Fintona
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| Fintona Fionntamhnach |
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| Location | ||
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| Statistics | ||
| Province: | Ulster | |
| County: | County Tyrone | |
| District: | Omagh | |
| Population (2001) | 1,359 | |
Fintona (Irish, Fionntamhnach) is a village of 1,359 people (2001 Census) located in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is the second largest settlement in the Omagh District Council area, after Omagh itself.
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[edit] History
This area has known human habitation for around 4,000 years and there are numerous examples of burial places, standing stones, stone circles and graves in the area around the town. The O'Neills built a fortress here in the 15th century, but eventually the town passed in 1668 into the possession of the Eccles family.
[edit] Horse Tram
One of the best known symbols of Fintona is the horse drawn tram (or van to the locals) that took passengers from the Fintona railway station to the Fintona Junction station one mile away on the main Omagh to Enniskillen railway. The name of the horse was always called "Dick". The "van" itself had three classes of travel available on it, first and second class passengers travelled inside while third class travellers sat on the exposed top.
The tram made its last journey on 30 September 1957 when the Omagh to Enniskillen line closed, and with it, Fintona's rail connections to the rest of Ireland. When retired, it was the last existing example of a horse drawn tram in public service in the UK and Ireland. The "van" now lies at the Ulster Transport Museum.
When entering the village, the signs greeting you to the village include a silhouette of the horsetram with "Dick" pulling the tram along with the driver and conductor on board. In recent years this image has been used as a symbol or crest of the village for identity.
[edit] Geography
Fintona lies about halfway between two of Ulster's notable natural landmarks, the Sperrin Mountains to the north and Lough Erne to the south. Omagh, the county town of Tyrone, lies 8 miles (13km) north. Enniskillen is 19 miles (30km) south-west, Belfast 66 miles (106km) east and Dublin 108 miles (173km) south-east.
The village itself lies on several gentle hills, most notably Main Street whose centre lies at the summit of a hill with the two ends lying at the foot. Flat land appears in small pockets, with the largest being on the Ecclesville Demesne (pronounced "de-main"). Between Fintona and Fivemiletown (nine miles south east) the land rises significantly to about halfway between the two villages where Murley Mountain lies. This marks the western edge of the Clogher Valley, and rises to a peak of 312 metres (1024 feet) above sea level. On this mountain lies the Lendrums Bridge wind farm, which is one of the largest in Ireland with 20 turbines with another 10 planned next to it on Hunters Hill. Murley Mountain's lonely and exposed location especially to prevailing south-westerly winds marking it down as a prime site for wind-generated power.
The local land plays a special role in the economy of Fintona where agriculture make up a large part of. Much of the farming is cattle based for meat and milk production, with some sheep rearing particularly on higher ground. The are also a number of pig farms in the area. The land and climate does not lend itself to the wholesale growing of crops, but some maize is grown. This does not ripen and is not intended for human consumption, but is used to boost the protein content of local cattle feed.
On higher ground approaching the summit of Murley Mountain, there are also peat bogs.
A small river known as the "Quiggery Water" flows through Fintona, with bridges that cross it situated at King Street and Mill Street. This then joins with the Ballynahatty Water to form the Drumragh River which in turn joins with the Camowen River in Omagh to form the River Strule.
[edit] Sport & Leisure
There are several sports clubs situated in Fintona, which include Fintona Tennis Club, Fintona Cycling Club and Fintona Badminton Club. Two indoor bowls clubs are also in existence. The Fintona Golf Club, situated next to the Ecclesville Demesne, is regarded by many as one of the finest nine hole golf courses in Ireland.
Partly thanks to the number of public houses in Fintona (no less than 10), darts, pool and snooker also prove popular.
The Fintona Swifts Football Club field two teams in the Fermanagh & Western Junior Football league. Home games are not played in Fintona, instead they are played at Cranny Bridge in Omagh, as the club is unable to secure grounds within Fintona despite plans in the past to develop part of Ecclesville Park to host games there which have in the past been objected to by nearby residents. The current plans for the development of the demesne are to construct a football pitch on a site which is being cleared of diseased trees but for the moment, home games are still being played in Omagh.
Fintona Pearses Gaelic Athletic Association Club provide for Gaelic Football teams in the village, and play their home games at St.Lawrence's Park just outside Fintona on the Tattymoyle Road. It is the oldest sports club in Fintona and has in the past supplied the Tyrone county team with players, the most recent being Aidan McCarron and Ted Garrity. A Ladies Gaelic football team of the same name and Setanta GAA Club, which fields hurling teams at youth level, also play their home games at St.Lawrence's Park.
