Loughtee Upper (), or Upper Loughtee, is a

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 ...

County Cavan County Cavan ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster and is part of the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the town of Cavan and is based on the hi ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

. Baronies were mainly

cadastral A cadastre or cadaster ( ) is a comprehensive recording of the real estate or real property's metes and bounds, metes-and-bounds of a country.Jo Henssen, ''Basic Principles of the Main Cadastral Systems in the World,'/ref> Often it is represente ...

rather than administrative units. They acquired modest local taxation and spending functions in the 19th century before being superseded by the

Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898 The Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898 ( 61 & 62 Vict. c. 37) was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland that established a system of local government in Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots diale ...

Etymology

Loughtee Upper takes its name from the Irish ''Lucht Tí'', Early Modern Irish ''lucht tighe Még Mathghamhna'' (

Annals of the Four Masters The ''Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland'' () or the ''Annals of the Four Masters'' () are chronicles of Middle Ages, medieval Irish history. The entries span from the Genesis flood narrative, Deluge, dated as 2,242 Anno Mundi, years after crea ...

), "people of the household of Mac Mahon"; the land was allocated to the Mic Bhradaigh

vassal A vassal or liege subject is a person regarded as having a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch, in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. While the subordinate party is called a vassal, the dominant party is called a suzerain ...

s of the McMahons as mensal land.

Geography

Loughtee Upper is located in the middle of

, east of the

River Erne The River Erne ( , or ''An Éirne'') in the northwest of the island of Ireland, is the second-longest river in Ulster, flowing through Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, and forming part of their border. Course The Erne rises on ...

and

Lough Oughter Lough Oughter () is a lake, or complex of lakes, in County Cavan covering more than . The complex of lakes lies on the River Erne, and forms the southern part of the Lough Erne complex. The lakes are bounded roughly by Belturbet in the north, C ...

History

Loughtee Upper was a centre of power for the Ó Raghallaigh (

O'Reilly O'Reilly () is a common Irish surname. The O'Reillys were historically the kings of East Bréifne in what is today County Cavan. The clan were part of the Connachta's Uí Briúin Bréifne kindred and were closely related to the Ó Ruairc ( ...

Gaelic Irish The Gaels ( ; ; ; ) are an Insular Celtic ethnolinguistic group native to Ireland, Scotland, and the Isle of Man. They are associated with the Gaelic languages: a branch of the Celtic languages comprising Irish, Manx, and Scottish Gaeli ...

tribe in the Middle Ages, based first at

and then moving to Tullymongan near to modern

Cavan Cavan ( ; ) is the county town of County Cavan in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The town lies in Ulster, near the border with County Fermanagh in Northern Ireland. The town is bypassed by the main N3 road (Ireland), N3 road that links Dublin ( ...

. The MacGobhains (

McGowan McGowan is an Irish and Scottish surname. It is an anglicisation of the Irish ''Mac Gabhann'' and Scottish ''Mac Gobhann'', both of which mean 'son of (the) smith'. Belonging to the Uí Echach Cobo, located in modern-day western County Down ...

s) served as leader of the gallowglass. A Mic Bradaigh ( Brady) family of clerics and freeholders was also here, ruling areas called Cúl Brighde and Teallach Cerbaill, near modern Stradone. The barony of Loughtee was created by 1609 in 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 ...

, and was archaically spelled ''Loughty''. Its

alluvial Alluvium (, ) is loose clay, silt, sand, or gravel that has been deposited by running water in a stream bed, on a floodplain, in an alluvial fan or beach, or in similar settings. Alluvium is also sometimes called alluvial deposit. Alluvium is ...

soil was recognised as the best in Cavan, and it was originally allocated to the Crown, then later to undertakers. It was split into Upper and

Lower Lower may refer to: * ''Lower'' (album), 2025 album by Benjamin Booker *Lower (surname) *Lower Township, New Jersey *Lower Receiver (firearms) *Lower Wick Lower Wick is a small hamlet located in the county of Gloucestershire, England. It is sit ...

parts in 1821.

List of settlements

Below is a list of settlements in Loughtee Upper: *

Ballyhaise Ballyhaise (; ) is a village in County Cavan, Ireland. It is situated approximately north-northeast of Cavan and 11 km, via the N54, from the border with County Fermanagh in Northern Ireland. The River Annalee flows near the village. ...

* Butlersbridge *

* Stradone

References

{{County Cavan Baronies of County Cavan