Augher

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Augher
Augher is located in Northern Ireland
Augher
Augher
Location within Northern Ireland
Population399 (2001 Census)
• Belfast58 miles (103 km)
• Dublin99 miles (160 km)
District
County
CountryNorthern Ireland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townAUGHER
Postcode districtBT77
Dialling code028, +44 28
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
Northern Ireland
Tyrone
54°25′59″N 7°09′00″W / 54.433°N 7.15°W / 54.433; -7.15Coordinates: 54°25′59″N 7°09′00″W / 54.433°N 7.15°W / 54.433; -7.15

Augher (from Irish: Eochair meaning "edge/border"[1]) is a small village in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is 18 miles (29 km) southwest of Dungannon, on the A4 Dungannon to Enniskillen road,[2] halfway between Ballygawley and Clogher.[3] It is situated in the historic barony of Clogher and the civil parish of Clogher.[4] The 2001 Census recorded a population of 399. The town gives its name to the local Gaelic Football Club. Augher was also a victim to several bombings throughout the 1980s and 1990s with 7 bombings in the town , from both the IRA and the UVF. The most recent of these bombings was by the IRA in 1992 against Clogher valley creamery, a domintaly protestant creamery.[citation needed] However, it is noted Augher village has been both majority Irish and Catholic since 2001.[citation needed]

Saint Brigid's Primary School[]

In 1966, It was recognised that Augher had no proper schooling for Roman Catholic children in the area. Children were either attending the school house national school a Protestant and Catholic mixed school, or they were sent to Saint Macartans convent school which was run by the Blessed sisters of Saint Louis (an order of nuns). Saint Brigid's school was set up by the local Catholic parish in liaison with the former Tyrone County Council which gave the parish permission to open the new school along with funding. Saint Brigid's school upon establishment quickly enrolled over 50 pupils initially with children attending Augher primary school transferred to the new school. The school thrived throughout the 20th century with enrolment hitting 90 pupils in 1989 making the school over subscribed for that year. In 2017, a proposal from the department of education to close saint Brigid's primary school due to a huge drop in the number of pupils attending the school was activated. In 1999, there were 83 pupils enrolled, compared to 53 pupils in 2009. This dropped further to just under 30 children attending the school in 2015 with the student count dropping further to just 17 pupils in 2017. Notable Headmistress of the school Josephine Mulligan described it as " saddening and disgraceful" that 5 days before the summer break she was told that the school would not be opening its doors to any pupils for the academic year of 2017/18. Saint Brigid's school officially closed on the 31st of August 2017, the 17 pupils attending the school were transferred to Saint Macartans Convent primary school clogher, and the P7 pupils were transferred to Saint Ciarans High school in Ballygawley. The 8 members of staff employed at the school including 3 teachers, 2 learning support assistants, 1 canteen staff and 1 secretary, were offered employment elsewhere by the department of education.

Historical[]

By the time of the Nine Years' War Augher was important enough to be used as a garrison town by the forces of Lord Mountjoy, Elizabeth I's Lord Deputy of Ireland, to disrupt the army of the Earl of Tyrone.

In 1613, after the war and as part of the Plantation of Ulster an area of 315 acres (127.5 ha) around Augher was given to Sir Thomas Ridgway who had been the Treasurer at War for Ireland. The land grant was strict about what the Undertaker i.e. Ridgway, could do with the land in terms of who had to be settled there and what provisions had to be given to the settlers. Ridgway was successful in developing the town that within two years it awarded a borough charter by James I.

Augher main street

By 1630 the ownership of Augher had passed to Sir James Erskine and during the Irish Rebellion of 1641 the castle was successfully defended against rebel attack. In retaliation the rebels massacred all the English inhabitants in the area.[citation needed]

On the death of Sir James Erskine, Augher Castle and the estate passed into the ownership of the Richardson family who retained the estate well into the 19th century. The castle itself burnt down in 1689[5] but was restored and extended in 1832. Spur Royal Castle stands to this day.

Under the borough charter, Augher returned two members of parliament to the Irish Parliament, a practice that continued until the abolition of the parliament in 1801. The borough was by the time of the abolition of parliament owned by John Hamilton, 1st Marquess of Abercorn and when the parliament was abolished he received £15,000 compensation for the loss of the electoral rights of Augher and Strabane – the other borough he owned.[6] Also abolished at the same time was the civil court established under the charter.

Transport[]

The old railway station

Augher Railway Station was opened on 2 May 1887 by the Clogher Valley Railway and was closed on 1 January 1942.[7] The original station building became a coffee shop known as Rosamunde's. After a period of being closed, the now Augher Station House Cafe came under new ownership, was refurbished and reopened once more.[8]

People[]

  • Eugene McKenna – former Tyrone Gaelic Football Captain in the 1980s and joint manager from 1999 to 2002 was from Augher. He collected three Ulster Senior Championship medals as a player, and represented his province in the Irish Interprovincial Railway Cup Tournament on several occasions.[3]
  • Fergal McCann - former coach of the Tyrone senior football team. After finishing his player career with Augher St Macartan's GAC, he spent 10 seasons as trainer and coach of the Tyrone senior football team. During that period the team one their second and third All-Ireland Championship titles.

schools in the area[]

Schools in the area include; Saint Brigid's primary school, Augher central primary school, Saint Macartans convent primary school(sisters of saint louis and order of mercy), Saint Patricks primary school, Aughadarragh

Sport[]

Augher St. Macartan's GAC is the local Gaelic Athletic Association club. is a local association football club.[citation needed]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ "Augher". Place Names NI. Retrieved 18 March 2013.
  2. ^ "Augher". Planning Service – Dungannon & South Tyrone Area Plan 2010. Retrieved 13 July 2008.
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b "Augher". Culture Northern Ireland. Archived from the original on 9 June 2008. Retrieved 13 July 2008.
  4. ^ "Townlands of County Tyrone". IreAtlas Townland Database. Retrieved 28 December 2012.
  5. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 12 May 2006. Retrieved 7 April 2006.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  6. ^ "Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) | nidirect" (PDF). 4 March 2016.
  7. ^ "Augher station" (PDF). Railscot – Irish Railways. Archived (PDF) from the original on 26 September 2007. Retrieved 8 September 2007.
  8. ^ Mooney, Brendan Crossan and Francis (9 March 2021). "'Unique and the best trainer I ever seen. RIP Fergal McCann' - Tony Donnelly". The Irish News. Retrieved 21 July 2021.

External links[]

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