Dungiven () is a small town,

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 ...

and

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 ...

County Londonderry County Londonderry (Ulster Scots dialects, Ulster-Scots: ''Coontie Lunnonderrie''), also known as County Derry (), is one of the six Counties of Northern Ireland, counties of Northern Ireland, one of the thirty-two Counties of Ireland, count ...

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 near the main A6

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 ...

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 ...

road, which bypasses the town. It lies where the rivers

Roe Roe, ( ) or hard roe, is the fully ripe internal egg masses in the ovaries, or the released external egg masses, of fish and certain marine animals such as shrimp, scallop, sea urchins and squid. As a seafood, roe is used both as a cooking, c ...

, Owenreagh and Owenbeg meet at the foot of the Benbradagh. Nearby is the

Glenshane Pass The Glenshane Pass () is a major mountain pass cutting through the Sperrin Mountains in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It is in the townland of Glenshane Pass on the main Derry to Belfast route, the A6. A large wildfire broke out in Gle ...

, where the road rises to over . It had a population of 3,346 people in the 2021 Census. It is within

Causeway Coast and Glens Causeway Coast and Glens is a local government district covering most of the northern part of Northern Ireland. It was created on 1 April 2015 by merging the Borough of Ballymoney, the Borough of Coleraine, the Borough of Limavady and the Di ...

district council area.

History

There is evidence of settlement in the area for at least 1000 years. The Boviel Wedge cairn is located two miles east of Dungiven. Excavations in 1938 uncovered cremated bones from the

Neolithic The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...

period, pottery sherds, scrapers, an arrowhead and a polished stone axe. There may have been an abbey in the area around 700AD. The Augustinian abbey of St Mary's was built in the 11th century. Its ruins contain the tomb of

O'Cahan The O'Cahan ( Irish: ''Ó Catháin'' 'descendants of Cahan') were a powerful sept of the Northern Uí Néill's Cenél nEógain in medieval Ireland. The name is presently anglicized as O'Kane, Kane and Keane. The O'Cahan's originated in Lagga ...

(Cooey na Gall O' Cahan), laid to rest in 1385. A thicket of thorn bushes hung with rags conceals a bullaun stone, visited for wart cures. Between the 12th and 17th centuries the area was ruled by the Ó Catháin clan, one of the most influential clans in

Ulster Ulster (; or ; or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional or historic provinces of Ireland, Irish provinces. It is made up of nine Counties of Ireland, counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kingdom); t ...

The town sprang up around Dungiven Castle and the

Church of Ireland The Church of Ireland (, ; , ) is a Christian church in Ireland, and an autonomy, autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the Christianity in Ireland, second-largest Christian church on the ...

(Anglican church), later spreading westwards along Chapel Road and Main Street towards the bridging point on the River Roe.

Dungiven Priory

The Augustinian priory built in the 1100s stands on the foundations of earlier churches. St Nechtan died 679 may have established the first, and St Patrick the second in the 5th century.

Politics

The town is part of the East Londonderry UK Parliamentary constituency. The MP for the constituency since 2001 has been Gregory Campbell of the DUP. The UK constituency is coterminous with the

Northern Ireland Assembly The Northern Ireland Assembly (; ), often referred to by the metonym ''Stormont'', is the devolved unicameral legislature of Northern Ireland. It has power to legislate in a wide range of areas that are not explicitly reserved to the Parliam ...

constituency of the same name. The five MLAs elected in 2017 were 2 DUP, 1 independent unionist, 1

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 ...

and 1

SDLP The Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP; ) is a social democratic and Irish nationalist political party in Northern Ireland. The SDLP currently has eight members in the Northern Ireland Assembly ( MLAs) and two members of Parliament (MPs ...

. It forms part of the Benbradagh district electoral area of

Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council is a local authority in Northern Ireland that was established on 1 April 2015. It covers most of the northern coast of Northern Ireland and replaced Ballymoney Borough Council, Coleraine Borough Council, ...

. In 2019 this area elected 3

, 1

and 1 DUP councillors.

