an arts centre dedicated to him, known as the Seamus Heaney HomePlace. The centre features talks, poetry readings, and performances. It has exhibits of photographs, texts, and poems to show the influence of place on his language. [3]
Others to hail from the village include World Outdoor Bowls champion Margaret Johnston, [10] [11] international footballer Sarah McFadden, [12] and Eurovision 2022 entrant for Ireland Brooke Scullion. [13]
Two Bellaghy natives, Francis Hughes and his cousin Thomas McElwee, died participating in the 1981 Irish hunger strike during The Troubles. [14] They were protesting at the treatment by the British and supporting political change in Northern Ireland. Other republicans from Bellaghy include former Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) leader Dominic McGlinchey. [15] [14]
On Census day (22 April 1991), there were 1,041 were living in Bellaghy. Of these:
Bellaghy is classified as a Village by the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA), i.e. with population between 1,000 and 2,250 people. On Census day (29 April 2001), there were 1,063 people living in Bellaghy. Of these:
County Londonderry, also known as County Derry, 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. Before the partition of Ireland, it was one of the counties of the Kingdom of Ireland from 1613 onward and then of the United Kingdom after the Acts of Union 1800. Adjoining the north-west shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of 2,118 km2 (818 sq mi) and today has a population of about 252,231.
Magherafelt District Council was a district council in County Londonderry in Northern Ireland. It was merged with Cookstown District Council and Dungannon and South Tyrone Borough Council on 1 April 2015 under local government reorganisation in Northern Ireland becoming Mid-Ulster District Council.
Castlederg is a town in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It lies on the River Derg and is near the border with County Donegal, Ireland. It stands in the townlands of Castlesessagh and Churchtown, in the historic barony of Omagh West and the civil parish of Urney. The village has a ruined castle and two ancient tombs known as the Druid's Altar and Todd's Den. It had a population of 2,980 people at the 2021 census.
Coalisland is a small town in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, with a population of 5,682 in the 2011 Census. Four miles from Lough Neagh, it was formerly a centre for coal mining.
Francis Joseph Sean Hughes was a volunteer in the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) from Bellaghy, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. Hughes was the most wanted man in Northern Ireland until his arrest following a shoot-out with the British Army in which a British soldier was killed. At his trial, he was sentenced to a total of 83 years' imprisonment; he died during the 1981 Irish hunger strike in HM Prison Maze. Hughes was one of 22 Irish republicans who died on hunger-strike between 1917 and 1981.
Castledawson is a village in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It is mostly within the townland of Shanemullagh, about four miles from the north-western shore of Lough Neagh, and near the market town of Magherafelt. In the 2011 Census, it had a population of 2,289.
Rasharkin is a small village and civil parish in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is 13 kilometres (8.1 mi) south of Ballymoney, near Dunloy and Kilrea. It had a population of 1,114 people in the 2011 Census.
Eglinton is a village in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It lies 5.5 miles (8.9 km) east-north-east of Derry, to which it serves as a sleeper village, and 9.5 miles (15.3 km) west-south-west of Limavady. It resides within Derry and Strabane district. The City of Derry Airport, also known as Eglinton Aerodrome and formerly as Londonderry Eglinton Airport, lies a short distance from the village.
Claudy is a village and townland in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It lies in the Faughan Valley, 6 miles (9.7 km) southeast of Derry, where the River Glenrandal joins the River Faughan. It is situated in the civil parish of Cumber Upper and the historic barony of Tirkeeran. It is also part of Derry and Strabane district.
Kilrea is a village, townland and civil parish in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It gets its name from the ancient church that was located near where the current Church of Ireland is located on Church Street looking over the town. It is near the River Bann, which marks the boundary between County Londonderry and County Antrim. In the 2011 Census it had a population of 1,678 people. It is situated within Causeway Coast and Glens district.
Toome or Toomebridge is a small village and townland on the northwest corner of Lough Neagh in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It lies in the civil parish of Duneane in the former barony of Toome Upper, and is in the Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council area. It had a population of 781 in the 2011 census.
Waringstown is a large village in County Down, Northern Ireland. It lies southeast of Lurgan, within the parish of Donaghcloney, and the barony of Iveagh Lower, Lower Half. In the 2011 Census it had a population of 3,683 people. Over the years, the village has been bestowed numerous awards, including "Best Kept Small Town" for its floral displays and pleasant appearance.
The Droppin Well bombing or Ballykelly bombing occurred on 6 December 1982, when the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) detonated a time bomb at a disco in Ballykelly, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom. The disco, known as the Droppin Well, was targeted because it was frequented by British Army soldiers from nearby Shackleton Barracks. The bomb killed 17 people: eleven soldiers and six civilians, while dozens more were wounded. It was the deadliest attack during the INLA's paramilitary campaign and one of the deadliest bombings of The Troubles.
Knockloughrim or Knockcloghrim is a small village near Maghera in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. In the 2001 Census it had a population of 186 people. Knockloughrim lies within the civil parish of Termoneeny and is part of the former barony of Loughinsholin. It is situated within the Mid Ulster District Council area.
Clady is a small village and townland in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It lies about 4 miles from Strabane on the River Finn and borders the Republic of Ireland. In the 2011 Census it had a population of 538 people. It is within Urney civil parish and the former barony of Strabane Lower. In local government it is part of the Derry City and Strabane District Council. The townland covers an area of 173 acres.
A total of eleven people were killed in violence relating to the Northern Irish Troubles in the town of Magherafelt, County Londonderry. Nine were killed by the Irish Republican Army (IRA), including three IRA members killed by the premature explosion of their own bomb while travelling through Magherafelt. One was killed by a non-specific republican group and another by the opposing Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF). Of the others killed by the IRA, four were Protestant civilians. Three of them were killed in two separate car bomb explosions. The fourth Protestant civilian was shot because his firm was a contractor for the British Army and the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC). The IRA's other two victims were both Protestant members of the security forces, one from the RUC and the other from the Ulster Defence Regiment. Both were off duty when killed. The man killed by the UFF was a Sinn Féin councillor who was shot in his workplace. The man killed by the non-specific republican group was a Catholic civilian.
Bellaghy Wolfe Tones Gaelic Athletic Club is a Gaelic Athletic Association club based in Bellaghy, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. The club is a member of Derry GAA and currently competes in gaelic football and camogie.
Ian Milne is an Irish republican politician from Northern Ireland.
The Seamus Heaney HomePlace is an arts and literary centre in Bellaghy, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It displays the life and work of Seamus Heaney.
Bellaghy Bawn is a fortified house and bawn in Bellaghy, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland.
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