Loughgall ( ; ) is a small

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 ...

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 131 acres) 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 Armagh County Armagh ( ) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It is located in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster and adjoins the southern shore of Lough Neagh. It borders t ...

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 in the historic baronies of Armagh and Oneilland West. It had a population of 282 people (in 116 households) as of the 2011 census. Loughgall was named after a small nearby

loch ''Loch'' ( ) is a word meaning "lake" or "inlet, sea inlet" in Scottish Gaelic, Scottish and Irish Gaelic, subsequently borrowed into English. In Irish contexts, it often appears in the anglicized form "lough". A small loch is sometimes calle ...

. The village is surrounded by

orchard An orchard is an intentional plantation of trees or shrubs that is maintained for food production. Orchards comprise fruit tree, fruit- or nut (fruit), nut-producing trees that are generally grown for commercial production. Orchards are also so ...

History

In the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

the chiefs of the Uí Nialláin, a Gaelic clan, resided at Loughgall

crannog A crannog (; ; ) is typically a partially or entirely artificial island, usually constructed in lakes, bogs and estuary, estuarine waters of Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. Unlike the prehistoric pile dwellings around the Alps, which were built ...

, a fortified lake dwelling. By the 16th century the O'Neills of

Tír Eoghain Tír Eoghain (), also known as Tyrone, was a kingdom and later earldom of Gaelic Ireland, comprising parts of present-day County Tyrone, County Armagh, County Londonderry and County Donegal (Raphoe). The kingdom represented the core homeland of ...

had taken over the area, and the crannog became the residence of the O'Neill chief's brother or eldest son. In the early 1600s, the area was settled by English and Scottish Protestants as part of the Ulster Plantation. During the 1641 Irish Rebellion, settlers were held at a prison camp at Loughgall by Catholic rebels led by Manus O'Cane. In 1795, rival sectarian gangs, the Catholic Defenders and Protestant Peep-o'-Day Boys fought a bloody skirmish near the village, called the Battle of the Diamond, that left around 30 people dead. Following this, the Protestant

Orange Order The Loyal Orange Institution, commonly known as the Orange Order, is an international Protestant fraternal order based in Northern Ireland and primarily associated with Ulster Protestants. It also has lodges in England, Grand Orange Lodge of ...

was founded in Dan Winter's House nearby.

The Troubles

The Loughgall area experienced a number of fatal incidents 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 ...

, the best known of which is arguably the 1987 Loughgall ambush.

Sport

It is home to Loughgall Football Club, which plays in the

NIFL Premiership The NIFL Premiership, known as the Sports Direct Premiership for sponsorship purposes, and Irish Premiership colloquially, is a professional association football league which operates as the highest division of the Northern Ireland Football L ...

, the top tier of football in Northern Ireland.

Education

The Cope Primary School serves the area. A

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

primary school was also previously located on the Eagralougher Road, just outside Loughgall, but this closed in 1996.

People

*Poet W. R. Rodgers (1909 – 1969). He later gave up the ministry and became a

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

radio producer and scriptwriter. He died in

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

in 1969 and was buried in Loughgall. *Cope family; MPs Robert Cope and Robert Camden Cope; and Anthony Cope (Dean of Armagh)

Civil parish of Loughgall

The civil parish of Loughgall, which spans the villages of Annaghmore, Charlemont and Loughgall, also contains the following townlands: * Aghinlig * Altaturk *Annaghmacmanus * Annaghmore *Annasamry *Ardress East, Ardress West * Ballygasey *Ballymagerny * Ballytyrone *Borough of Charlemont * Causanagh * Clonmain *Cloven Eden * Coragh *Corr and Dunavally * Derrycoose * Derrycrew * Drumart *Drumharriff *Drumilly *Drumnasoo *Dunavally and Corr * Eagralougher * Fernagreevagh *Keenaghan *Kinnegoe *Kishaboy *Legavilly * Levalleglish * Lislasly * Lisneany *Lissheffield *Loughgall *Mullaghbane *Mullaghmore * Mullanasilla * Rathdrumgran * Tirmacrannon * Turcarra

References

External links

Discover Northern Ireland - Loughgall Country Park
(archived 2006)

(archived 2006)
Culture Northern Ireland - Loughall
(archived 2006)

(archived 2006)
Loughgall Presbyterian Church
{{authority control Townlands of County Armagh Villages in County Armagh