The Troubles

During

The Troubles The Troubles () were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted for about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it began in the late 1960s and is usually deemed t ...

in Northern Ireland, seven people were killed in or near Dungiven in connection with the conflict, six of whom were members of the security forces. The one civilian, Francis McCloskey, was found beaten to death in disputed circumstances during street riots, in which the police were called to respond. He has sometimes been deemed as the first person killed in the last installment of the Troubles (1969-1997).

Education

There are two secondary schools in the town,

Gaelcholáiste Dhoire The Gaelcholáiste Dhoire is a multi-denominational, 11–19, all-ability, coeducational, Irish-medium, post-primary school in Dungiven, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It is located inside Dungiven Castle. History The college was establis ...

and St. Patrick's College. Located on Main Street and Curragh Road respectively. There are also two primary schools in the town, Gaelscoil Neachtain and St. Canice's Primary School. Gaelcholáiste Dhoire and Gaelscoil Neachtain are both co-educational, interdenominational Irish-medium secondary and primary schools.

Sport

Gaelic games Gaelic games () are a set of sports played worldwide, though they are particularly popular in Ireland, where they originated. They include Gaelic football, hurling, Gaelic handball and rounders. Football and hurling, the most popular of the s ...

are the most popular sports in the area. St Canice's Dungiven is the local

Gaelic football Gaelic football (; short name '')'', commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA, or football, is an Irish team sport. A form of football, it is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score ...

club; the team plays at O'Cahan Park and have won the Derry Senior Football Championship 7 times, and won the

Ulster Senior Football Championship The Ulster Senior Football Championship is an inter-county competition for Gaelic football teams in the Irish province of Ulster. It is organised by the Ulster Council of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) and begins in April. The final is ...

once, in 1997. Kevin Lynch's is the local

hurling Hurling (, ') is an outdoor Team sport, team game of ancient Gaelic culture, Gaelic Irish origin, played by men and women. One of Ireland's native Gaelic games, it shares a number of features with Gaelic football, such as the field and goa ...

club; they have won the Derry Senior Hurling Championship a record 22 times. The team plays at Kevin Lynch Park. Dungiven Celtic F.C. is an

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

club playing in the C&DL Premier League.

Demography

2021 Census

On Census day (21 March 2021) there were 3,346 people living in Dungiven. Of these: *24.65% were aged under 16, 63.04% were aged between 16-65, and 12.31% were aged 66 or over. *51.02% of the population were female, and 48.98% were male. *94.32% 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, 2.93% 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 ...

or other Christian background, 0.42% were from an 'other' religious background, and 2.33% did not adhere to or weren't from any religious background. *72.8% identified as Irish, 24.1% identified as Northern Irish, 5.9% identified as British, 3.08% identified as 'other'. *28.10% had some knowledge of the

Irish language Irish (Standard Irish: ), also known as Irish Gaelic or simply Gaelic ( ), is a Celtic language of the Indo-European language family. It is a member of the Goidelic languages of the Insular Celtic sub branch of the family and is indigenous ...

and .3.08% had some knowledge of

Ulster Scots Ulster Scots, may refer to: * Ulster Scots people * Ulster Scots dialect Ulster Scots or Ulster-Scots (), also known as Ulster Scotch and Ullans, is the dialect (whose proponents assert is a dialect of Scots language, Scots) spoken in parts ...

2011 Census

According to 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), on Census day (27 March 2011) there were 3,288 people living in Dungiven, an increase of 10% over the 2001 population of 2,993. Of these: *24.57% were aged under 16 and 10.55% were aged 65 and over *48.87% of the population were male and 51.13% were female *95.41% were from a

background and 3.65% were from a

or other Christian background *8.63% of people aged 16–74 were unemployed

Transport

*Dungiven sits beside the main

A6 road This is a list of roads designated A6. * A006 road (Argentina), a road connecting Las Cuevas with the Christ the Redeemer monument in the border between Argentina and Chile * ''A6 highway (Australia)'' may refer to : ** A6 (Sydney), a road conn ...

and has good road links to Derry (29 km to the west) and

Limavady Limavady (; ) is a market town in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland, with Binevenagh as a backdrop. Lying east of Derry and southwest of Coleraine, Limavady had a population of 11,279 people at the 2021 Census. In the 40 years between 1 ...

