Camlough

Camlough
Irish: Camloch
The 'crooked lake' from which Camlough derives its name
Camlough shown within Northern Ireland
Population	910 (2001)
District	Newry & Mourne
County	County Armagh
Country	Northern Ireland
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	NEWRY
Postcode district	BT35
Dialling code	028, +44 28
EU Parliament	Northern Ireland
UK Parliament	Newry & Armagh
NI Assembly	Newry & Armagh
List of places: UK • Northern Ireland • Armagh

Camlough or Camloch ( /kæmˈlɒx/ kam-lokh; from Irish: Camloch, meaning "crooked lake") is a small village in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. It is near Bessbrook and the slopes of the Ring of Gullion. It had a population of 910 people in the 2001 Census.

History

1920s

In December 1920, Frank Aiken led an abortive IRA assault on the Royal Irish Constabulary station in his home village of Camlough. In reprisal the newly formed Ulster Special Constabulary burned Aiken's home and those of ten of his relatives in the Camlough area.

The Troubles

See also: The Troubles in Bessbrook

Camlough is situated South Armagh, which was the most militarised region in Western Europe due to the history of the Troubles. The region has been a stronghold of support for the IRA, earning it the nickname "Bandit Country". See Provisional IRA South Armagh Brigade for further information.

On 19 May 1981, five British soldiers were killed in an Irish Republican Army (IRA) landmine attack near Camlough, County Armagh. The soldiers had been travelling in an armoured vehicle when the bomb exploded. This attack was during the 1981 Irish hunger strike in Maze (HM Prison), and near to the home of one of the hunger strikers, Raymond McCreesh.

World Record

A Guinness world record was broken by a team of intrepid swimmers at Camlough Lake in south Armagh on Wednesday 16 September 2009. The group beat the world record for a 'continuous long distance relay swim' after embarking on the world beating attempt over a week before.

Two hundred swimmers from across Ireland took part in the challenge, but it was Paul McCann from outside Camlough who was the man to claim the record for the group at 12.45pm on Wednesday. The previous record was 480 km; Camlough set the record at 680 km.

Places of interest

• Ballykeel Dolmen and Cairn are south west of Camlough, at the western foot of Slieve Gullion. The dolmen is an example of a portal dolmen and is made up of two portal stones with a sill between, and a lower backstone supporting a huge capstone.

Events

• Feile Chamlocha is the annual festival held in Camlough in the summer months including Camlough Festival and the Crooked Lake Triathlon

Sports

Camlough is famous for its links with the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). The village hosts two Gaelic football clubs, Carrickcruppen St Patrick's and Shane O' Neill's Camloch the original Camlough club, as well as the Craobh Rua Camloch hurling club. Carrickcruppen have won four Armagh championships, and Shane O'Neills two.Carrickcruppen being the superior of the two clubs. Having some very famous gaa players over the past few decades including full back stalwart Anthony Bennett,Danny Kelly and peter loughran.

Craobh Rua Camloch hurling club was established in 1991 in the Camlough and Bessbrook areas of South Armagh. As hurling had not been played in the area in some forty years, the club received some help from Armagh Hurling Board chairman, Jimmy Carlisle, who helped set up coaching courses for the children and their mentors. Over its first ten years the club has successfully fielded teams at under 12, under 14, under 16 and since 2010 at under 8, minor and senior levels. They play there home games at Dunster Park (Pairc an Dúnstér) on High Street, Derrymore.

In 2010 the Seniors reached the Junior Championship Final and subsequently made it to the semi-final of the Ulster championship. The Under 14s won the 2010 Championship and the Feile, and represented County Armagh in the All Ireland Feile in Ennis, where they reached the semi-final.

Education

• St. Malachy's Primary School
• St Paul's High School, Bessbrook

2001 Census

Camlough is classified as a Small Village by the NI Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) (i.e. with population between 500 and 1,000 people). On Census day (April 29, 2001) there were 910 people living in Camlough. Of these:

• 27.6% were aged under 16 years;
• 12.6% were aged 60 and over;
• the average age was 31.8 years (NI average age 35.8 years);
• 46.5% of the population were male and 53.5% were female;
• 98.8% were from a Catholic Community Background;
• 1.2% were from a 'Protestant and Other Christian (including Christian related)' Community Background;
• 9.7% were born outside Northern Ireland; and
• 0.0% were from an ethnic group other than white.

Notable residents

• Frank Aiken, prominent IRA figure during the War of Independence and later becoming a Fianna Fáil TD and Minister for External Affairs in the Republic of Ireland
• Eugene O'Callaghan, Roman Catholic Bishop of Clogher 1943–1969
• Conor Murphy, Sinn Féin Member of Parliament for Newry and Armagh
• Malachy Hamill, Turtle Wrestler
• Eamon Collins, IRA 'Supergrass'
• Raymond McCreesh, IRA Volunteer who died after 61 days on hunger-strike in 1981.
• Patsy (Bán) McParland, Gaelic Football Manager
• Paddy Quinn, volunteer within the 1st Battalion, South Armagh Brigade of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) who took part in the 1981 Irish hunger strike.
• Tomás Ó Fiaich, Irish Roman Catholic Cardinal, Archbishop of Armagh and the Primate of All Ireland.
• Andrew Britton, author
• Aodh Ó Luaois, Uachtarán Comhaltas Uladh de Chonradh na Gaeilge (Hugh Lewis President Irish Language Movement in Ulster 1978- 1980)
• Seamy Lennon, Entrepreneur
• Marty Lynch, Shanes Senior Manager, adopted as a Camlough Man.

References

• Newry and Mourne District Council
• South Armagh Tourism
• NI Neighbourhood Information Service