Ederny

Ederney
Irish: Eadarnaidh
Ederney
 Ederney shown within Northern Ireland
Population 554 (2001 Census)
Irish grid referenceH221649
   – Belfast  83 miles 
DistrictFermanagh and Omagh
CountyCounty Fermanagh
CountryNorthern Ireland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post town ENNISKILLEN
Postcode district BT93
Dialling code 028, +44 28
EU Parliament Northern Ireland
UK ParliamentFermanagh and South Tyrone
NI AssemblyFermanagh and South Tyrone
List of places
UK
Northern Ireland
Fermanagh

Coordinates: 54°31′57″N 7°39′31″W / 54.5326°N 7.6586°W / 54.5326; -7.6586

Ederney (from Irish: Eadarnaidh, meaning "middle place/place between")[1] is a small village and townland (of 133 acres) in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. It is situated within Fermanagh and Omagh district.

In the 2001 Census it had a population of 554. Ederney lies in the Glendarragh River Valley close to Lower Lough Erne and Kesh. It is 83 miles (134 km) from Belfast, over 100 miles (160 km) from Dublin and about 16 miles from both Omagh and Enniskillen. Ederney and its hinterland (the Glendarragh Valley area) boast a population of several thousand.[2]

Public transport

Ulsterbus route 194 serves Ederney/Ederny with one daily journey in each direction except Sundays, linking it to Irvinestown, Enniskillen and Pettigo. Route 83A provides a link to Omagh on Mondays & Thursdays only.[3]

History

Local historian Leo Mulligan MBE details that at the time of the Plantation there was a settlement of significance at Ederney when the land grant (titled "Edernagh") was given to Captain Thomas Blennerhassett of Norfolk in 1610. He created the Manor of Edernagh on a 450 acres (1.8 km2) demesne and a court baron on the shores of Lough Erne, which he later named Castle Hassett. He established the new village of Ederney (Edernagh).[4][5]

By 1797, the settlement is recorded in the Topographia Hibernica as Ederney Bridge and "fair days" were held there.[2][6]

Local attractions

Glendarragh Valley Inn's location allows tourists to take advantage of the scenery of the Glendarragh River Valley and the Fermanagh Erne Lakelands with its lakes, tree covered landscapes and islands. The village of Ederney has a GAA (Gaelic football) team which plays annually from February to August.[7][8]

One of the principal buildings in the village is the Townhall or Market House as it was first known, established about 1839. Originally, there were three bays on the ground floor which housed an open arcade. An upper floor was often used as a hall for social events as well as a school classroom. During a reconstruction in the late 1880s, the open arches were built-up and the building modernised into a two-storey three-bay building.[9]

Townhall, established circa 1839
Some of the standing stones at Drumskinny, Ederney

The main front has a single large arch flanked by small windows at the ground floor and three windows at the upper floor. There is a simple pediment with a circular plaque which now houses the village clock. The side elevation has a single large arch at the lower level and a fine Venetian window at the upper level. In the early part of the 20th century the ground floor was still in use as a market place before being leased to Gracey's of Enniskillen for an egg packaging depot.

The upper floor was used for various uses from the late 1880s to the middle of the 1990s as a school classroom and as theatre and entertainment venue and was the location for Ederney's first cinema. A separate first floor room was used for meetings by the Masonic lodge. By the late 1980s, the building had become an eyesore having been mostly derelict for several decades. It was taken over by the Fermanagh District Council and redeveloped for community use following some local lobbying. Today it is fully operational as a village community centre accommodating for and providing facilities and services for the community.[2]

Another interesting landmark is Drumskinny stone circle. Drumskinny (from Irish Droim Scine, meaning "knife ridge") is the site of a stone circle in the townland of Drumskinny, near Ederney.[10] The historic site is easily accessed and consists of 39 stones set in a circle. The arrangement is supposed to be related to the seasons, moon and sun. The site reportedly dates from the Bronze Age.[11][12]

Notable people

2001 Census

Ederney is classified as a small village by the NI Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) (i.e. with population between 500 and 1,000). On Census day (29 April 2001) there were 554 people living in Ederny. Of these:

For more details see: NI Neighbourhood Information Service

See also

References

  1. ↑ Place Names NI
  2. 1 2 3 History of Ederney (Ederny), ederney.com; accessed 3 February 2016.
  3. ↑ http://www.translink.co.uk/Services/Ulsterbus-Service-Page/
  4. ↑ Names in the Land Grants in Northern Ireland p. 277
  5. ↑ Thomas Blennerhassett profile, cpedia.com; accessed 3 February 2016.
  6. ↑ Topographia Hibernica 1797, google.co.uk; accessed 3 February 2016.
  7. ↑ Glendarragh Valley Inn website, glendarraghvalleyinn.com; accessed 3 February 2016.
  8. ↑ Ederney Community Development Limited website, northernireland.gov.uk; accessed 3 February 2016.
  9. ↑ Samuel Lewis, A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland, libraryireland.com; accessed 3 February 2016.
  10. ↑ Database - Drumskinny, Logainm.ie; accessed 3 February 2016.
  11. ↑ History of Ederney, ederney.com; accessed 3 February 2016.
  12. ↑ Environment and Heritage Service NI - State care Historic Monuments, ni-environment.gov.uk; retrieved 16 September 2007.
  13. ↑ Hickey, D.J. & Doherty, J.E., A Dictionary of Irish History, p. 26. Gill and Macmillan, Dublin, 1980; ISBN 0-7171-1567-4
  14. ↑ McVeigh, Joe. Taking a Stand: Memoir of an Irish Priest, Mercier Press (2009); ISBN 1-85635-593-4

External links

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