CLONFEACLE

In 1868, the parish of Clonfeacle contained the following places:

"CLONFEACLE, a parish partly in the county of Armagh, but chiefly in the county of Tyrone, province of Ulster, Ireland, 3 miles N.W. of Armagh. The surface is picturesquely diversified; and the parish, which is very extensive, is watered by the Ulster canal and the river Blackwater. It contains the market town of Moy, and the villages of Blackwatertown, Benburb, Clonffeacle, and Derryscollop, the three first being post towns. This parish was the scene of three battles, viz., in 1597, when the great rebel, the Earl of Tyrone, defeated and killed the Earl of Kildare, who commanded the English forces for Queen Elizabeth; in 1601, when Tyrone in his turn was defeated by the Lord-Deputy Mountjoy; and again in 1641, during the Great Rebellion, when General Monroe was completely routed by the O'Nials, on which occasion the castle of Benburb was dismantled. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Armagh, in the patronage of Trinity College, Dublin. The income from rout charge is £770, and from glebe land £526. The church of Clonfeacle is situated in the village of Benburb, within the county of Tyrone. Besides the parish church there are two district churches, one in Moy, and one in Derrygally. The two Roman Catholic chapels are both within the county of Tyrone, one in the village of Clonfeacle, the other in the town of Moy. The Wesleyans have a meetinghouse at Benburb. There are four schools under the Church Education Society and one under the National Board. The glebe-house is situated in the town-land of Tobermesson, but in the parish of Clonfeacle. A Culdee monastery was founded here in 580, by St. Lugaid, the first abbot, which received the name of Cluain-Fiacul, "The Church of the Tooth;" it having been asserted that a tooth of St. Patrick was preserved in the church, from this root the present name of the parish is derived."

"BLACKWATERTOWN, a village in the parish of Clonfeacle, barony and county of Armagh, province of Ulster, Ireland, 2 miles to the S. of Charlemont, and 85 miles to the N. of Dublin. It is seated on the east bank of the river Blackwater, opposite the village of Clonfeacle, with which it is connected by a bridge of three arches. The Ulster canal passes close by this place. The village was the scene of several attacks and skirmishes during the rebellion of the Earl of Tyrone, when a garrison was stationed here. A good export trade is carried on in corn and potatoes, coal and timber being imported. A National school, a chapel belonging to the Wesleyans, and a dispensary are in the village."

"DERRYSCOLLOP, a village in the parish of Clonfeacle, barony of West O'Neilland, in the county of Armagh, province of Ulster, Ireland, 3 miles N.E. of Blackwaterton."

[Transcribed from The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland 1868]
by Colin Hinson ©2018