Creggan, Derry
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Creggan (; meaning ''stony place'') is a large
housing estate A housing estate (or sometimes housing complex, housing development, subdivision (land), subdivision or community) is a group of homes and other buildings built together as a single development. The exact form may vary from country to count ...
in
Derry Derry, officially Londonderry, is the second-largest City status in the United Kingdom, city in Northern Ireland, and the fifth-largest on the island of Ireland. Located in County Londonderry, the city now covers both banks of the River Fo ...
,
Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...
, on a hill not far from the River Foyle. It lies on the
townlands A townland (; Ulster Scots dialects, Ulster-Scots: ''toonlann'') is a traditional small land division used in Ireland and in the Outer Hebrides, Western Isles of Scotland, typically covering . The townland system is of Middle Ages, medieval Gael ...
of Ballymagowan and Edenballymore. The estate is very close to the border with
County Donegal County Donegal ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county of the Republic of Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster and is the northernmost county of Ireland. The county mostly borders Northern Ireland, sharing only a small b ...
in the
Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...
.


History


The Troubles

The civil rights movement that was occurring in Northern Ireland in the late 1960s took place consistently in Derry. This led to an outbreak of violence between the police, local Unionist Supporters and Nationalists. Violence in the city originally started in the Bogside but quickly spread out to the rest of the city, which included Creggan. One of these occurrences during 12 to 14 August 1969 became known as the Battle of the Bogside. A disagreement over defending Nationalists from British State forces and elements of Unionism led to a split in the IRA, and the two new paramilitary organizations became known as the
Official IRA The Official Irish Republican Army or Official IRA (OIRA; ) was an Irish republican paramilitary group whose goal was to remove Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom and create a " workers' republic" encompassing all of Ireland. It emerg ...
and
Provisional IRA The Provisional Irish Republican Army (Provisional IRA), officially known as the Irish Republican Army (IRA; ) and informally known as the Provos, was an Irish republican paramilitary force that sought to end British rule in Northern Ireland ...
. In the early years, 1969 to 1972, the Officials were the most prominent in Creggan and the rest of Northern Ireland with militant members carrying attacks out on the
British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...
, even though the Provisionals as a whole were carrying out a more violent campaign along with a bombing campaign in Derry City Centre. Following the introduction of
internment Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without Criminal charge, charges or Indictment, intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects ...
without trial being carried out by the British government, as well as Civil Rights protests in Derry that turned into intense rioting with the
Royal Ulster Constabulary The Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) was the police force in Northern Ireland from 1922 to 2001. It was founded on 1 June 1922 as a successor to the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) Richard Doherty, ''The Thin Green Line – The History of the ...
(RUC), the Bogside and Creggan areas effectively became a no-go area for the British government along with the RUC and were only controlled and policed by both wings of the IRA. This all existed until Operation Motorman in July 1972. After this, the no-go area across Northern Ireland became fully controlled by the British government. However, this did not at all stop violence in the city. In 1972 the Officials called a ceasefire, then in 1974 called an end to their armed campaign. This prompted the creation of the
Irish National Liberation Army The Irish National Liberation Army (INLA, ) is an Irish republicanism, Irish republican Socialism, socialist paramilitary group formed on 8 December 1974, during the 30-year period of conflict known as "the Troubles". The group seeks to remove ...
(INLA) on 8 December 1974, a radical left-wing group formed of hardline republicans led by
Seamus Costello Seamus Costello (, 1939 – 5 October 1977) was an Irish politician. He was a leader of Official Sinn Féin and the Official Irish Republican Army and latterly of the Irish Republican Socialist Party (IRSP) and the Irish National Liberation Army ...
. By 1972, after Motorman, the British Army conducted large scale operations in the once no-go areas. It caused more open clashes between the British Army, the citizens of Creggan and the rest of Derry. This violence continued to occur up to the early 1990s.


Subsequent history

Creggan has experienced a seismic change; long gone are the no-go area and levels of inequality suffered from the 1960s to 1980s. It has seen some redevelopment most noticeably with the redevelopment of the Bishop's Field as a sports and recreation area, the introduction of a play park and the development of a country park and fishery at the old reservoir sites at the edge of the estate. New housing developments have also been completed on the edge of the estate, the largest of these being the new Ballymagowan area. On 18 April 2019, 29-year-old journalist Lyra McKee was fatally shot during rioting in Fanad Drive. Police initially suggested the
New IRA New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 1 ...
were responsible for the killing. The New IRA later confirmed responsibility and offered apologies.