The Ecclesville Centre, situated on the Ecclesville Demesne, is one of the most unique in the UK and Ireland in that it is a combined equestrian facility and a local community & leisure complex. Opened in 1995, the facility has proven popular not only among equestrian users, but also for other sports activities, in particular indoor football, bowls and badminton. The equestrian part of the centre includes stables, an indoor arena and outdoor arena with the open park land and forest of the Ecclesville Demesne also available. The leisure end of the centre includes a sports hall, a minor hall, changing rooms and a fitness suite with tennis courts and an all-weather basketball and football area. The centre also hosts the Fintona Cross-Community Youth Club and a computer suite for IT-based learning and recreation.
[edit] Parks
The main public park in Fintona is situated on the Ecclesville Demesne, and is known as Ecclesville Park. The park itself contains a play-area for children, and an all-weather football, basketball and tennis courts used in conjunction with the Ecclesville Centre, walking routes, a pond and a forest.
Other children’s play-areas are situated on Mill Street and Ashfield Gardens.
[edit] Education
The village itself has two primary schools, Denamona County Primary School and St. Lawrence's Primary School. St. Patrick's Primary School lies three miles (5km) east of Fintona in the townland of Garvallagh. Another Primary School, St. Joseph's, situated in the townland of Lisconrea, was closed in 2003.
There are no post-primary schools in Fintona, children continue their education at schools usually either in Omagh, Dromore or Fivemiletown, while a few have also attended schools in Ballygawley and Enniskillen.
Omagh College also provided outreach courses at the Ecclesville Centre, subject to demand.
[edit] Transport
Fintona is linked to Omagh by the B122 road which connects to the Omagh to Ballygawley A5 road 2 miles (3km) outside of Omagh. The state of a 1/2 mile stretch of this road, known as the "Green spot" around 3 miles from Omagh, has recently proven controversial. In 2005, a modification to the turn off to Fintona on the B122 seen some of the soil that was removed from sites being built for the Omagh throughpass being used for the turn-off. During this work and from then on since, part of the road nearby has began to sink into the ground beneath, causing cracks and holes to appear. Despite repeated filling in and resurfacing, the road still continues to disintegrate, and has caused great concern among those who use the road on a regular basis.
There are no trains linking to Fintona (see article on the Horse Tram above). Public transport to Omagh is by bus services (No.87) run by Translink which operates six times a day on weekdays & five on Saturdays (no service on Sunday) where connections can then be made to towns and cities across Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic.
[edit] Literature
Fintona also has many literary associations with poets Wilson Guy and John Montague originating from the area.
[edit] Media
As a part of the Omagh District, the media in Fintona very much mimics that of its larger neighbour, with newspapers based in Omagh also serving Fintona. This includes the Tyrone Constitution, the Tyrone Herald and the Ulster Herald.
In the late 1980's and early 1990's a monthly local news magazine, the "Village Voice" was also published by the now defunct Fintona Development Association. The magazine covered news, features and activities in Fintona, Seskinore and Eskra.
[edit] Government
Fintona lies in the West Tyrone electoral constituency for elections to both the Houses of Parliament during the General Elections and to the Northern Ireland Assembly during Assembly elections. For local government elections to elect councillors to Omagh District Council, Fintona lies within the West Tyrone District Electoral Area along with Dromore, Drumquin, Trillick, Seskinore and Newtownsaville.
[edit] Religion
Fintona has several religious denominations including...
- Barr Parish Church (Church of Ireland)
- Donacavey Parish Church (Church of Ireland)
- Fintona Gospel Hall
- Fintona Independent Methodist Church
- Fintona Methodist Church
- Fintona Presbyterian Church
- St.Lawrence's Church (Roman Catholic)
[edit] Famous Residents
Gerry Armstrong, the Northern Irish footballer, who scored three goals in the 1982 World Cup grew up in Fintona.
[edit] 2001 Census
Fintona is classified as a village by the NI Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) (ie with population between 1,000 and 2,250 people). On Census day (29 April 2001) there were 1,359 people living in Fintona. Of these:
- 24.9% were aged under 16 and 17.4% were aged 60 and over
- 48.3% of the population were male and 51.7% were female
- 72.3% were from a Catholic background and 27.1% were from a Protestant background
- 5.9% of people aged 16-74 were unemployed.
For more details see: NI Neighbourhood Information Service
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Fintona Online
- Fintona Cycling Club
- Fintona GAA Club
- Fintona Medical Centre
- Parish of Donacavey (Catholic)
