Camlough

Camlough (Camloch) is a small village in County Armagh, Northern Ireland, near Bessbrook and the slopes of the Ring of Gullion. It had a population of 910 people in the 2001 Census. It is in the Newry and Mourne District Council area.

Places of interest

*Ballykeel Dolmen is to the south west of Camlough at the western foot of Slieve Gullion. It is an example of a Portal Tomb. The dolmen is made up of two portal stones with a sill between and a lower backstone supporting a huge capstone.
* [http://www.feilechamlocha.com Feile Chamlocha] is the annual festival held in Camlough in the summer months including Camlough Festival and the Crooked Lake Triathlon.This location is incorrect Camlough is north of this location at the junction of Keggall Road and the A25.

History

The name Camlough has been Anglicized from the original "Chamlai" or "Camlaigh", meaning crooked mountain, not crooked lake, despite contradictory popular opinion. The confusion arises from the assumed translation of “lough” to the Irish “loch” or "locha" and indeed the proximity of a local, picturesque lake. However, the village is geographically situated at the foot of Camlough mountain while being a little too far from Camlough lake for the name to have been derived from this source.

1920s

In December 1920, Frank Aiken led an abortive IRA assault on the Royal Irish Constabulary station in his home village of Camlough. In reprisal the newly formed Ulster Special Constabulary burned Aiken's home and those of ten of his relatives in the Camlough area.

GAA

Camlough (Camloch) is famous for its links with the GAA. The village hosts two Gaelic football clubs: Naomh Padraig Carrickcruppen and Shane O'Neills, and a hurling club.

Craobh Rua Camloch

First of all Lundy and Nutley are the star players. who the fucks Mick Doran.

The Club was established in 1991 in the Camloch/Bessbrook area of South Armagh and early stalwarts included Laurence Bradley, Breandan Lewis, Pat Feeley, Cormac Lewis and were soon to be joined by Sean Byrne, John Fearon, Peter O' Hanlon and Kevin Mc Quaid. Since hurling had not been played in the area in some forty years, the club set about importing some help from Armagh Hurling Board chairman, Jimmy Carlisle, who helped set up coaching courses for the children and their mentors.Over its first ten years the club has successfully fielded teams at under 12, under 14, under 16 and this year for the first time at minor and senior levels. As can be seen on this web site the club has the use of a first rate dedicated hurling venue at High Street Bessbrook, provided through generous support from the Newry and Mourne District Council and is supported by many local sponsors.

Education

*St. Malachy's Primary School
*St Pauls High School

2001 Census

Camlough is classified as a Small Village by the [http://www.nisra.gov.uk/ NI Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA)] (ie with population between 500 and 1,000 people). On Census day (April 29, 2001) there were 910 people living in Camlough. Of these:
*27.6% were aged under 16 years and 12.6% were aged 60 and over
*46.5% of the population were male and 53.5% were female
*98.8% were from a Roman Catholic background and 1.2% were from a Protestant background
*7.0% of people aged 16-74 were unemployed

Notable people from Camlough

*Frank Aiken, Prominent IRA figure during the War of Independence and later becoming a Fianna Fáil TD and Minister for External Affairs in the Republic of Ireland
*Most Reverend Dr. Eugene O'Callaghan, Roman Catholic Bishop of Clogher 1943 – 1969
*Conor Murphy, Sinn Féin Member of Parliament for Newry and Armagh
*Pat McGinn, Sinn Féin Mayor of Newry and Mourne
*Eamon Collins, IRA 'Supergrass'
*Raymond McCreesh, IRA prisoner who died after 61 days on hunger-strike in 1981. Convicted for terrorist activities.
*Paddy Quinn, Volunteer within the 1st Battalion, South Armagh Brigade of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) who took part in the 1981 Irish hunger strike.
*Tomás Cardinal Ó Fiaich, Irish Roman Catholic Cardinal, Archbishop of Armagh and the Primate of All Ireland.
*Andrew Britton, Author

References

* [http://www.newryandmourne.gov.uk Newry and Mourne District Council]
* [http://www.south-armagh.com/ South Armagh Tourism]
* [http://www.ninis.nisra.gov.uk/ NI Neighbourhood Information Service]

See also

*List of towns in Northern Ireland
*List of villages in Northern Ireland