(13 km to the north). A proposed by-pass for Dungiven, following a route to the south west of the town, has been marked-out since the 1973 Limavady Area Plan, and opened to traffic in 2022. *Dungiven was the terminus of the Limavady railway, which closed in 1950. Dungiven railway station opened on 4 July 1883, closed for passenger traffic on 1 January 1933 and closed altogether on 3 July 1950.

Rivers

The River Roe is a major river in Northern Ireland and the largest river in the town. The river can be seen at the western end of Dungiven at Dungiven Bridge. It starts up the Glenshane Pass and flows in a northwestern way towards the town and then north through Burnfoot and then Limavady. The Owenbeg River is a large tributary to the Roe it starts near Feeny and flows into the river downstream from Buttermilk Bridge. The Owenreagh River is also a major tributary which starts up in Banagher Glen and flows into the river downstream from the new A6 Bridge. The Pellipar Burn is a small river or stream which flows through the heart of the town mainly a polluted urban stream and parts flowing underground in culverts. The burn can be seen below New Bridge beside the Church on New Street. it flows into the Roe a short distance downstream from Pellipar Bridge. The burn is named after Pellipar House. The Derryware Burn is another small stream that flows at the northern end of the town this burn is around the same size as the Pellipar and flows into the River Roe above Pellipar House Estate.

People

* Francis Brolly (1938-2020), Musician and

MLA for East Londonderry * Joe Brolly (b. 1969), lawyer and member of

's 1993 All-Ireland winning team; won All Stars in 1996 and 1997 * Mary Dillon (b. 1964), folk singer * Cara Dillon (b. 1975), folk singer * Kevin Lynch (1956-1981), hunger striker who died in 1981; the Dungiven

team was renamed Kevin Lynch's Hurling Club for him after his death * Paul McCloskey (b. 1979), professional boxer, former British and European light welterweight champion * Brian McGilligan (b. 1963), member of

's 1993 All-Ireland winning team; won All Stars in 1987 and 1993 * Geoffrey McGonagle (b. 1974), former

dual player Dual player or dual star is a term used in Hiberno-English to describe someone who competes in multiple sports — for example, in Victorian Ireland, cricket and hurling. The term today in Gaelic games typically describes a male player who plays ...

* Jamie McGonigle (b.1996), professional footballer * Kieran McKeever (b. 1968), member of

's 1993 All-Ireland winning team; won an All Star in 2000 *Sister Aloysius McVeigh (1923-2008), Artist, iconographer and teacher *

John Mitchel John Mitchel (; 3 November 1815 – 20 March 1875) was an Irish nationalism, Irish nationalist writer and journalist chiefly renowned for his indictment of British policy in Ireland during the years of the Great Famine (Ireland), Great Famin ...

(1815-1875), a 19th-century Irish patriot who inspired the

Young Ireland Young Ireland (, ) was a political movement, political and cultural movement, cultural movement in the 1840s committed to an all-Ireland struggle for independence and democratic reform. Grouped around the Dublin weekly ''The Nation (Irish news ...

Movement, was born at Camnish, between Dungiven and Burnfoot; the ''Mitchel Park'' area is named for him * Frances Molloy (1947-1991), novelist * John Eddie Mullan (1923-2008), former

player * Eoghan Quigg (b. 1992), musician, singer

Popular culture

Dungiven is mentioned in the

Brian Friel Brian Patrick Friel (c. 9 January 1929 – 2 October 2015) was an Irish dramatist, short story writer and founder of the Field Day Theatre Company. He had been considered one of the greatest living English-language dramatists. (subscription requ ...

play '' Making History'', as the place where Mabel Bagnel goes after the

Siege of Kinsale The siege of Kinsale (), also known as the battle of Kinsale, was the ultimate battle in England's conquest of Gaelic Ireland, commencing in October 1601, near the end of the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, and at the climax of the Nine Years' War� ...

. 'Banagher old church' is said to be the resting place of Saint Murrough O'Heaney. He is said to have tamed the dragon Paiste.

References

{{authority control Villages in County Londonderry Townlands of County Londonderry Civil parishes of County Londonderry Causeway Coast and Glens district