Donegore
Encyclopedia
Donegore is the name of a hill, a townland
Townland
A townland or bally is a small geographical division of land used in Ireland. The townland system is of Gaelic origin—most townlands are believed to pre-date the Norman invasion and most have names derived from the Irish language...

, a small cluster of residences, and a civil parish
Civil parishes in Ireland
The parish was once an ecclesiastical unit of territory based on early Christian and monastic settlements. It came into existence in Ireland in the 12th and 13th centuries and was continued by the Church of Ireland, the Established church, from the time of the Tudor conquest...

 in the barony of Upper Antrim, County Antrim
County Antrim
County Antrim is one of six counties that form Northern Ireland, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of 2,844 km², with a population of approximately 616,000...

, Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...

. Donegore lies approximately 5 miles (8 km) east of Antrim
Antrim, County Antrim
Antrim is a town in County Antrim in the northeast of Northern Ireland, on the banks of the Six Mile Water, half a mile north-east of Lough Neagh. It had a population of 20,001 people in the 2001 Census. The town is the administrative centre of Antrim Borough Council...

 town. The largest settlement in the parish is the village of Parkgate
Parkgate, County Antrim
Parkgate is a small village in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It lies at the foot of Donegore Hill, near the Six Mile Water. It is about mid-way between Ballyclare and Antrim town. It had a population of 646 people in the 2001 Census...

. Donegore Hill stands prominently above the Six Mile Water
Six Mile Water
The Six Mile Water is a river in southern County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It was historically called the Ollar and is known in Irish as Abhainn na bhFiodh. The Six Mile Water is an indirect tributary of the River Bann, via Lough Neagh...

 valley, enjoying panoramic views to the east, south, and most notably the west, where it overlooks Lough Neagh
Lough Neagh
Lough Neagh, sometimes Loch Neagh, is a large freshwater lake in Northern Ireland. Its name comes .-Geography:With an area of , it is the largest lake in the British Isles and ranks among the forty largest lakes of Europe. Located twenty miles to the west of Belfast, it is approximately twenty...

 and the Sperrins
Sperrins
The Sperrins or Sperrin Mountains are a range of mountains in Northern Ireland and one of the largest upland areas in Ireland. The range stretches the counties of Tyrone and Londonderry from south of Strabane eastwards to Maghera and north towards Limavady...

 beyond.

History

The area was the site of main camp of the United Irishmen prior to the Battle of Antrim
Battle of Antrim
The Battle of Antrim was fought on 7 June 1798, in the county Antrim in Ulster, Ireland during the Irish Rebellion of 1798 between British troops and Irish insurgents led by Henry Joy McCracken...

 http://www.antrim.gov.uk/index.cfm?website_Key=27&Category_key=128&Page_Key=253, in the Irish Rebellion of 1798
Irish Rebellion of 1798
The Irish Rebellion of 1798 , also known as the United Irishmen Rebellion , was an uprising in 1798, lasting several months, against British rule in Ireland...

. Weaver poet, James Orr
James Orr (poet)
James Orr was a poet or rhyming weaver from Ulster also known as the Bard of Ballycarry, who wrote in English and Ulster Scots. He was the foremost of the Ulster Weaver Poets, and was writing contemporaneously with Robert Burns...

 wrote a poem entitled Donegore Hill on the subject. The parish contains fortified earthworks and other archaeological remains, both ancient and mediaeval.

The Church of Ireland
Church of Ireland
The Church of Ireland is an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. The church operates in all parts of Ireland and is the second largest religious body on the island after the Roman Catholic Church...

 (Anglican) parish church, St. John's http://templepatrick.connor.anglican.org/history/stjohns.php, dates back at least to the 14th century. The churchyard is the burial site of (among others) poet and artist Sir Samuel Ferguson
Samuel Ferguson
Sir Samuel Ferguson was an Irish poet, barrister, antiquarian, artist and public servant. Perhaps the most important Ulster-Scot poet of the 19th century, because of his interest in Irish mythology and early Irish history he can be seen as a forerunner of William Butler Yeats and the other poets...

. Since 1922, the Church of Ireland
Church of Ireland
The Church of Ireland is an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. The church operates in all parts of Ireland and is the second largest religious body on the island after the Roman Catholic Church...

 parish has been united with the adjacent parish of Templepatrick
Templepatrick
Templepatrick is a village in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is northwest of Belfast, and halfway between the towns of Ballyclare and Antrim. It had a population of 1,556 in the 2001 Census. It is also close to Belfast International Airport and the village has several hotels...

. The parish is served also by two Presbyterian http://www.presbyterianireland.org/congregations/index.html churches: First Donegorehttp://www.firstdonegore.org/history.html in Parkgate and Second straddling the boundary of Dunamuggy
Dunamuggy
Dunamuggy is a townland in the Parish of Donegore, County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It lies on the eastern aspect of Donegore Hill....

 and Ballywee.

Townlands in the Parish of Donegore

  • Ballyclaverty
  • Ballygowan
  • Ballynoe
  • Ballysavage
  • Ballywee
  • Ballywoodock
  • Browndod
  • Cromy and Taggarts Land
  • Donegore
  • Drumagorgan
  • Dunamuggy
    Dunamuggy
    Dunamuggy is a townland in the Parish of Donegore, County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It lies on the eastern aspect of Donegore Hill....

  • Durham's Land
  • Ferguson's Land
  • Freemanstown
  • Halftown
  • Rathbeg
  • Rathmore
    Rathmore
    Rathmore is a small town in Kerry, Ireland, lying immediately west of the border with Cork. It lies at the heart of the Sliabh Luachra area known for its traditional Irish music and culture. The local GAA club is Rathmore GAA. The SAG is in Rathmore and helps the elderly in the area...

  • Tobergill
    Tobergill
    Tobergill is the largest townland in the Parish of Donegore, County Antrim, Northern Ireland. Comprising 1,044 acres , it lies on the western aspect of Donegore Hill....


External links

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