North West Liberties of Londonderry

Summary

The North West Liberties of Londonderry is a barony in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland.[2] It is bordered by two other baronies in Northern Ireland: Tirkeeran to the east, across Lough Foyle, and Strabane Lower to the south.[2] It also borders two baronies in County Donegal (to whom it has previously belonged to before the creation of County Londonderry) in the Republic of Ireland. It borders Raphoe North, to the south-west; and Inishowen West to the north.[3]

North West Liberties of Londonderry
Irish: Líbeartaí Thiar Thuaidh Dhoire[1]
Location of North West Liberties of Londonderry, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland.
Location of North West Liberties of Londonderry, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland.
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
CountryNorthern Ireland
CountyLondonderry

Boundaries edit

The boundaries of the North West Liberties of Londonderry consist of all parts of County Londonderry on the west bank of the River Foyle that is not a part of the City of Derry, and it borders County Donegal in the Republic of Ireland.[3] The Liberties also historically included the shoreline of the east bank of the Foyle in addition.[4] The original land of the Liberties originally was a part of County Donegal before being transferred to the newly created County Londonderry (comprising the former County Coleraine and parts of County Tyrone) following a redistribution of land during the administration of the Kingdom of Ireland.[5] The North West Liberties has only one administrative parish within it, the parish of Templemore (also known as Temple Derry).[6]

History edit

The North West Liberties of Londonderry were established by The Honourable The Irish Society when they invested money to rebuild and expand the ruined town and monastic settlement of Derry, which had been destroyed in 1608, and enjoyed heavy influence over how the North West Liberties were run.[7] There was originally doubt as to whether the freeholders of the North West Liberties of Londonderry were to be considered a separate barony from the City of Derry for election purposes.[8] This was clarified in 1800 after an Act of the Parliament of Ireland affirming that freeholders from the North West Liberties of Londonderry were separate from the County Londonderry constituency and were entitled to vote in the Londonderry City constituency.[8] The North West Liberties joined with the newly rebuilt and renamed City of Londonderry (also known as the City of Derry) in establishing a unified Town Watch in 1829, in an agreement that would eventually evolve to become the Londonderry Borough Police.[9][10] The joint policing partnership between the city and the Liberties was later adsorbed into the jurisdiction of the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) following the abolition of the Londonderry Borough Police in 1870.[11]

List of major settlements edit

List of civil parishes edit

Below is a list of civil parishes in the North West Liberties of Londonderry:[12]

  • Templemore

References edit

  1. ^ Logainm Irish Placenames Database - North-West Liberties of Londonderry
  2. ^ a b PRONI Baronies of Northern Ireland
  3. ^ a b Ordnance Survey of Ireland (1837). Ordnance Survey of the County of Londonderry. Hodges and Smith. p. 13. ISBN 1241412545.
  4. ^ "Freemen Records". NIdirect. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  5. ^ "County Londonderry, historical background" (PDF). W. MacAfee. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  6. ^ Colonel Colby (1837). Memoir of the City and North Western Liberties of Londonderry - Parish of Templemore. Vol. 1. Hodges and Smith. p. 1. ISBN 1241412545.
  7. ^ Stevens Curl, Professor James. "The City of London and the Plantation of Ulster". BBC. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  8. ^ a b Finnelly, William (1830). The Law and Practice of Elections in England, Scotland, and Ireland. A. Maxwell. p. 212. ISBN 1236995899.
  9. ^ Parliament of the United Kingdom (1829). Journals of the House of Commons. Vol. 84. HM Stationery Office. p. 88.
  10. ^ Hume, John (2002). Derry Beyond the Walls: Social and Economic Aspects of the Growth of Derry : 1825-1850. Ulster Historical Foundation. p. 65. ISBN 1903688248.
  11. ^ "Constabulary (Ireland) Amendment Act, 1870". 33 & 34 Victoria: Second session of Twentieth Parliament. The Public General Acts. London: Eyre & Spottiswoode. 1870. pp. 370–372.
  12. ^ Map of the baronies and civil parishes of County Londonderry