Moneymore

Moneymore Irish: Muine Mór
County Londonderry
St John's Desertlynn Church of Ireland
Location
Grid reference:	H8583
Location:	54°41’31"N, 6°40’12"W
Data
Post town:	Marghrafelt
Postcode:	BT45
Dialling code:	028
Local Government
Council:	Mid-Ulster
Parliamentary constituency:	Mid-Ulster

Moneymore is a village and townland in County Londonderry. It had a population of 1,369 in the 2001 Census. It is an example of a plantation village in Mid-Ulster built by the Drapers' Company of London. It was the first town in Ulster to have piped water. Its name is from the Irish Muine Mór, meaning 'large thicket' or 'large hill'.

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 Uí Néill and the Cruithin tribe which the Northern Uí Néill 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 Uí Néill split to form the Southern Uí Néill 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.

Notable people

• Richard William Enraght was an Anglican priest and religious controversialist. He was born in Moneymore on 23 February 1837, the son of the Reverend Matthew Enraght the Assistant Curate of the parish.
• John Harris, surgeon, early settler of Australia, born Moneymore 1754
• Author and musician Rodney Orpheus was born and raised in Moneymore.

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

• Moneymore railway station opened on 10 November 1856 and shut on 2 May 1955.

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 as well as a post office, pharmacy, a number of convenience stores, a privately owned bus service, a privately owned crane company, a vehicle detailing business and a privately owned bicycle shop. Until July 2006 there was a Police Service of Northern Ireland station. There village also has a Go Kart track and a Recreation Centre.

Sport

• Moneymore GAC is the local Gaelic Athletic Association club.

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

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 this village (its first settlers were from the Irish Moneymore).

The men of the village left to fight in the great war the names of those who did not return are remembered on a memorial attached to the wall of the Assembly Rooms. One of those who returned was Leslie Bell who joined up although under age and was wounded during the battle of the Somme, he died on 11 February 1995 aged 98.

Outside links

("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Moneymore)

• Moneymore and Draperstown: The Architecture and Planning of the Estates of the Drapers Company in Ulster
• Photos of the town taken around 1920