placenamesLoughmacrory
Loch Mhic Ruairí
Parish memory and community sport accompany the distinctive aquatic habitats of Lough Macrory.
The name
These Irish name elements are associated with this record in the Logainm glossary.
An element’s translation is a clue, rather than a complete explanation of the name. Its form and meaning depend on local history and the full Irish name.
Recorded forms
- Loch Mhic Ruairí · Irish · main form · validated name
- Loughmacrory · English · main form
Place & story
Saint Mary’s and a local tradition
Termonmaguirc parish dates the first Saint Mary’s church at Loughmacrory to 1883, with part of that building surviving until 1987. It also records a local tradition that the site had previously been used as a Mass rock during the penal era. The present church incorporates older stained-glass figures within the window over its entrance, carrying elements of the earlier place of worship into a modern building. [2]
A court built by the community
GAA Handball’s account of Loughmacrory recalls the construction of a ball alley in 1932 on the site of a purchased lodge gatehouse. When a storm destroyed the court’s side walls in 1967, local fundraising and voluntary work produced a replacement. The covered court opened in April 1969. An additional court followed in 1981, and three covered one-wall courts were introduced in 2014, extending the range of handball played locally. [3]
Different shores, different habitats
The protected Lough Macrory has peat faces along its southern and western shores, contrasting with sand at the north and silt beneath open water. DAERA’s account identifies water lobelia on the eastern shore and quillwort in deeper water, among other aquatic plants. These communities depend on clean, nutrient-poor water; the varied lake bed and shoreline help explain the site’s importance as an Area of Special Scientific Interest. [4]
Geographic information
- Place type
- Population centre
- County
- Tyrone
- Barony
- Omagh East
- Civil parish
- Termonmaguirk
- Coordinates
- 54.61980, -7.10204 (approximate)
- Logainm ID
- 1414272 ↗
Sources & further reading
- Logainm.ie — Loughmacrory. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
- Church of Saint Mary, Loughmacrory · Termonmaguirc Parish
- Reflecting on over a Century of GAA Handball in Loughmacrory,28 January 2020 · Chris Curran / GAA Handball
- Lough Macrory ASSI · Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs
Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2012-01-25. How this page was prepared.