CULMORE

'Culmore' (Irish: 'Chuil Móir') is a large village in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland, close to Derry. In the 2001 Census it had a population of 2,960 people. It is situated directly across the River Foyle from the working class village of Strathfoyle.

Contents

Places of interest

History

Sport

2001 Census

References

See also

Places of interest

Culmore Artillery Fort, at Culmore Point on the River Foyle, formed an integral part of the defences of the City of Derry. A 17th century picture map shows this to have been a very large stone fortification with cannon emplacements. The stone tower on the point is likely to be of late medieval date. It was captured from Phelim O'Doherty in May 1600 and re-fortified by Sir Henry Docwra. It is owned by the Irish Society. Parts of this site, the earthen defences and the tower, are Scheduled Historic Monuments.

History

Sir Henry Docwra, was an English soldier who landed with a force of 4000 foot and 200 horse troops at Culmore on 16 May 1600, to quell discontent in Ulster. On 22 May he marched into Derry without resistance and occupied and fortified the town. From here he harassed the Irish clans in such as a way as to make them sue for peace with him. For his service he was granted 2000 acres (8 km²) in the Precinct of Liffer. He served as Governor of Loughfoyle, and on 15 May 1621, by a patent dated at Westminster, was created Baron Dockwra of Culmore. He was also Treasurer at War and a member of the Privy council.
Sir Henry died on 18 April 1631.

Sport

Residents of Culmore have the liberty of sailing due to the River Foyle and Lough Foyle being in close proximity. There is also a football team called Culmore F.C. who play in the Derry and District League. Local men Niall Moroney and Christy Holly, a previous top scorer for the afforementioned Culmore F.C. has recently hit the bigtime with a lucrative job in America. A recent injury setback has provided the young celebrity with an obstacle to overcome as his inspiration and character grows and grows. Locals of the region in Derry are confident that their former hero will bounce back. After a recent successful coaching spell at the sleeping giants Coventry City, he has attracted the attention of many admirers. This had a lot to do with young stars like Darren Gibson, Ange Lourougnon and Carlos Vela becoming first team regulars at the Midlands club. He has recently been asked to be godfather to Leon McKenzie new baby boy, he was apparently " honoured".

2001 Census

Culmore is classified by the NI Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) as being within Derry Urban Area (DUA). On Census day (29 April 2001) there were 2,960 people living in Culmore. Of these:

★ 29.3% were aged under 16 years and 8.0% were aged 60 and over

★ 50.2% of the population were male and 49.8% were female

★ 90.2% were from a Catholic background and 8.2% were from a Protestant background

★ 4.3% of people aged 16-74 were unemployed
For more details see: NI Neighbourhood Information Service

References

★ Discover Northern Ireland

★ Docwra Family Research

See also

★ List of villages in Northern Ireland

★ List of towns in Northern Ireland