Brookeborough is a village in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. It was formerly known as Aghalun and lies between Enniskillen and Belfast just off the A4 trunk road, approximately five miles from the County Tyrone boundary.

According to the 2001 Census, Brookeborough had a population of 517. The economy is heavily dependent on cattle & sheep farming. The village is in the parish of Aghavea, which is part of the Diocese of Clogher. There are five places of Christian worship; a Roman Catholic Chapel, a Methodist Church (built in 1839), an Elim Pentecostal Church, a Church of Ireland Church and a Baptist Church; three public houses; and two primary (elementary) schools.

The Boer War memorial at the head of the town was carved by a local man named Harte in 1901. Behind it is the Lady Brooke Memorial Hall of the same date, a period building preserving all its original features including a clocktower and transverse stained glass window panels.

History

Aghalun was in the hands of the Maguire clan until the 1641 rebellion when it was given to the Brooke family. It is believed that Aghalun, which means field of the blackbirds, was the name given to the area because of Lady Maguire's reputed fondness for blackbirds. The village was then named after Sir Henry Brooke who was granted the village in 1666 and settled in Colebrooke Park nearby.

On 31 December 1957 there was a well-known attack on Brookeborough Royal Ulster Constabulary barracks by the IRA, which marked the opening of its 1950s Border Campaign. This attack was led by Seán Garland, and included Seán South and Fergal O'Hanlon, both the subjects of well-known Irish republican ballads, who were shot dead during the attack.

In 2002 the Brookeborough Community Development Association in conjunction with a similar organisation in Riverstown, County Sligo, Republic of Ireland launched the Riverbrooke Cross-Border Initiative linking the two villages in a programme of cross-community/cross-border working.

Places of interest

• Colebrooke Park was recently renovated and refurbished by the present Viscount and Viscountess Brookeborough.
• Memorial to Sean South and Fergal O'Hanlon at Altawalk Cross.

People

• John Armstrong - American Congressman and revolutionary
• Field Marshal Alan Francis Brooke, 1st Viscount Alanbrooke - Soldier
• Basil Brooke, 1st Viscount Brookeborough - Prime Minister of Northern Ireland from 1943 until 1963
• Sir Victor Brooke, 3rd Baronet - Naturalist
• Bobbie Hanvey - Photographer & Radio Broadcaster
• Fergal O'Hanlon- IRA member killed in the Brookeborough Raid
• Charitie Lees Smith - Hymn writer
• Seán South- IRA member killed in the Brookeborough Raid
• Evelyn Wrench - Editor of The Spectator

Transport

• The Clogher Valley Railway, ran through the village from 1887 (Brookeborough station opened on 2 May 1887) until its closure on 1 January 1942.^[1] Its route started in Maguiresbridge, passing through Brookebrough, Fivemiletown, Clogher, Augher, Ballygawley, Aughnacloy before eventually terminating at Tynan near Caledon.
• The main road to Belfast bypassed the village in the mid 1960s.

2001 Census

Brookeborough is classified as a small village or hamlet by the NI Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) (ie with a population of between 500 and 1,000 people). On Census day (29 April 2001) there were 517 people living in Brookeborough. Of these:

• 25.5% were aged under 16 and 16.8% were aged 60 and over
• 50.3% of the population were male and 49.7% were female
• 50.2% were from a Catholic background and 48.1% were from a Protestant background
• 7.0% of people aged 16-74 were unemployed.

For further details see: NI Neighbourhood Information Service

Sport

• In his youth Roy Carroll, the Northern Ireland international goalkeeper played for the Brookeborough football team.
• The local Gaelic Athletic Association team is known as Brookeborough Heber McMahon's Gaelic Football Club named after an Irish Catholic Bishop. The team has never won honours at Senior Championship level but has won a number of Junior, Under-age and Intermediate Level competitions.

References

1. ↑

• The Brookeborough Story - Aghalun in Aghavea Ed. Jack Johnston.
• Culture Northern Ireland
• Brookeborough Heber McMahon's GFC

See also

• List of villages in Northern Ireland
• List of towns in Northern Ireland
• Market Houses in Northern Ireland

External links

• Brookeborough Railway Station
• List of townlands in Aghavea parish
• Social & Economic Information

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