village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...
and
townland
A townland ( ga, baile fearainn; Ulster-Scots: ''toonlann'') is a small geographical division of land, historically and currently used in Ireland and in the Western Isles in Scotland, typically covering . The townland system is of Gaelic orig ...
near
Keady
Keady () is a village and civil parish in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. It is south of Armagh and near the border with the Republic of Ireland. It is situated mainly in the historic barony of Armagh with six townlands in the barony of Tirann ...
in
County Armagh
County Armagh (, named after its county town, Armagh) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. Adjoined to the southern shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of and has ...
,
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label=Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. North ...
. It had a population of 224 people (80 households) in the 2011 Census. (2001 Census: 282 people)
History
Darkley is first mentioned on the ''Maps of the Escheated Counties'' (1609) which were drawn up at the beginning of the
Plantation of Ulster
The Plantation of Ulster ( gle, Plandáil Uladh; Ulster-Scots: ''Plantin o Ulstèr'') was the organised colonisation ('' plantation'') of Ulstera province of Irelandby people from Great Britain during the reign of King James I. Most of the se ...
. It was part of an ancient precinct called Toaghy ( Irish: ''Tuath Uí Eachaidh''), a narrow strip of land that stretched from Darkley to Killyleagh.
See Darkley Killings for a list of incidents in Darkley during
The Troubles
The Troubles ( ga, Na Trioblóidí) were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it is sometimes described as an "i ...
resulting in two or more fatalities.
Education
The first schools in the Darkley were hedge schools.
Later, schools were founded in the townlands that surround Darkley such as Aughnagurgan & Corkley and Tullyglush.
The first school in Darkley was a Protestant school built in 1856 by William Kirk,
M.P.
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...
, and opened its doors in 1857. The first headmaster was James Young, who had previously taught at Berry Street National School in Belfast.
In 1932, a piece of land was donated by Mr. James E. Calvert for the purpose of building a new school. The other school had fallen into disrepair and had been condemned. On 30 May 1932, the new school opened in Moss Row. The headmaster was William Clarke.
Sport
The local GAA club is Phelim Brady's ( Irish: ''Cumann Fhéilim Mhic Bhrádaigh''), which plays football in the
Armagh
Armagh ( ; ga, Ard Mhacha, , " Macha's height") is the county town of County Armagh and a city in Northern Ireland, as well as a civil parish. It is the ecclesiastical capital of Ireland – the seat of the Archbishops of Armagh, the ...