Derrylin
| Derrylin | |
| Fermanagh | |
|---|---|
 Parish church, Derrylin | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | H273282 |
| Location: | 54°11’46"N, 7°34’17"W |
| Data | |
| Population: | 634 (2011) |
| Postcode: | BT92 |
| Dialling code: | 028 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Fermanagh and Omagh |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
Fermanagh and South Tyrone |
Derrylin is a village and townland in Fermanagh, in the Barony of Knockninny, on the A509 road between Enniskillen and the border with County Cavan (which road in the Irish Republic becomes the N3 road to Dublin). The village had a population of 624 at the 2011 census.
The name 'Derrylin' is from the Gaelic Doire Loinn meaning 'Oakgrove of Floinn' or 'Oakgrove of the blackbirds'.[1]
Contents
Historical interest
The village has several historical features, including the Callowhill graveyard with headstones dating back to the 17th century. Upper Lough Erne is east of the village, and west is the peak of Slieve Rushen. To the northeast is the limestone hill known as Knockninny Rock (from which the Barony takes its name).
Corratrasna Castle
On the southern slope of Knockninny Hill, about a mile north of Derrylin village, stand the ruins of Corratrasna Castle (or Corratrasna House), a relatively small fortified house that was probably built around 1611, at the start of the Plantation of Ulster.[2][3] The 'castle' was probably built for a branch of the Balfour family, a settler family who were based at Castle Balfour in nearby Lisnaskea.[2] However, there is a local tradition that claims the castle was built around 1611 for Brian Maguire, a member of the Clan Mac Uidhir (or Maguire dynasty), Gaelic Lords of Fermanagh.[3]
Another local tradition, recorded by the Irish Office of the Ordnance Survey in the 1830s, states that the castle may have been built for Dr William Bedell, who served as the Church of Ireland Bishop of Kilmore in the 1630s and early 1640s.[3] The ruins of the fortified house now sit in a small field, directly behind a modern farmhouse, just off a sideroad in the townland of Corratrasna, quite near Knockninny Methodist Church.[3]
Economy
Derrylin is the hometown of former billionaire Seán Quinn who headed up an industrial empire concentrating on building products, glass bottle manufacture and insurance. However a disastrous bet on a dodgy share option led to his downfall and the loss of his business. The building products enterprise is now run by a consortium of local businessmen and called Quinn Industrial Holdings. The glass plant is run by Encirc. Hotels and other assets were also lost although court proceedings are currently underway to sort out the tangle. The business is trading successfully and employs about 2000 people locally and putting substantial income into the area. Other local businesses include; McCaffrey Quarries, Ernecast (Precast conc. products), Crust'n'Crumb, Teemore Engineering, Steel Solutions, Ernco Signs, Erne Lifting, A1 Transport (Road Haulage), Eco Systems Direct (Solar Energy, Gilleece Crane Hire, Total IT Solutions, McCorry Agri Supplies, JP Corry Hardware, Blake's Pub and restaurant, The Mountview Pub, Knockninney Country House and Marina, JM Engineering (Pig Pens and Lorry Accessories), Drum Engineering, Barrett's Bathrooms & Tiles, Malone and Smyth Kitchens and Furniture, Lunneys Furniture Sales, Corraquil Cruising, and a full range of small family run businesses including shops, accountants, pharmacy, childcare, schools, churches and sheltered housing for senior citizens. .
Sport
- Boxing: The Erne Boxing Club has its training facility in the village
- Gaelic Athletics: Derrylin O'Connells GAA Club
- Running: Rock Runners athletic club currently uses the facilities of the GAA Club.
Historically Some of the First GAA clubs in Fermanagh and Cavan, and Ulster, were located in the Derrylin/Ballyconnell and surrounding Areas. At one stage before First World War (when Derrylin had a fairly high population) there were as many as 5 teams in the Derrylin area itself.
Outside links
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("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Derrylin) |
References
- ↑ Derrylin - Placenames NI
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Nikolaus Pevsner: The Buildings of Ireland: North-West Ulster: the Counties of Londonderry, Donegal, Fermanagh & Tyrone, 1979 Penguin Books ISBN 978-0-300-09667-5
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Wilsdon, Bill, Plantation Castles on the Erne, pp 166-168 (The History Press Ireland, 2010}}
