Clady, Tyrone
| Clady | |
| Tyrone | |
|---|---|
 Urney Road, for Strabane | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | H296941 |
| Location: | 54°47’39"N, 7°32’24"W |
| Data | |
| Population: | 538 (2011) |
| Post town: | Strabane |
| Postcode: | BT82 |
| Dialling code: | 028 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Derry City and Strabane |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
West Tyrone |
Clady is a small village and townland in Tyrone, four miles from Strabane on the River Finn, by which it borders the Republic of Ireland (County Donegal). The 2011 Census recorded a population of 538 people.
The name of the village is from the Gaelic Claidigh|muddy, meaning "Margin of a stream or river".[1] It is in the Barony of Strabane Lower. The townland covers 173 acres.[2]
History
The village is one of the oldest in the area. It is referred to as 'Claudy' in earlier works, for example Samuel Lewis writes:
CLAUDY, a village in the parish of URNEY, barony of Strabane, county of TYRONE, and province of ULSTER, three miles (S.S.W.) of Strabane;—Samuel Lewis: A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland
Early and later works attribute the name, Clady,[3][4] which serves to distinguish this village from Claudy in County Londonderry.
Next to the village is an important passage over the River Finn, one of the "passes", which controlled the access to Londonderry from the south and east in the times when the ferry at Londonderry was the only means to cross the River Foyle. Originally, the passage at Clady was provided by a ford, known as the Cladyford. Soon a bridge was built, which existed already in the 17th century. According to Lewis in 1840, a "handsome bridge of seven arches" spanned the river near the village.
Close to the village is a handsome bridge of seven arches over the Finn, connecting Claudy with the county of Donegal.—Samuel Lewis
This passage over the Finn was contested during the Williamite War]] on 15 April 1689 when Jacobite cavalry under Richard Hamilton]] and James FitzJames, the Duke of Berwick forced the passage.[5] Some days later King James II crossed the Finn at this place, proceeded to Londonderry and summoned the city to surrender. These events started the Siege of Derry.
In February 1922, during the Irish War of Independence, an Ulster Special Constabulary platoon attempting to enter Clady were forced to withdraw two nights in a row after coming under fire from the Irish Republican Army. One constable was killed in the clashes.[6]
Sport
- Gaelic games: Urney St Columba
 |
("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Clady, Tyrone) |
References
- ↑ Clady - Placenames NI
- ↑ "Townlands of County Tyrone". IreAtlas Townland Database. http://www.thecore.com/seanruad/.
- ↑ "Statistical Survey of Co. Tyrone 1802". https://www.cotyroneireland.com/rental/StatisticalSurveyCoTyrone1802.html.
- ↑ Berwick, James Fitzjames; Hooke, L. J. (Luke Joseph); Montesquieu, Charles de Secondat; Adams, John; John Adams Library (Boston Public Library) MB (BRL) (1778). Mémoires du maréchal de Berwick. John Adams Library at the Boston Public Library. A Paris : Chez Moutard .... https://archive.org/details/mmoiresdumar01berw.
- ↑ FitzJames 1778, p. 47: "De là nous marchâmes, le 15 Avril, au pont de Clady, sur la rivière de Strabane, dont les Rebelles, au nombre de dix mille, vouloient défendre le passage"
- ↑ Lawlor, Pearse. The Outrages: The IRA and the Ulster Special Constabulary in the Border Campaign. Mercier Press, 2011. pp.202-203