Cullaville or Culloville (from Irish Baile Mhic Cullach, meaning 'MacCullach's townland' or McCulloch's ville or town is a small village and townland near Crossmaglen in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. It is the southernmost settlement in the county and one of the southernmost in Northern Ireland, straddling the Irish border. In the 2001 Census it had a population of 400 people.[citation needed] The village is on a busy crossroads on the main Dundalk to Castleblaney road (the A37 in Northern Ireland and N53 in the Republic); three of the roads lead across the border and the fourth leads to Crossmaglen.
Cullaville
| |
|---|---|
 | |
  Location within Northern Ireland | |
| Population | 400 (2001 Census) |
| Irish grid reference | H910152 |
| • Belfast | 56 mi (90 km) |
| District | |
| County | |
| Country | Northern Ireland |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | NEWRY |
| Postcode district | BT |
| Dialling code | 028 |
| UK Parliament | |
| NI Assembly | |
History
editEvents
editOn 29 March 1922, during the Irish War of Independence, Irish Republican Army (IRA) volunteers ambushed and shot dead two Royal Irish Constabulary men (Patrick Earley and James Harper) at Ballinacarry Bridge, Cullaville.[1]
Cullaville, along with the rest of South Armagh, would have been transferred to the Irish Free State had the recommendations of the Irish Boundary Commission been enacted in 1925.[2]
On 2 September 1942, (the day after the hanging of IRA man Tom Williams) and during the Northern Campaign of the IRA, an attack was scheduled to take place against a British Army barracks in Crossmaglen. Twenty IRA volunteers were led by Patrick Demody and Charlie Kerins in a commandeered lorry and accompanying car. A passing Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) patrol, however, noticed the IRA convoy as it moved through Cullaville and in the ensuing gun battle, one IRA man was injured along with one RUC member. Conflicting accounts exist of the outcome, one claiming that the IRA unit surrendered and was released, all survivors being allowed to return to Dublin; another claiming that it was the RUC men (there were only two of them) who surrendered to the IRA and were released.[3]
Sport
editThe village is home to Culloville Blues Gaelic Athletic Club. Tracing its origins to a club founded in 1888, it is one of the oldest clubs in Ireland.[4]
Transport
editThe former station, Culloville railway station and current post office are south of the River Fane, in County Monaghan. The station was located on the former Great Northern Railway's Irish North West line from Dundalk to Enniskillen, which opened in June 1858 but lost its passenger service in 1957, and closed completely in 1959.[5] Only the station masters house, up platform and brick built signal cabin base remains at Culloville, the rest of the station buildings have since been demolished.
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "March 1922". Chronology of Irish History 1919-1923 (Dublin City University). Archived from the original on 19 March 2012. Retrieved 3 December 2011.
- ^ "Irish Boundary Commission Report". National Archives. 1925. p. 130.
- ^ Thorne, Kathleen (2019). Echoes of Their Footsteps Volume Three. Oregon: Generation Organization. p. 297. ISBN 978-0-692-04283-0.
- ^ Cullaville page Archived 2012-12-19 at the Wayback Machine on Armagh GAA website
- ^ "Culoville" (PDF). Railscot - Irish Railways. Retrieved 29 April 2012.