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Coagh

Coordinates: 54°38′52″N 6°37′06″W / 54.6477°N 6.6184°W / 54.6477; -6.6184
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Coagh
Looking towards the village, from the County Londonderry side
Coagh is located in Northern Ireland
Coagh
Coagh
Location within Northern Ireland
Population545 (2001 Census)
Irish grid referenceH8978
• Belfast45 miles
District
County
CountryNorthern Ireland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townCOOKSTOWN
MAGHERAFELT
Postcode districtBT80
BT45
Dialling code028
UK Parliament
NI Assembly
List of places
UK
Northern Ireland
54°38′52″N 6°37′06″W / 54.6477°N 6.6184°W / 54.6477; -6.6184
The bridge in Coagh which crosses the Ballinderry river; on the left is County Londonderry; on the right is County Tyrone

Coagh (/koʊk/ KOHK; from Irish An Cuach, meaning 'the hollow'[1]) is a small village in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, five miles (8 km) east of Cookstown. Part of the village also extends into County Londonderry. It had a population of 545 people in the 2001 Census. It owes its existence to George Butle Conyngham of Springhill, and was founded in 1728 when King George II of Great Britain granted Conyngham a market charter allowing the village to host four fairs yearly.[2] It is situated within Mid-Ulster District.

The village nestles among gentle, low-lying land between the Sperrins and Lough Neagh. The main feature of the village is Hanover Square, which was named after the reigning Hanoverian George II by Conyngham. The village has been an ancient settlement for several thousand years; overlooking Coagh is Tamlaght Stone, a Mesolithic dolmen erected c. 4500 BCE.

History

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The Troubles

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Main article: Coagh ambush

On 3 June 1991, Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) volunteers Lawrence McNally, Peter Ryan and Tony Doris were killed in an ambush by an SAS unit. The British Army stated that the IRA members had been intercepted on their way to an attack. Over 200 rounds were fired at the car.[3]

Education

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Coagh has its own primary school, Coagh Primary School, a feeder school for many local schools including Cookstown High School.[citation needed]

Sport

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Amenities

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Coagh has a surgery which serves local areas, such as Ardboe, Ballinderry, Moortown, Drummullan, The Loup and Moneymore.

Demography

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19th century population

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The population of the village increased slightly overall during the 19th century:[4][5]

Year 1841 1851 1861 1871 1881 1891
Population 388 385 403 526 400 394
Houses 90 82 86 115 93 96

21st century population

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Coagh is classified as a small village or hamlet by the NI Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) (i.e. with population between 500 and 1,000 people). On Census day (29 April 2001) there were 545 people living in Coagh. Of these:

  • 20.9% were aged under 16 and 20.4% were aged 60 and over
  • 48.3% of the population were male and 51.7% were female
  • 26.4% were from a Catholic background and 72.8% were from a Protestant background
  • 2.3% of people aged 16–74 were unemployed.

For more details see: NI Neighbourhood Information Service

Coagh Townland

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The townland is situated in the historic barony of Dungannon Upper and the civil parish of Tamlaght and covers an area of 616 acres.[6]

The population of the townland declined during the 19th century:[4][5]

Year 1841 1851 1861 1871 1881 1891
Population 207 160 136 160 115 100
Houses 37 32 29 32 28 22

In 1891, the town of Coagh, standing in the townlands of Coagh and Urbal, covered an estimated area of 13 acres.[4]

Politics

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Mid Ulster constituency, in which Coagh lies, used for Parliamentary and Assembly elections.

Since 1950, Coagh has formed part of the Mid Ulster constituency for Parliamentary elections, with this constituency also being used for elections to the Assembly and other devolved bodies from 1973 onwards. In Parliament, Mid Ulster has been represented by the abstentionist Sinn Féin since 1997, and in devolved elections Sinn Féin has been the largest party in the constituency since the 1996 election to the talks forum.

In local government, Coagh has been part of Mid Ulster District Council since it succeeded Cookstown District Council in 2015. Coagh sits within the ward of the same name in Cookstown DEA. Councillors for this DEA were first elected in 2014 and sat as part of a shadow council until Mid Ulster District Council formally took over in 2015.

