Swatragh () is a

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 ...

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 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 ...

. Swatragh is on the main

A29 road The A29 is a main road in England in Surrey and chiefly in West Sussex that runs for . Route The road starts at the Beare Green roundabout with the A24 in Capel, south of Dorking. It passes minor villages, bypasses Billingshurst and crosses ...

north of

Maghera Maghera ( ; ) is a small town at the foot of the Glenshane Pass in Northern Ireland. Its population was 4,235 in the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census. Formerly in the Barony (Ireland), barony of Loughinsholin within the historic County ...

, and is situated within

Mid-Ulster District Mid Ulster () is a local government district in Northern Ireland. The district was created on 1 April 2015 by merging Magherafelt District, Cookstown District, and the Borough of Dungannon and South Tyrone. The local authority is Mid Ulster ...

. The population was 438 in the 2011 Census. The village has three churches: one

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 ...

, one

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 ...

, and one

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...

. The Catholic and Church of Ireland churches are

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

s. St John's is the local primary school. Swatragh Bridge Over The Clady River

Swatragh's name in Irish, ''an Suaitreach'', is derived from a shortened form of ''Baile an tSuaitrigh'' meaning "townland of the billeted soldier".

Tamnyrankin and Knockoneill Court Tombs

Just north of Swatragh is 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 ...

era single

Court cairn The court cairn or court tomb is a megalithic type of chambered cairn or gallery grave. During the period, 3900–3500 BC, more than 390 court cairns were built in Ireland and over 100 in southwest Scotland. The Neolithic (New Stone Age) mon ...

Tamnyrankin. Excavations in the 1940s showed a range of pottery, hollow scrapers and a leaf shaped arrowhead. Nearby is another single court cairn (Knockoneill). This site if 24 feet across with a gallery of 14 feet by 7 feet. Items found at this site include: ornamental bowls/pots and cremated remains.

Sport

Swatragh is home to Michael Davitt Gaelic Athletic Club. Several of the club's

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 ...

players have represented

Derry GAA The Derry County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) () or Derry GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland. It is responsible for Gaelic games in County Londonderry in Northern Ireland (the GAA refers to the county as ...

. There is also a boxing club located within the village.

Notable people

* Brian Keenan – IRA leader *

Jude McAtamney Jude McAtamney (born 9 May 2000) is a professional American football placekicker for the New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL) from Northern Ireland. Originally a Gaelic footballer, he later switched to American football and playe ...

–

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The N ...

kicker *

Terry McFlynn Terence Martin "Terry" McFlynn (born 27 March 1981) is a retired footballer from Northern Ireland who is most well known for playing for the A-League club Sydney FC. He is the director of football for A-League expansion club Auckland FC. Early l ...

– professional

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 ...

player * Anthony Tohill –

Rivers

The Knockoneil River flows through the village and is leased by the Clady And District Angling Club. The rivers best access is mainly downstream from the Swatragh Bridge downstream towards Beagh Bridge. The river can also be easy fished so far upstream about a fields length before becoming wild and overgrown Brown trout is plentiful along this stretch of the river as well as late Salmon and Bann Trout. The Knockoneil is an artery of the Clady River along with the Grillagh River.

References

NI Neighbourhood Information ServiceNI population of settlements estimates from 2011 census
*Draft Magherafelt Area Plan 2015
Culture Northern Ireland
Villages in County Londonderry Mid-Ulster District {{Londonderry-geo-stub