Education


Primary

*Holy Child Primary School *St John's Primary School


Secondary

* St Cecilia's College * St Joseph's Boys' School *St. Mary's Girls School *St. Peter's High School (closed in 2013) * Lumen Christi College


Places of interest

* City Cemetery – Derry's largest graveyard, opened in 1853. The site includes 194 Commonwealth war graves of those who died in the First and Second World Wars. The site also includes the republican section, which contains the graves Patsy O'Hara, Michael Devine, and
Martin McGuinness James Martin Pacelli McGuinness (; 23 May 1950 – 21 March 2017) was an Irish republican politician and statesman for Sinn Féin and a leader within the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) during The Troubles. He was the deputy First Minist ...
. * Creggan Country Park – recreation centre * Bishop's Field – Astro-Turf pitch


Notable people from Creggan

* Tony O'Doherty – international footballer, former Derry City F.C. player and manager * Mickey Bradley – bass guitarist with The Undertones * Liam Ball – Irish Olympic swimmer * Dana – pop star, Ireland's first
Eurovision song contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), often known simply as Eurovision, is an international Music competition, song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among its members since 1956. Each participating broadcaster ...
winner and politician * Michael Devine – INLA member and participant in the 1981 hunger striker * Don Mullan – author * Charlie Nash – Former professional and Olympic boxer * Raymond Gilmour – Member of the Provisional IRA and INLA that was an
informer An informant (also called an informer or, as a slang term, a "snitch", "rat", "canary", "stool pigeon", "stoolie", "tout" or "grass", among other terms) is a person who provides privileged information, or (usually damaging) information inten ...
, and later a
supergrass Supergrass are an English rock band formed in 1993. For the majority of the band's tenure, the line-up consisted of brothers Gaz (lead vocals, guitar) and Rob Coombes (keyboards), Mick Quinn (bass, backing vocals) and Danny Goffey (drums, ...
, for the RUC Special Branch * Terry Harkin – international footballer * James McClean – professional footballer with
Wrexham A.F.C. Wrexham Association Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Wrexham, Wales. Formed in 1864, it is the oldest club in Wales and the third-oldest professional association football team in the world. The club compe ...
* Darren Kelly – ex professional footballer and manager


2001 Census

Two wards in Derry have the name Creggan - Creggan Central and Creggan South. (A 3rd smaller ward in part of lower Creggan is 'Beechwood') Creggan Central and South are classified by the
Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency The Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA, ) is an executive agency within the Department of Finance (Northern Ireland), Department of Finance in Northern Ireland. The organisation is responsible for the collection and publicat ...
(NISRA) as being within Derry Urban Area (DUA). On Census day (29 April 2001) there were 3,504 people living in Creggan Central and 2,453 people living in Creggan South. Of those living in Creggan Central: *34.1% were aged under 16 years and 9.1% were aged 90 and over *46.5% of the population were male and 53.5% were female *98.7% were from a
Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
background and 0.9% were from a
Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...
background *12.5% of people aged 16 to 74 were unemployed Of those living in Creggan South: *30.2% were aged under 16 years and 15.6% were aged 60 and over *45.6% of the population were male and 54.4% were female *98.8% were from a Catholic background and 0.9% were from a Protestant background *10.0% of people aged 16 to 74 were unemployed


Deprivation

According to the Northern Ireland Multiple Deprivation Measure (NIMDM) of 2005, of 582 wards in Northern Ireland, Creggan Central was the 11th most deprived while Creggan South was ranked 15th.


Further reading


Extracts from - 'Creggan: more than a history'
by Michael McGuinness and Garbhan Downey (2000). .
'Off Broadway'
by Garbhan Downey (Guildhall Press, 2005). A series of humorous short stories set in post-ceasefire Creggan.


References


Citations


Bibliography

*


External links


Case study - Creggan Enterprises Limited
Social Enterprise Coalition. Retrieved 28 December 2006. {{Derry Derry (city)