Moneymore

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Moneymore is also the name of a farming district near Milton, New Zealand.
Moneymore is also the name of a large housing estate in Drogheda, Ireland.
Moneymore
St John's Desertlynn Church of Ireland, in Moneymore
Population1,369 (2001 Census)
Irish grid referenceH8583
District
County
CountryNorthern Ireland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townMAGHERAFELT
Postcode districtBT45
Dialling code028
PoliceNorthern Ireland
FireNorthern Ireland
AmbulanceNorthern Ireland
UK Parliament
NI Assembly
List of places
UK
Northern Ireland
County Londonderry

Moneymore (from Irish Muine Mór, meaning 'large thicket or large hill')[1] is a village and townland in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It had a population of 1,369 in the 2001 Census.

It is an example of a Plantation village in Mid-Ulster. It was the first town in Ulster to have piped water.

Geography

Moneymore lies in a glen. The Ballymully River flows through the southern part of the village. The river rises on a large hill, Slieve Gallion (one of the Sperrins), which has a radio tower on top. The village is about 35 miles from the sea to the north.

History

There was an important battle fought near Moneymore called the battle of Móin Daire Lothair in the year 563 between the Northern Ui Neill and the Cruithin tribe which the Northern Ui Neill won. This battle is recorded in the Annals of Ulster and would have been a major event at the time. Much of Great Britain and Ireland would have descent from these two groups as there was notable mixing with Scotland over the years and the Ui Neill split to form the Southern Ui Neill in the Irish midlands around this time.

Originally built by the Worshipful Company of Drapers, the village was held in such esteem that they invested in a large scale reconstruction during 1817. During The Troubles, seven people were killed in or near Moneymore in violence related to the conflict, six of them by the Provisional IRA and one by the UDA.

People

  • Walter Greer is a member of the Ulster Unionist Party. He is a local councillor in Cookstown District Council.
  • Suspected serial killer John Bodkin Adams lived in Moneymore for a few years in the first decade of the twentieth century. He became a general practitioner and moved to Eastbourne in 1922. He was charged in 1957 with the murder of two patients but was controversially acquitted. He was, however, suspected of causing the death of 163 other patients.
  • Richard William Enraght was an Anglican priest and religious controversialist. He was born in Moneymore on the 23 February 1837, the son of the Reverend Matthew Enraght the Assistant Curate of the parish.[2]
  • Brian Weir is a relatively famous 21st-century explorer, was the first to climb to the summit of Mount Gee, South Australia (2,099 ft). Well known for being of a dubious nature. He was born and raised on a small farm holding on the outskirts of Moneymore. He has recently published his autobiography I Brian : A Modern Day Napoleon. He now resides in Geneva, Switzerland. Married Nad Ja Weir (née Geist) 30th May 2014.
  • Author and musician Rodney Orpheus was born and raised in Moneymore.
  • Hugh McCloy Independent 'Save the Mid' Candidate for Mid Ulster during the 2011 Assembly Election. Also former member of the Fathers 4 Justice groups that campaigned for equal rights for fathers to see their children upon separation Hugh McCloy doing a Fathers 4 Justice stunt at The Opera House in Belfast

Places of interest

The most notable building in the town is the 17th century Plantation house, Springhill, built and owned by the Conyngham, later Lenox-Conyngham family but since 1957 in the ownership of the National Trust.

Moneymore Model Village depicts life in rural Ulster at the time of the Plantation.

Transport

Amenities

Moneymore has a surgery which serves villages such as The Loup, Ballyronan and Desertmartin. As well as that, Moneymore has Dalriada Emergency Surgery which is 24/7. It also has a post office, pharmacy, a number of convenience stores, a privately owned bus service, a privately owned crane company, and a privately owned bicycle shop. Until July 2006 there was a Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) station.

The GP in the Village's Surgery is Dr. Josef Kuriacose who spoke out against the lack of staff at Antrim Area Hsoptial and featured on BBC Newsline.[4]

Sport

Schools

There are two primary schools in Moneymore: Moneymore Primary School (the state primary school) and St. Patrick's Primary School (a Roman Catholic primary school). Most children of secondary school age attend one of the schools in nearby Cookstown or Magherafelt.

Churches

  • St. John's Church (Church of Ireland)
  • Church of SS John & Trea (Roman Catholic)
  • Moneymore First Presbyterian Church
  • Moneymore Second Presbyterian Church
  • Moneymore Congregational Church
  • Moneymore Gospel Hall

2001 Census

Moneymore is classified as a village by the NI Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) (i.e. with population between 1,000 and 2,250 people). On Census day (29 April 2001) there were 1,369 people living in Moneymore. Of these:

  • 25.0% were aged under 16 years and 16.1% were aged 60 and over
  • 45.29% of the population were male and 52.1% were female
  • 47.8% were from a Catholic background and 51.0% were from a Protestant background;
  • 3.1% of people aged 16–74 were unemployed.

For more details see: NI Neighbourhood Information Service

Trivia

55 Rockview Park, a terraced house in Moneymore, was reportedly haunted. [1]

On Friday 15 February 2008 at 11.00pm a Second World War bombshell was found in the Millrace Manor estate. A number of houses were evacuated and the Mace convenience store was shut for a period of time. The police were called in and the mortar bomb was found incapable of exploding.

The small New Zealand settlement of Moneymore, close to the town of Milton, was named after the Irish village (its first settlers were from the Irish Moneymore).

See also

External links

References

  1. ^ Placenames Database of Ireland
  2. ^ From the baptismal registers of St John's church Desertlyn
  3. ^ "Moneymore station" (PDF). Railscot - Irish Railways. Retrieved 2007-09-06.
  4. ^ "Doctor would not be treated in Antrim Hospital". BBC News. 18 January 2012.