Mid Ulster District Council, in which Coagh lies.

While a part of Cookstown District Council, Coagh previously sat within the ward of the same name in Ballinderry DEA from 1981 onwards (with Ballinderry DEA having succeeded the earlier Cookstown Area B which existed from 1973 to 1981).

In both of these DEAs, Sinn Féin has been the largest party since 2011,[7][8] and were joint-largest in 2005, when Ballinderry DEA was uncontested due to the number of candidates being same as the number of available seats, and no election was held. On this occasion, Sinn Féin and the SDLP won two seats each, out of the six available.[9]

Since 1973, Coagh has been represented by the following councillors:

Election Councillor

(Party)

Councillor

(Party)

Councillor

(Party)

Councillor

(Party)

Councillor

(Party)

Councillor

(Party)

Councillor

(Party)

Cookstown DEA (2014-present)
2023 John McNamee

(Sinn Féin)

Cathal Mallaghan

(Sinn Féin)

Gavin Bell

(Sinn Féin)

Kerri Martin

(SDLP)

Trevor Wilson

(UUP)

Wilbert Buchanan

(DUP)

Eva Cahoon

(DUP)

2019 Mark Glasgow

(UUP)

May 2017 defection Tony Quinn

(SDLP/Ind)

2014
Ballinderry DEA (1981-2014) 6 seats (1973-2014)
2011 Patrick McAleer

(Sinn Féin)

Michael McIvor

(Sinn Féin)

Deirdre Mayo

(SDLP)

Christine McFlynn

(SDLP)

Robert Kelly

(UUP)

Samuel McCartney

(DUP)

2005 Patsy McGlone

(SDLP)

Mary Baker

(SDLP)

Thomas Greer

(UUP)

2001 Anne McCrea

(DUP)

1997 Seamus Campbell

(Sinn Féin)

1993 Victor McGahie

(UUP)

Francis Rock

(SDLP)

1989 Francis McNally

(Sinn Féin)

John O'Neill

(SDLP)

Paddy Duffy

(SDLP)

William McIntyre

(DUP)

Samuel McCartney

(DUP)

1985 Patrick McAleer

(Sinn Féin)

Cookstown Area B (1973-1981)
1981 Paddy Duffy

(SDLP)

Joseph Davidson

(SDLP)

Michael McIvor

(Ind Republican)

William McIntyre

(DUP)/(UUUP)/(UUP)

Victor McGahie

(UUP)/(UUUP)

James Howard

(UUP)

1977
1973 J. J. O'Kane

(Ind Nationalist)

Notable people

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See also

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Coagh.

References

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  1. ^ "Coagh". Place Names NI. Retrieved 19 March 2013.
  2. ^ "Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) - nidirect" (PDF). proni.gov.uk. 4 March 2016. Retrieved 12 April 2018.
  3. ^ "BBC ON THIS DAY | 3 |1991: IRA men shot dead by British army". BBC News. 3 June 1991.
  4. ^ a b c "Census of Ireland 1851". Enhanced Parliamentary Papers on Ireland. Retrieved 22 March 2013.
  5. ^ a b "Census of Ireland 1891". Enhanced Parliamentary Papers on Ireland. Retrieved 22 March 2013.
  6. ^ "Townlands of County Tyrone". IreAtlas Townland Database. Retrieved 19 March 2013.
  7. ^ "Mid Ulster District Council Elections". www.ark.ac.uk. Retrieved 18 May 2024.
  8. ^ "Cookstown District Council Elections 1993-2011". www.ark.ac.uk. Retrieved 18 May 2024.
  9. ^ "Candidates elected - three weeks early!". BelfastTelegraph.co.uk. 13 April 2005. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 18 May 2024.
  10. ^ Beacom, Steven (30 March 2018). "I'm determined to land medal that my Northern Ireland international brother hasn't got, says Loughgall star Dallas". Belfast Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
  11. ^ "Stuart Dallas". irishfa.com. Irish Football Association. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
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