Donemana

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Donemana (Dun na Manach in Irish, 'Fort of the Monks') is a small market village in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, 11 kilometres north-east of Strabane, on the banks of the Burn Dennett and at the foothills of the Sperrin Mountains. The village name is an anglicised version of the Irish Dun na manach which means 'fort of the monks'. It has the unusual distinction of having at least 4 different English spellings of its name - Donemana, Dunamanagh, Donemanagh and Dunnamanagh, leading to some confusion on road signs in the area. It is the largest of the thirteen villages in the Strabane District Council area and had a population of 593 people in the 2001 Census.

1 History
2 Places of interest
3 Transport
4 Education
5 Sport
6 People
7 2001 Census
8 See also
9 References
10 External links

[edit] History

The town was established in the early 17th century as part of the Plantation of Ulster, instigated by James I in 1609. Land in the area was granted to John Drummond who established the village, building a bawn (an enclosed, fortified farmyard, designed as a place of refuge for settlers in case of attack), 10 wicker-work houses, a watermill for grinding corn and a house for himself.

[edit] Places of interest

Barrontop Fun Farm is ideal for those interested in sampling the sights and sounds of farming life.
The Silverbrook Mill complex revisits the traditional industries once strongly associated with the locality. This facility has been developed in recent times by the local community who have endeavoured also to attract inward investment through various projects including the provision of industrial units.

[edit] Transport

Donemana railway station opened on 6 August 1900, but finally closed on 1 January 1955.^[1]

[edit] Education

It has two primary schools, Donemana County Primary School and St.Patricks Primary School. Local children generally attend secondary school in Strabane or Derry.

[edit] Sport

Today Donemana is renowned throughout Ireland for its thriving and highly successful cricket team, which was established in 1888. Football is also popular in the area. Clann na nGael is the local GAA club.

[edit] People

A popular local song celebrates the claim that "Davy Crockett's da came from Donemana". A historical curiosity is the fact that the Crockett family are known to have fought on the Williamite side during the siege of Derry before emigrating to North America. Davy Crockett later fought at the Battle of the Alamo during the Texas Revolution.
19th century writer, barrister and explorer George Fletcher Moore was also born in Donemana.
Allan Bresland MLA, born in Donemana, was elected in 2007 to the Northern Ireland Assembly as a DUP member for West Tyrone.^[2]

[edit] 2001 Census

Donemana is classified as a small village or hamlet by the NI Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) (ie with population between 500 and 1,000). On Census day (29 April 2001) there were 593 people living in Donemana. Of these:

27.2% were aged under 16 and 19.8% were aged 60 and over
49.2% of the population were male and 50.8% were female
15.2% were from a Catholic background and 84.8% were from a Protestant background
7.7% of people aged 16-74 were unemployed.

For more details see: Northern Ireland Neighbourhood Information Service.