Moneymore
- Moneymore is also the name of a farming district near Milton, New Zealand.
- Moneymore is also the name of a large housing estate in Drogheda, Ireland.
| Moneymore | |
| Irish: Muine Mór | |
 St John's Desertlynn Church of Ireland, in Moneymore |
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| Population | 1,369 (2001 Census) |
|---|---|
| Irish grid reference | H8583 |
| District | Mid-Ulster |
| County | County Londonderry |
| Country | Northern Ireland |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | MAGHERAFELT |
| Postcode district | BT |
| Dialling code | 028 |
| Police | Northern Ireland |
| Fire | Northern Ireland |
| Ambulance | Northern Ireland |
| EU Parliament | Northern Ireland |
| UK Parliament | Mid Ulster |
| NI Assembly | Mid Ulster |
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Coordinates: 54°41′31″N 6°40′12″W / 54.692°N 6.670°W
Moneymore (from Irish: Muine Mór, meaning "large thicket or large hill")[1] is a village and townland in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It had a population of 1,369 in the 2001 Census. It is situated within Mid-Ulster District. It is an example of a plantation village in Mid-Ulster. It was the first town in Ulster to have piped water.
Geography
Moneymore lies in a glen. The Ballymully River flows through the southern part of the village. The river rises on a large hill, Slieve Gallion (one of the Sperrins), which has a radio tower on top. The village is about 35 miles from the sea to the north.
History
There was an important battle fought near Moneymore called the battle of Móin Daire Lothair in the year 563 between the Northern Uí Néill and the Cruithin tribe which the Northern Uí Néill won. This battle is recorded in the Annals of Ulster and would have been a major event at the time. Much of Great Britain and Ireland would have descent from these two groups as there was notable mixing with Scotland over the years and the Uí Néill split to form the Southern Uí Néill in the Irish midlands around this time.
Originally built by the Worshipful Company of Drapers, the village was held in such esteem that they invested in a large scale reconstruction during 1817. During The Troubles, seven people were killed in or near Moneymore in violence related to the conflict, six of them by the Provisional IRA and one by the UDA.
People
- Richard William Enraght was an Anglican priest and religious controversialist. He was born in Moneymore on 23 February 1837, the son of the Reverend Matthew Enraght the Assistant Curate of the parish.[2]
- John Harris, surgeon, early settler of Australia, born Moneymore 1754
- Author and musician Rodney Orpheus was born and raised in Moneymore.
Places of interest
The most notable building in the town is the 17th century Plantation house, Springhill, built and owned by the Conyngham, later Lenox-Conyngham family but since 1957 in the ownership of the National Trust.
Moneymore Model Village depicts life in rural Ulster at the time of the Plantation.
Transport
- Moneymore railway station opened on 10 November 1856 and shut on 2 May 1955.[3]
Amenities
Moneymore has a surgery which serves villages such as The Loup, Ballyronan and Desertmartin. As well as that, Moneymore has Dalriada Emergency Surgery which is 24/7. It also has a post office, pharmacy, a number of convenience stores, a privately owned bus service, a privately owned crane company, and a privately owned bicycle shop. Until July 2006 there was a Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) station.
The GP in the Village's Surgery is Dr. Josef Kuriacose who spoke out against the lack of staff at Antrim Area Hsoptial and featured on BBC Newsline.[4]
Sport
- Moneymore GAC is the local Gaelic Athletic Association club.
Schools
There are two primary schools in Moneymore: Moneymore Primary School (the state primary school) and St. Patrick's Primary School (a Roman Catholic primary school). Most children of secondary school age attend one of the schools in nearby Cookstown or Magherafelt.
Churches
- St. John's Church (Church of Ireland)
- Church of SS John & Trea (Roman Catholic)
- Moneymore First Presbyterian Church
- Moneymore Second Presbyterian Church
- Moneymore Congregational Church
- Moneymore Gospel Hall
2001 Census
Moneymore is classified as a village by the NI Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) (i.e. with population between 1,000 and 2,250 people). On Census day (29 April 2001) there were 1,369 people living in Moneymore. Of these:
- 25.0% were aged under 16 years and 16.1% were aged 60 and over
- 45.29% of the population were male and 52.1% were female
- 47.8% were from a Catholic background and 51.0% were from a Protestant background;
- 3.1% of people aged 16–74 were unemployed.
For more details see: NI Neighbourhood Information Service
Trivia
55 Rockview Park, a terraced house in Moneymore, was reportedly haunted.
On Friday 15 February 2008 at 11.00pm a Second World War bombshell was found in the Millrace Manor estate. A number of houses were evacuated and the Mace convenience store was shut for a period of time. The police were called in and the mortar bomb was found incapable of exploding.
The small New Zealand settlement of Moneymore, close to the town of Milton, was named after the Irish village (its first settlers were from the Irish Moneymore).
See also
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Moneymore. |
- Moneymore and Draperstown: The Architecture and Planning of the Estates of the Drapers Company in Ulster
- Moneymore Market Houses
- Photos of the town taken around 1920
- Moneymore GP
References
- ↑ Placenames Database of Ireland
- ↑ From the baptismal registers of St John's church Desertlyn
- ↑ "Moneymore station" (PDF). Railscot - Irish Railways. Retrieved 2007-09-06.
- ↑ "Doctor would not be treated in Antrim Hospital". BBC News. 18 January 2012.
