A Brief History
The Parish of Errigal Truagh (Aireagail Tricha Céd) is situated in north County Monaghan, on the border with County Tyrone. The story of Christianity in the parish can be traced back to St Muadain or Mellan, whose foundation was in the townland of Mullanacross where there is a holy well. In the Middle Ages, Errigal Truagh was amalgamated for a time with Donagh parish. During the 1500s this parish was a mensal parish of the bishop, who resided in neighbouring Clogher at that time. In the 1591 division of Monaghan land, Errigal Truagh was found to also contain a portion of territory in County Tyrone, known as the ballybetagh of Portclare. In the 1970s this portion was transferred to the Catholic Parish of Clogher but it remains part of the Church of Ireland parish of Errigal Truagh. Today, the territory of the Catholic parish stretches from highlands of Bragan to the lowlands along the River Blackwater and the Dublin to Derry road runs through the parish to cross the border at Moybridge.
There are three districts in the parish, each served by a church, school and other amenities: Ballyosin to the east, Carrickroe to the west and Clara to the north.
The name of the parish is derived from Aireagail, meaning a house church or oratory, while Tricha Céd is a reflection of an ancient land division in Ireland which became a barony under the English system of land management. The Barony of Truagh was (and remains) the heartland of the McKenna clan, many of whom ruled this territory until the end of gaelic rule in Ulster in the 1600s. Today, McKenna’s account for over a quarter of the households in the parish.
The population of the parish was 8,500 in 1841, falling to 6,300 a decade later following An Gorta Mór. Even before the famine, thanks to local connections and the influence of the PP of Donagh, Fr Patrick Moynagh, many people from this parish emigrated to Prince Edward Island and other parts of Atlantic Canada. Many of the placenames there reflect the origins of those people, such as Treaugh and Kelly’s Cross.
The partition of Ireland in 1921 resulted in Errigal Truagh becoming a border parish.
Today, there are three churches in the parish. These are the ‘successors’ of much earlier places of worship, many of which were outdoors in remote places during the period of Catholic persecution. The Church of the Holy Family at Ballyosin was completed in 1820; the Church of the Sacred Heart at Carrickroe was completed in 1888, replacing an earlier structure which dated from 1823; St Patrick’s Church at Clara was built in 1938, replacing an older one nearby which was erected in 1787.
As the 21st century moves on, the People of God that form the faith community of Errigal Truagh continue to draw from the rich Christian heritage and tradition that has been transmitted so that the Gospel may be heard and witnessed to anew both now and for the generations yet to come.
