Castlederg - a photo on Flickriver

Castlederg

            Statue 'Bridging' in The Diamond, the centre of Castlederg

Castlederg (Caisleán na Deirge in Irish) is a large village in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, lying on the River Derg. It is the most westerly town in Tyrone and is a busy market town serving an important agricultural area. The town has a ruined castle and two ancient tombs known as the Druid's Altar and Todd's Den. It had a population of 2,758 people in the 2001 Census. It is situated within the Strabane District Council area.

The village plays host to several of the district's key events each year including the Derg Vintage Rally and the traditional Apple Fair which sees the apple growers of County Armagh visit to sell their wares.

Traditionally Castlederg was a traveller’s stop along the ancient pilgrimage route to Station Island on Lough Derg. The town boasts ancient ruins, monastic settlements and as the stories go has connections to Davy Crockett and Joe Sheridan the creator of Irish Coffee.

Castlederg was first mentioned in history at the end of the 15th century when the Annals of the Four Masters talked of a castle along the banks of the river Nothing particularly grand, but masonry was mentioned and a thatched roof. (a castle with a thatched roof!)

The Annals of the four masters. In 1479 Henry Og O'Neill marched into Tirconnell (Donegal) and after gaining victory over the O'Donnells 'took' Castlederg on his return. Sited on a ford on the river Derg between the lands of the O'Neill's and the O'Donnell's, Castlederg developed strategically as rivalry between the two clans escalated from cattle-raiding to full-scale warfare, involving Scottish mercenaries. The Derg (red river) flows from Lough Derg, the site of famous pilgrimage associated with Saint Patrick. In the distant past when the main form of travel was via waterways, Castlederg was along the much frequented pilgrimage trail. 
 
During the 1600's the Plantation of Ulster continued -  including Castlederg. And the man chosen to carry out the scheme was an English lawyer named Sir John Davies. 
When the enterprise was finished we find Davies had managed to acquire for himself several grants of land including one which contained the by now dilapidated castle on the Derg and a substantial amount of the surrounding countryside

Initially Davies brought over sixteen families and then set about rebuilding the castle. He finished it in 1610 but he did not possess the necessary engineering skill to build the tunnel under the river with which local folklore has accredited him. He did however add a bridge over the river a few years later. This bridge (which 200 years later John Gamble found to be narrow and inconvenient) was so well built that it was only replaced in 1835.  
In addition Davies is credited with turning the existing collection of mud huts into something vaguely approaching the town of Castlederg as we know it today. 
 
In the Castlederg area this consisted of an influx of members of the Presbyterian faith from Scotland into the region around the town and the lower part of the Derg valley. Some at least of these had reservations about what was being offered. John Gamble (who had remarked on this "romantic little town"at the beginning) tells of one of his ancestors being offered a large tract of land by Sir John Davies. The next day however he had to refuse the offer telling Sir John that "my gude wife would not rest if she thought her bairns were living on land which had been taken over other people's heads"

Taken in: United Kingdom / Northern Ireland / Castlederg (show map)

Taken on: June 29, 2008

Tags:

castlederg

tyrone

river

derg

statue

bridging

diamond « less

Groups appears in: • Co. Tyrone Photo's • Strabane, Co Tyrone

Stats: 2,483 views / 2 comments