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Aughanduff

Aughanduff (Also Annduff / Aueghanduff) is a townland in the Parish of Forkhill, Division of Calmy, and Barony of Orior, County Armagh.

Geography

The townland lies 2 miles (3 km) north of the village of Mullaghbawn and 3 1/2 miles (5km) from Silverbridge, neighbouring Carricknagavina to the North, Tullymacrieveto the East, and Cashel to the South. Aughanduff forms part of the 'Sulurian' period granite outer ring of Gullion. Upper and Lower Aughanduff mountains form one half of a valley with the mountains of Carricknagavina and Tullymacrieve on the other side. The ground is mostly gravel and rock, with heather and bog but also significant tracts of pasture and some arable ground.

Features

The best known feature of the Townland is Our Lady Queen of Peace Church on the Crossmaglen Road, raised in 1957. The townland boasts scenic views of Slieve Gullion, Dromintee, and Counties Louth and Monaghan to the south and west, as well as a small holy well and is traversed by two roads.

Economic Activity

Mant people in Aughanduff work in services in nearby towns such as Newry or Dundalk. While the primary economic activity carried out within the Townland remains faming, income is primarily generated in services carried out outside the townland such as building and retail.

History

Aughanduff was probably first settled in the Bronze Age and indeed lies a mere 2km from Anoclockmullian, where in 1801 the best preserved Neolitic tomb in Ireland (Subsequently destroyed) was discovered by Mr. John Bell of Newry.

Formed into the See of Armagh in the Early Christian period, Aughanduff and indeed the South Armagh region in which it lies formed part of a buffer zone between the Gaelic Irish and expanding English pale with Moyroy and Roche castles lying in its Immedite hinterland thorughout the Middle Ages. The Townland lies close to the Gap of the North and hence the route the Ulster and English armies traversed following the Yellow ford in 1598. In the cofiscations that followed the defeat of the Great O'Neill at Kinsale, Aughanduff was shired into the county of Armagh as part of the Barony of Orior but escaped plantation (as happened in the North of the county) with the Townland being reserved for Native Irish. Although nearby areas such as Forkhill and Newtownhamilton where to vairying degrees planted, Aughanduff remained populated by native stock. Following the turmoil of the Plantation and wars of religion, Aughanduff gradually came to be owned by the Blacker-Douglass family and was bought out by its tenants under the land acts in the early 20th century. Following a population high during the famine before which the townland exhibited amongst other things stores and shibeens, the population of the townland declined gradually untill it settled in the 1980s and began to expand into the 21st century. Aughanduff also had its own school before the consolidation of all shcools in the parish in the 1970s

Sources

Kick Any Stone (2000) Community Press

"The Personality of Ireland: Habitat, Heritage and History. E. Estyn Evans" (1973) Cambridge University Press, London