Craigarogan

Craigarogan (from Irish Carraig Uí Ruagain, meaning 'Ó Ruagain's rock') is a small village and townland to the west of Newtownabbey in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. The settlement has developed at the junction of the Bernice Road and the Clarke Lodge Road. The settlement of Roughfort is also within the townland. In the 2001 Census it had a population of 69 people. It is part of Antrim and Newtownabbey district.

Places of interest

Craigarogan chamber tomb or passage grave (in Irish: Carn Greine, i.e. Cairn of the Sun). Locally it is pronounced as Carngraney and as a result sometimes called Granny’s Grave (which is also a corruption of Grania's Grave). (OS map ref: J270842).

History

In the Irish Rebellion of 1798, Henry Joy McCracken raised the standard of rebellion on 6 June 1798 at Craigarogan rath, near Roughfort. Many Antrim men clearly were cautious because comparatively few United Irishmen assembled at Craigarogan. Singing the Marseillaise, they marched towards Antrim, only to be defeated in the Battle of Antrim the next day.

References

• NI Neighbourhood Information System
• Irish megaliths - Craigarogan
• Irish megaliths
• Henry Joy McCracken