Donemana
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Donemana (named after the
townland A townland (; Ulster-Scots: ''toonlann'') is a traditional small land division used in Ireland and in the Western Isles of Scotland, typically covering . The townland system is of medieval Gaelic origin, predating the Norman invasion, and mo ...
of Dunnamanagh, ) is a
village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...
in
County Tyrone County Tyrone (; ) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the thirty-two traditional counties of Ireland. Its county town is Omagh. Adjoined to the south-west shore of Lough Neagh, the cou ...
,
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 ...
. It is 7 miles or 11 kilometres north-east of
Strabane Strabane (; ) is a town in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. Strabane had a population of 13,507 at the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census. This article contains quotations from this source, which is available under th Open Government Li ...
, on the banks of the Burn Dennett and at the foothills of the Sperrins. In 2001, it was the largest of the thirteen villages in the former
Strabane District Council Strabane District Council (; Ulster Scots dialects, Ulster-Scots: ''Stràbane Destrìck Cooncil'') was a local council in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland established by the Local Government Act (Northern Ireland) 1972. It merged with Derry City ...
area and it had a population of 586 in the
Census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...
that year. Other
anglicised Anglicisation or anglicization is a form of cultural assimilation whereby something non-English becomes assimilated into or influenced by the culture of England. It can be sociocultural, in which a non-English place adopts the English language ...
spellings of its name include Dun mana hand Don mana h


History

The village was established in the early 17th century as part of the
Plantation of Ulster The Plantation of Ulster (; Ulster Scots dialects, Ulster Scots: ) was the organised Settler colonialism, colonisation (''Plantation (settlement or colony), plantation'') of Ulstera Provinces of Ireland, province of Irelandby people from Great ...
, instigated by James I in 1609. Land in the area was granted to John Drummond who established the village; building a
bawn A bawn is the defensive wall surrounding an Irish tower house. It is the anglicised version of the Irish word ''bábhún'' (sometimes spelt ''badhún''), possibly meaning "cattle-stronghold" or "cattle-enclosure".See alternative traditional s ...
(an enclosed, fortified farmyard, designed as a place of refuge for settlers in case of attack), 10 wicker-work houses, and a watermill for grinding corn.


Transport

The two main roads running through Donemana are the B49, which runs from Strabane through Donemana to Claudy (near the A6 dual carriageway between
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 ...
and
Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...
); and the B48, which runs from Derry to
Omagh Omagh (; from , meaning 'the virgin plain') is the county town of County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is situated where the rivers River Drumragh, Drumragh and Camowen River, Camowen meet to form the River Strule, Strule. Northern Ireland's c ...
through the countryside (via
Newbuildings Newbuildings or New Buildings is a large village in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It lies close to the banks of the River Foyle and south of the city of Derry. It had a population of 3,381 in the 2011 Census. It is within Derry and S ...
,
Plumbridge Plumbridge is a small village in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is a crossroads village, standing on the banks of the Glenelly River, south of Derry. In the 2001 census it had a population of 267 people. It lies within Derry City and St ...
and Gortin). This serves as an alternative to the A5 road that forms the northern part of the route from Derry to Dublin. Translink's
Ulsterbus Ulsterbus is a public transport operator in Northern Ireland and operates bus services outside Belfast. It is part of Translink (Northern Ireland), Translink, the brand name for the subsidiary operating companies of the Northern Ireland Transpor ...
serves Donemana solely via its 102 route, which runs between Derry and Strabane, stopping in Prehen, Newbuildings, Donemana, Artigarvan and Glenmornan. From Derry and Strabane, passengers can avail of onward travel to villages, towns and cities across the island of Ireland via Translink's Goldline coach service towards Belfast, Dublin, and Coleraine, and via Bus Éireann's Expressway coach service towards Galway. Donemana railway station was part of the County Donegal Railway and opened on 6 August 1900, but this was shut on 1 January 1955. The All-Island Strategic Rail Review published in 2023 did not contain any commitment to reviving this line.


Education

It has two primary schools, Donemana County Primary School and St. Michael's Primary School. Local children generally attend secondary school in
Strabane Strabane (; ) is a town in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. Strabane had a population of 13,507 at the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census. This article contains quotations from this source, which is available under th Open Government Li ...
or
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 ...
.


Sport

Donemana has been called a "cricket-mad village" whose local cricket team was "the first team in more than 100 years to win four successive Senior Cup finals."
Football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
and Gaelic football is also popular in the area. Clann na nGael is the local GAA club.


