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WHERE THE HAMILTONS HELD SWAY FOR BREADY 1 CLAUDY COUNTY BALLYMAGORRY 2 8 DONEGAL DUNAMANAGH TWO CENTURIES LIFFORD ARTIGARVAN SPERRIN MOUNTAINS 3 STRABANE SPERRIN Donemana, Dunamanagh, Donemanagh or Dunnamanagh (historically spelled in CASTLEFIN 4 CRANAGH SION MILLS VICTORI A BRIDGE numerous different ways) means ‘fort of the monks’. DOUGLAS PLUMBRIDGE 5 BRIDGE ARDSTRAW In the early 1600s Sir Claud Hamilton of Shawfield in Scotland, son of Lord Claud Hamilton CASTLEDERG 7 KILLETER KILLEN NEWTOWNSTEWART of Paisley, received a grant of lands in this district of County Tyrone. He died in 1614 and 6 eventually his eldest son Sir William succeeded to the lands. DRUMQUIN
A castle, surrounded by a square bawn (fortified enclosure) was built by the Hamiltons in Illustrations from top Donemana around 1618-19, and was described at the time as ‘both strong and beautiful’. Map of the Dunamanagh area prepared No trace of the castle survives, but it is believed to have been where the ruined eighteenth- under the direction of Sir Josias Bodley, 1609 Courtesy the Cardinal Tomás Ó Fiaich Memorial Library & Archive century building known locally as 'Earls Gift Castle' stands . It occupied a commanding Photograph of Donemana, circa 1910 position on the edge of a steep bank high above the Burndennet River. Courtesy PRONI, Cooper Collection (4997 A/4/6/7) Flax flower, the raw material of the linen industry In 1629 Sir William Hamilton renamed the estate Manor Elieston after his mother’s home Drawing of Altnachree Castle in Scotland. In the course of the 1600s families from Britain, primarily from Scotland, settled by Adelaide Charlotte Miller (nee Ogilby), 1875 (Courtesy Joy Ware) in the district and their descendents are still numerous in the area today. Other Scottish surnames names found in this area over the past 400 years include Buchanan, Campbell, ALTNACHREE CASTLE Colhoun, Galbraith, Henderson, Leslie, Lindsay, McCrea and McFarland. Two miles from Donemana on the road to Claudy stands the impressive ruin of Altnachree Castle, The Hamilton family remained in possession of Dunnamanagh until the early 1800s. one of the finest Victorian mansions to have been The last but one member of the family, Sir John Stewart Hamilton (d. 1802), hastened constructed in Ireland. It was built by William Ogilby the demise of the estate with his reckless expenditure. He was the rather ineffective (d. 1873), a barrister, whose family roots lay in MP for Strabane who was once described as a ‘man of small fortune and large stature, Aberdeenshire. He was also a highly respected possessing a most liberal appetite for both solids and fluids’. zoologist who counted Charles Darwin among his friends. William’s son Claud was something of a The development of the village that we see today probably dates from the middle of the spendthrift and fell heavily into debt. He died in 1894 eighteenth century and is likely to have been associated with the rise of the linen industry having already abandoned his castle for a room in a in the area. public house in Donemana.
Get the full App experience Why not also discover Local tourist information Download it to your iPhone The Dunnalong Story– Strabane Visitor Information Centre or Android smartphone The Sollus Centre, Bready The Alley Arts & Conference Centre and discover how the 1A Railway Street, Strabane Davies Bawn /Castle – Castlederg Co.Tyrone BT82 8EF Ulster-Scots helped shape Tel: 028 7138 4444 the landscape and culture The Stewart Legacy – Newtownstewart Email: [email protected] of this region Web: www.strabanedc.com