Derryginny

Derryginny is a townland in the Parish of Tomregan, Barony of Tullyhaw, County Cavan, Ireland. The townland name is an anglicisation of the Gaelic placename “Doire Goinimhe” which means the ‘Oakwood of the Sand’, which possibly derives either from the sandbanks which form along the rivers running through it or from the large quarry on its northwest boundary. The 1609 Ulster Plantation map spells the name as ‘Dirrigonie’ and the 1659 Down Survey map spells it as ‘Derygenny’. It is bounded on the north by Doon townland, on the west by Snugborough and Mullanacre Lower townlands, on the south by Lecharrownahone townland and on the east by Cullyleenan townland. Its chief geographical features are the Shannon-Erne Waterway which flows north along its eastern boundary, the Crooked River, the Tanyard Stream which exits into the canal beside Ballyconnell Bridge and a central drumlin hill of blue sandy clay which rises over 200 feet above sea level. Derryginny is traversed by Church Street, Bridge Street, the Bawnboy road, the Lecharrownahone road, Derryginny lane, Carrowmore lane and by the disused Cavan & Leitrim Railway.

The townland covers 126 statute acres, including three acres of water. It formed part of the Manor of Calva which was granted to Walter Talbot in 1610 as part of the Plantation of Ulster. The only recorded inhabitant of the townland in the 1664 Hearth Money Rolls was Richard Harrison. Griffith’s Valuation of 1857 lists the landlords of the townland as Magee and Netterfield and the tenants as Gwynne, Graham, Schoolhouse, Small, Kells, Netterfield, Donohoe, Caffrey, Wilson and Hannon.The 1841 Census of Ireland gives a population of 44 in Derryginny, of which 18 were males and 26 were females, with 8 houses. The 1851 Census of Ireland gives a population of 30, a decrease of 14 on the 1841 figure, due to the intervening Irish Famine of 1845–47, of which 13 were males and 17 were females, with 8 houses. In the 1911 census of Ireland, there were five families in the townland, apart from those on the Derryginny side of Church Street. The high population is because part of the town of Ballyconnell is situate in Derryginny.^[1]

The chief buildings of historical interest are Tomregan Parish Hall (erected in 1949), Tomregan Church of Ireland School (originally built in 1820 and rebuilt in 1967), Tomregan Masonic Hall (erected in 1911), Ballyconnell Bridge, the railway Red Bridge (erected in 1887) and Rose Bank House (a Georgian house built in 1812 as a rectory). Two former buildings were the Star Ballroom (opened on 11 February 1949) and the Tannery. Derryginny’s chief claim to fame is that it is the location of the ford at which the Ulster hero Conall Cernach was killed and from which the town of Ballyconnell was named.

References

1. ^ [1]. Census of Ireland 1911.

External links

• The IreAtlas Townland Data Base