Notable people

Notable people who were born or have lived in Donemana include: * George Fletcher Moore, 19th century writer, barrister and explorer * Allan Bresland, politician *
William Porterfield William Thomas Stuart Porterfield (born 6 September 1984) is an Irish former cricketer and a former captain of the Ireland cricket team. He played first-class cricket for Gloucestershire and Warwickshire. A left-handed batsman, he played for I ...
, Irish cricketer *
Andrew McBrine Andrew Robert McBrine (born 30 April 1993) is an Irish cricketer. He is a left-handed batsman who bowls right-arm off spin. McBrine is the son of Alexander McBrine and the nephew of James McBrine, both of whom also played cricket for Ireland. ...
, Irish cricketer * Stephen O'Neill, Tyrone All-Ireland-winning GAA * Brian Dooher, Tyrone All-Ireland-winning GAA captain


Demography


19th century population

The population of the village increased during the 19th century: The village stands in the townlands of Dunnamanagh and Stonyfalls, and in 1891, had an estimated area of 11 acres.


21st century population

Donemana is classified as a small village or hamlet 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) (i.e. with population between 500 and 1,000). On Census day (27 March 2011) there were 586 people living in Donemana. Of these: *23.21% were aged under 16 and 13.14% were aged 65 and over *48.46% of the population were male and 51.54% were female *15.19% 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 83.79% 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 *7.8% of people aged 16–74 were
unemployed Unemployment, according to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), is the proportion of people above a specified age (usually 15) not being in paid employment or self-employment but currently available for Work (hu ...
.


Dunnamanagh Townland

The townland is situated in the historic
barony Barony may refer to: * Barony, the peerage, office of, or territory held by a baron * Barony, the title and land held in fealty by a feudal baron * Barony (county division), a type of administrative or geographical division in parts of the British ...
of Strabane Lower and the
civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...
of Donaghedy and covers an area of 130 acres. The population of the townland increased overall during the 19th century:


Politics

Since 1996, Donemana has formed part of the West Tyrone constituency for
Parliamentary In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
elections, with this constituency also used for the Assembly and other devolved bodies. In Parliament, West Tyrone has been represented by the
abstentionist Abstentionism is the political practice of standing for election to a deliberative assembly while refusing to take up any seats won or otherwise participate in the assembly's business. Abstentionism differs from an election boycott in that abst ...
Sinn Féin Sinn Féin ( ; ; ) is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The History of Sinn Féin, original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffit ...
since 2001, and in devolved elections Sinn Féin has been the largest party since the 1998 Assembly election, currently holding three out of the five Assembly seats in West Tyrone.


Local government

In local government, Donemana has been part of Derry City and Strabane District Council since it succeeded Strabane District Council in 2015. Donemana sits within Sperrin DEA, having previously been part of Glenelly DEA from 1985 to 2015, and before that Strabane Area B from 1973 to 1985. Councillors for Sperrin DEA were first elected in 2014 and sat as part of a shadow council until the new Derry and Strabane authority formally took over in 2015. Historically, Strabane Area B and Glenelly DEA were unionist-dominated - in these areas, the UUP was the largest party from 1973-1981, followed by the DUP from 1981 onwards. In fact, in 1993, 4 of the 5 councillors were unionist, with nationalists represented only by a single SDLP councillor. These DEAs comprised the Glenelly Valley and environs, including the predominantly-unionist villages of Artigarvan and Donemana. However, the creation of the Sperrin DEA saw most of the Glenelly DEA merged with most of Strabane town, which had previously been part of the Mourne DEA. While Glenelly had a unionist majority, Mourne had been represented solely by nationalist councillors since 1997, and had a Sinn Féin majority since 2001. As a result, since the first election to the Sperrin DEA in 2014, Donemana has been represented primarily by Sinn Féin councillors. The election that year saw Sinn Féin win 3 of the 7 seats and become the largest party in the new Sperrin DEA. Despite losing one of their Sperrin seats to an independent republican in 2019, Sinn Féin gained a third seat again in 2023, at the expense of DUP ex-MLA Maurice Devenney, leaving Donemana represented by only one unionist councillor for the first time, with nationalists holding six of the seven seats in Sperrin. Councillors for Donemana that have actually been from the village itself include Allan Bresland, who served as a DUP councillor from 1993 to 2023 and as a DUP MLA from 2007 to 2011; his successor Gary Wilkinson, who was co-opted by the DUP in 2023; and Hughes Colhoun, who was elected as an Alliance councillor in 1989, serving until 1993. Since 1973, Donemana has been represented by the following councillors:


See also

*
List of townlands of County Tyrone This is a sortable table of the approximately 2,162 townlands in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland.Irish Placenames Database
Retri ...


References


External links


Donemana and its Environs
- Strabane District Council website {{authority control Villages in County Tyrone Townlands of County Tyrone Barony of Strabane Lower