In the
Middle Ages the chiefs of the
Uí Nialláin, a
Gaelic clan, resided at Loughgall
crannog, a fortified lake dwelling. By the 16th century the
O'Neills of
Tír Eoghain had taken over the area, and the crannog became the residence of the O'Neill chief's brother or eldest son. In the early 1600s, the area was settled by English and Scottish Protestants as part of the
Ulster Plantation. During the
1641 Irish Rebellion, settlers were held at a prison camp at Loughgall by Catholic rebels led by Manus O'Cane. In 1795, rival
sectarian gangs, the Catholic
Defenders and Protestant
Peep-o'-Day Boys fought a bloody skirmish near the village, called the
Battle of the Diamond, that left around 30 people dead. Following this, the Protestant
Orange Order was founded in Dan Winter's House nearby.
The Troubles The Loughgall area experienced a number of fatal incidents during
The Troubles, the best known of which is arguably the 1987
Loughgall ambush. == Sport ==