Aghagallon

Aghagallon
Irish: Achadh Galláin
St Patrick's Catholic church, Aghagallon
Aghagallon shown within Northern Ireland
Population	824 (2001)
Irish grid reference	J104636
- Belfast	22 mi (35 km)
District	Craigavon
County	County Antrim
Country	Northern Ireland
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	CRAIGAVON
Postcode district	BT67
Dialling code	028, +44 28
EU Parliament	Northern Ireland
UK Parliament	Upper Bann
NI Assembly	Upper Bann
List of places: UK • Northern Ireland • Antrim

Aghagallon (from Irish: Achadh Galláin, meaning "field of the standing stone") is a small village in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is about three miles northeast of Lurgan. It is part of the Craigavon Borough Council area and had a population of 824 in the 2001 Census.

Aghagallon has mainly developed along Aghalee Road in a linear fashion with development to the southeast along Colane Road. St Patrick’s Church and adjacent primary school provide a central focus for the village. Although the village is named after the townland of Aghagallon, it lies almost wholly within neighboring Derrynaseer townland.

The Three Pronged Revolver

A famous incident that took place in Aghagallon in 1790. "The Battle of Annaghdroghal Bridge" .

In 1790 men from the nearby villiage of Waringstown accompanied by flute and drum under the command of Col. Sharp marched from Waringstown at the request of Lord Waring to plough and prepare a field in Aghagallon County Antrim for a friend and fellow English landowner and Orangeman.

Their journey from Waringstown to Aghagallon was a controversial one, with several incidents occurring along the way in the town of Lurgan.

As Col. Sharp and his men reached the Annaghdroghal Bridge just east of Aghagallon they were met by local men who refused them passage. A fight incurred and the Battle of Annaghdroghal began.

Col.. Sharp led his men in the first attack and was fatally wounded by "The Darkie McStravick," receiving a chest wound from a three pronged muck fork.

McStravick fled the scene and dumped the fork (The Three Pronged Revolver) down a dry well at Derryclone.

The fork was retrieved around 1890 from the well and was presented to a local museum by Phelim McStravick in 2008.

Education

The village has one primary school, St. Patrick's. Much of the population of the village attend schools in nearby Lurgan.

2001 Census

Aghagallon is classified as a small village or hamlet by the NI Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) (ie with population between 500 and 1,000 people). On Census day (29 April 2001) there were 824 people living in Aghagallon. Of these:

• 32.3% were aged under 16 and 11.7% were aged 60 and over
• 50.2% of the population were male and 49.8% were female
• 96.6% were from a Catholic background and 3.0% were from a Protestant background;
• 3.2% of people aged 16-74 were unemployed.

For fuller details see: NI Neighbourhood Information Service

Sport

Aghagallon has one GAA club, Naomh Mhuire, which serves the areas of Aghagallon village, Gawley's Gate and Ballinderry after clubs in these areas folded over the years. They currently play in Division II of the Antrim ACL and have a recently constructed playing field located on the Colane Rd. Although a club priding itself on its roots in Antrim, it does have links to Armagh and currently field some teams in the North Armagh leagues. Aghagallon compete in the Antrim Intermediate Championship, an honour they won in 2002. After a few stints in the SFC, the club will again compete in the IFC, against opposition such as Moneyglass, Rossa and St. Enda's.

There is also the Aghagallon Magners managed by Connor Mallon, currently holders of the winter league cup. The Senior Gaelic team is sponsored by Hannon Transport, with the Soccer team being sponsored by the Derryhirk Inn.

References

54°30′N 6°18′W