Donemana or Dunnamanagh (named after the

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 ...

of Dunnamanagh, ) is a small

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 ...

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. It is no longer used as an administrative division for local government but retain ...

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 is 7 miles or 11 kilometres north-east of Strabane, on the banks of the Burn Dennett and at the foothills of the

Sperrins The Sperrins or Sperrin Mountains () are a range of mountains in Northern Ireland and one of the largest upland areas in Northern Ireland. The range stretches from Strabane eastwards to Slieve Gallion in Desertmartin and north towards Limavad ...

. It is the largest of the thirteen villages in the

Strabane District Council Strabane District Council ( ga, Comhairle Ceantair an tSratha Báin; 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 ...

area and had a population of 593 in the 2001 Census. Other

anglicised Anglicisation is the process by which a place or person becomes influenced by English culture or British culture, or a process of cultural and/or linguistic change in which something non-English becomes English. It can also refer to the influen ...

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 ( 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 ...

, instigated by

James I James I may refer to: People *James I of Aragon (1208–1276) * James I of Sicily or James II of Aragon (1267–1327) * James I, Count of La Marche (1319–1362), Count of Ponthieu * James I, Count of Urgell (1321–1347) *James I of Cyprus (1334� ...

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 ...

(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

Donemana railway station was part of the

County Donegal Railway The County Donegal Railways Joint Committee operated an extensive narrow gauge railway system serving County Donegal, Ireland, from 1906 until 1960. The committee was incorporated by an Act of Parliament in 1906, which authorised the joint pur ...

and opened on 6 August 1900 but was shut on 1 January 1955.

Education

It has two primary schools, Donemana County Primary School and St. Patrick's Primary School. Local children generally attend secondary school in Strabane or Londonderry

Sport

Today the village is renowned throughout

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

for its thriving and highly successful cricket team, which was established in 1888. Donemana under 15s and 14s cricket teams are currently the All-Ireland Champions. The senior team lost out on winning the All-Ireland when North County CC defeated them in the final. 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 George Fletcher Moore (10 December 1798 – 30 December 1886) was a prominent early settler in colonial Western Australia, and "one fthe key figures in early Western Australia's ruling elite" (Cameron, 2000). He conducted a number of exploring ...

, 19th century writer, barrister and explorer *

Allan Bresland Allan Bresland (born 16 August 1945) is a former Unionist politician from Northern Ireland representing the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP). Bresland was a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for West Tyrone from 2007 to 2011. He wa ...

, 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 Ir ...

, Irish cricketer * Andrew McBrine, Irish cricketer *

Stephen O'Neill Stephen O'Neill (born 19 November 1980) is an Irish former Gaelic footballer from Strabane, Northern Ireland, who played at senior level for the Tyrone county team. He won three All-Ireland Senior Football Championship medals, two Under 21 ...

, Tyrone All-Ireland-winning GAA *

Brian Dooher Brian Dooher is an Irish former Gaelic footballer who was a member the senior Tyrone county team between 1995 and 2011. He was appointed co-manager of the Tyrone senior football team in November 2020 alongside Feargal Logan, succeeding Mickey H ...

, Tyrone All-Ireland-winning GAA captain *Adam Duddy *

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, ga, Gníomhaireacht Thuaisceart Éireann um Staitisticí agus Taighde, links=no) is an executive agency within the Department of Finance in Northern Ireland. The organisation is respo ...

(NISRA) (i.e. with population between 500 and 1,000). On Census day (29 April 2001) there were 593 people living in Donemana. Of these: *27.2% were aged under 16 and 19.8% were aged 60 and over *49.2% of the population were male and 50.8% were female *15.2% 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 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...

background and 84.8% were from a

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

background *7.7% of people aged 16–74 were

unemployed Unemployment, according to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), is people above a specified age (usually 15) not being in paid employment or self-employment but currently available for work during the refer ...

Dunnamanagh Townland

The townland is situated in the historic barony of

Strabane Lower Strabane Lower (named after Strabane) is a barony in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is bordered by five other baronies in Northern Ireland: North West Liberties of Derry to the north; Tirkeeran to the north-east; Strabane Upper to the eas ...

and the

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of Parish (administrative division), administrative parish used for Local government in England, local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below district ...

of Donaghedy and covers an area of 130 acres. The population of the townland increased overall during the 19th century:

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