Derryragh is a townland in the civil parish of Templeport, County Cavan, Ireland. It lies in the Roman Catholic parish of Templeport and barony of Tullyhaw. The local pronunciation is Dharraugh.
Derryragh is bounded on the north by Porturlan and Killywillin townlands, on the west by Ballymagauran townland, on the south by Sruhagh and Gorteen, Templeport townlands and on the east by Camagh townland. Its chief geographical features are Ballymagauran Lough, streams, five spring wells, dug wells and forestry plantations. Derryragh is traversed by the national secondary R205 road (Ireland), minor public roads and rural lanes. The townland covers 208 statute acres.
Although J.P. Dalton suggested that the fort on top on Derryragh hill was the centre of the worship of the pagan idol Crom Cruach, there is no evidence to support this.[1] Kevin White carried out an archaeological survey and found no such evidence http://www.templeport.ie/magh-slecht-dara-fort/plain-of-blood.pdf and there is no mention in the Patrician sources or in the Book of Magauran to support such a suggestion. The fact that there are five spring wells in the townland and none of them are associated with Saint Patrick, unlike others in the parish, is also a negative point. All the evidence points to the Killycluggin Stone being the Crom idol. At best the Darragh fort was an assembly or camping place for the Royal visitors on their pilgrimage to the idol. The placename may also be a corruption of 'Doire Rí' meaning "The King's Oakwood". The only tradition connected with the fort is about a fairy living there. A book published in 1912 entitled "Folk Tales of Breffny"[2] by a Templeport author Mrs Augusta Wardell, née Hunt, under the pen name 'Bunda Hunt' gives a version of the tale which she learned it at the age of seven from an old man named Dolan. It goes as follows-
The 1609 Baronial Map depicts the townland as Darreragh.[3] [4]
The Ulster Planation grants of 1611 & 1627 spell it as Derry and Darrerogh.
The 1665 Down Survey map depicts it as Derryreagh.[5]
William Petty's 1685 map depicts it as Derirea.[6]
In the grants of the early 1600s, Derryragh was split into two parts, one went to the Church of Ireland and one to O'Gowan family. On 25 January 1627 a grant was made of one-fourth of a pole of Darrerogh to Thomas Groves, the Rector or Vicar of the parish of Templepurt to hold as glebe land of Templeport Church.[7] The said Thomas Groves was the Anglican rector of Templeport parish from 1626 to 1632.
In the Plantation of Ulster by grant dated 4 June 1611, along with other lands, King James VI and I granted one poll of Derry to Callo O'Gowne, gentleman at an annual rent of £1-12s.
The O'Gowne lands in Derryragh were confiscated in the Cromwellian Act for the Settlement of Ireland 1652 and were distributed as follows-
A grant dated 3 November 1666 was made by King Charles II of England to Sir Tristram Beresford, 1st Baronet which included, inter alia, 2 cartrons of Derriereagh containing 64 acres of profitable land and 38 acres-0 roods-16 perches of unprofitable land.[8] By grant dated 11 September 1670 from King Charles II of England to said Sir Tristram Beresford, the said lands of Derrereagh were included in the creation of a new Manor of Beresford.[9]
By deed dated 19 October 1749 Frederick Lawder of Ballymagauran sold his leasehold estate of six poles of the lands of Ballymagauran and a half pole in Derriereagh (which he held on lease from Marcus Beresford, 1st Earl of Tyrone) to Randal Slack, of Dublin and Lakefield, County Leitrim, gentleman, for the sum of £504-3s-3d. Slack then sold part of the estate to Arthur Ellis of Ballyheady.
In the 1761 Irish general election there was only one landowner in Derryragh registered to vote, Nicholas Neilson of Cosbystown, Inishmacsaint Parish, County Fermanagh.[10] He was entitled to cast two votes. The four election candidates were Charles Coote, 1st Earl of Bellomont and Lord Newtownbutler (later Brinsley Butler, 2nd Earl of Lanesborough), both of whom were then elected Member of Parliament for Cavan County. The losing candidates were George Montgomery (MP) of Ballyconnell and Barry Maxwell, 1st Earl of Farnham. Absence from the poll book either meant a resident did not vote or, more likely, was not a freeholder entitled to vote, which would mean most of the inhabitants of Derryragh.
The 1790 Cavan Carvaghs list spells the name as Darraragh.[11]
A deed dated 18 October 1814 includes lands belonging to John Mills in Darraragh.[12]
The Tithe Applotment Books for 1827 list twenty nine tithepayers in the townland.[13]
The Derryragh Valuation Office Field books are available for November 1839.[14] [15]
Griffith's Valuation of 1857 lists thirteen landholders in the townland.[16]
A deed dated 20 July 1865 now in the Cavan Archives Service (ref P017/0077) is described as-
A folktale about Derryragh in the 1600s is viewable online.[17]
| Year | Population | Males | Females | Total Houses | Uninhabited | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1841 | 81 | 48 | 33 | 18 | 0 | |
| 1851 | 57 | 26 | 31 | 13 | 0 | |
| 1861 | 50 | 27 | 23 | 10 | 1 | |
| 1871 | 46 | 24 | 22 | 8 | 0 | |
| 1881 | 40 | 20 | 20 | 9 | 1 | |
| 1891 | 31 | 16 | 15 | 7 | 0 |
In the 1901 census of Ireland, there are sixteen families listed in the townland.[18]
In the 1911 census of Ireland, there are only twelve families listed in the townland.[19]