Moygashel () is a small village 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 ...

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. It is near the southern edge of

Dungannon Dungannon (, ) is a town in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is the second-largest town in the county (after Omagh) and had a population of 16,282 at the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2021 Census. The Dungannon and South Tyrone Borough Counci ...

. Although the village's name is pronounced (moy-gashel), the trademark of the

Irish linen Irish linen () is the name given to linen produced in Ireland (including both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland). Linen is cloth woven from, or yarn spun from, flax fibre, which was grown in Ireland for many years before advanced agri ...

named after it is pronounced (moy-ga-shell). Moygashel is predominantly

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 ...

with 93% of its population recorded as being Protestant in a 2021 census. 2% of the village is

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 ...

and 5% is recorded as "other" or "none".

People

One of the bombers killed in the Miami Showband massacre, Wesley Somerville—who was an

Ulster Volunteer Force The Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) is an Ulster loyalism, Ulster loyalist paramilitary group based in Northern Ireland. Formed in 1965, it first emerged in 1966. Its first leader was Gusty Spence, a former Royal Ulster Rifles soldier from North ...

(UVF) and

Ulster Defence Regiment The Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR) was an infantry regiment of the British Army established in 1970, with a comparatively short existence ending in 1992. Raised through public appeal, newspaper and television advertisements,Potter p25 their offi ...

(UDR) member, and member of the Glennane gang—was from Moygashel. He is commemorated by a plaque and banner in the village. In 2017, a spokesperson from the Moygashel Residents' Association was quoted as saying, "We are a Protestant village, he is part of the culture of the village. He is not a terrorist, he never was a terrorist as far as this village is concerned and that is not glorifying anything." In April 2025, a Loyalist parade in Somerville's honour through Moygashel attracted hundreds of supporters and thirty bands.

References

{{authority control Villages in County Tyrone Townlands of County Tyrone Civil parish of Clonfeacle