Bellaghy

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Bellaghy (Irish: Baile Eachaidh; meaning Town of Eachaidh) is a village in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. The name Bellaghy (Baile Eachaidh in Irish) means "Town of Eachaidh" Other translations give the town the name Béal Eochaidh which means "mouth of the marsh" or "wet place". It lies north west of Lough Neagh and about 5 miles north of Magherafelt. At the centre of the village lies the junction of three main roads leading to Magherafelt, Portglenone and Toome. It had a population of 1,063 people in the 2001 Census. It is within the Magherafelt District Council area. In the past there has been many disputes about Orange Order parades in the village.Recently all parades have been rerouted away from the main street.

1 History
2 People
3 Sport
4 2001 Census
5 References
6 External links
7 See also

[edit] History

Although it is suspected that there were Celtic settlements in the area beforehand, Bellaghy was one of the first planned towns in Ireland. The village dates back to the 17th century when it was one of many towns settled and built under the authority of the Vintners Company of London as part of the Plantation of Londonderry. The company hoped to rename the town from Bellaghy to "Vintnerstown" but the name didn't catch on and the original name endured. In 1622, according to a manuscript of a Captain Thomas Ash, it seems that Bellaghy consisted of a church, a castle, a Corn Mill and 12 houses.

The 17th century Bawn at Bellaghy is the best restored example to be found anywhere in Northern Ireland. The original was virtually destroyed in the 1641 rebellion when most of Bellaghy was burnt to the ground. Locally it is still referred to as "the castle" and it is located in Castle Street. Bellaghy Bawn was opened to the public in 1996 and features exhibitions on local natural history and history, and on poetry by local Nobel Laureate, Seamus Heaney and other contemporary Irish writers.

[edit] People

Seamus Heaney, winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1995, described as "the most important Irish poet since Yeats", grew up in Bellaghy and much of his work reflects life there. Irish republicans Francis Hughes and Thomas McElwee were from the village and died on the 1981 Irish hunger strike. They were cousins.

[edit] Sport

The Wolfe Tones GAC club in Bellaghy are one of the most successful and famous Gaelic football clubs in Ireland. They have a strong tradition of success and have won more Derry county titles than any other club. They won the All-Ireland club championship in 1972.

[edit] 2001 Census

Bellaghy 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 1,063 people living in Bellaghy. Of these:

31.4% were aged under 16 years and 12.7% were aged 60 and over
49.9% of the population were male and 50.1% were female
86.0% were from a Catholic background and 14.0% were from a Protestant background
4.6% of people aged 16-74 were unemployed

For more details see: NI Neighbourhood Information Service