hamlet
''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...
and
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 ...
approximately 8 kilometres northwest of
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 ...
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 ...
. In the 2001 census the Knockmoyle area had 141 households and a population of 329. It has a
post office
A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letter (message), letters and parcel (package), parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post o ...
,
church
Church may refer to:
Religion
* Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying
* Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination
* Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...
(est. 1800) and
public house
A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption Licensing laws of the United Kingdom#On-licence, on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the ...
. The nearby River Strule is well known for its trout fishing. Other attractions nearby include the Gortin Glens Forest Park and the Ulster American Folk Park. The
Ulster Way
The Ulster Way is a series of walking routes which encircles Northern Ireland. It was founded in the 1970s by Wilfrid Merydith Capper, who was inspired by Tom Stephenson's Pennine Way. The route was relaunched in 2009 by the Department of th ...
walking route passes through Knockmoyle.
Background
Knockmoyle is the birthplace of
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 ...
(9 January 1929 – 2 October 2015) an Irish dramatist, short story writer and founder of the Field Day Theatre Company. Friel is considered one of the greatest English-language dramatists.
Omagh United Football Club, formed in the summer of 2007 from an amalgamation of three
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 ...
soccer
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 ...
clubs, played its home matches at the Athletic Park in Knockmoyle until the club was forced to fold at the end of the 2009/10 season due to financial reasons. In its first season Omagh United played in the Fermanagh and Western League and in the 2008/2009 season progressed into Intermediate B of the Mid Ulster Football League. The club had a highly successful year and won the league before playing in Intermediate A, part of the
Northern Ireland football league system
The Northern Ireland football league system is categorised into three levels: senior, intermediate and junior. Clubs attain intermediate status by fulfilling certain criteria (e.g. owning or leasing its own enclosed ground). Senior status requires ...
, until it folded in 2010.
Knockmoyle Shamrocks was one of the earliest
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 ...
clubs in west Tyrone. In May 1920 the club competed in the inaugural West Tyrone league along with five other clubs namely Fintona Pearses, Omagh Colemans, Carnlea Emmetts, Tattysallagh and Aughafad. Knockmoyle competed at junior level in the early 1950s, winning the Davis Cup in 1951 and 1953 and played in two junior football championship finals. A hurling club was formed in Knockmoyle in 1947 which won 3 Tyrone Senior hurling titles in 1947, 1950 and 1953 (although these titles are attributed to a separate parish club namely Killyclogher St Mary's in contemporary records).
A
boxing
Boxing is a combat sport and martial art. Taking place in a boxing ring, it involves two people – usually wearing protective equipment, such as boxing glove, protective gloves, hand wraps, and mouthguards – throwing Punch (combat), punch ...
club operated in Knockmoyle for a number of years during the 1970s.
A very successful
table tennis
Table tennis (also known as ping-pong) is a racket sport derived from tennis but distinguished by its playing surface being atop a stationary table, rather than the Tennis court, court on which players stand. Either individually or in teams of ...
club was based in Knockmoyle from the mid-1970s until the mid-1980s. The club won several county titles and some of its players also won individual county championship titles.
Knockmoyle had its own
primary school
A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...
until the mid-1960s which was founded under the will of John McEvoy who endowed it with £16 per annum ''"for the gratuitous education of the poor children in Mountjoy Forest, and vested in its management in the Rector for ever."''