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Civil parish

Urney

An Urnaí

The Tyrone parish belongs to a wider historical Urney landscape shaped by the Finn, the Mourne and institutions serving farming communities.

Watercolour and fine ink illustration of Urney Glebe looking northwest toward the River Finn and County Donegal, as photographed in February 2015.
Illustration, Urney Glebe looking northwest toward the River Finn and County Donegal, as photographed in February 2015
Recorded locationUrney54.79752° N · 7.57232° WInteractive map supplied by OpenStreetMap.
Approximate recorded location · Logainm.ie

The name

A reliable full-name meaning has not been established here. The recorded Irish and English forms are given without an unsupported translation.

Recorded forms

  • An Urnaí · Irish · main form
  • Urney · English · main form

Place & story

Manufacture beside navigable water

Lewis’s 1837 account describes an Urney parish extending into both Tyrone and Donegal. Farming households also made linen cloth, while a spinning mill was being built beside the Mourne. The Finn provided a route for agricultural and manufactured goods towards Castlefinn. His account connects rural production with navigable water, within a parish lying between the rivers that unite to form the Foyle. [2]

An embankment beside the glebe

The same description records a glebe-house rebuilt in 1798 at Dr Fowler’s expense after its predecessor burned accidentally. Its land beside the Finn was protected against flooding by an embankment nearly a mile long and twelve feet high. This historical description of the wider parish records substantial work to protect riverside property, alongside the river’s value for carrying goods. [2]

People & connections

Andrew Sproule’s clothing bequest

In 1801, Andrew Sproule left a thousand pounds in trust to Urney’s rector and churchwardens for the parish’s poor. Lewis records the interest being distributed as winter clothing. The bequest specified both an enduring fund and a practical form of assistance. Its administration through parish officers offers a precise example of local relief before the introduction of the Irish Poor Law system. [2]

Geographic information

Place type
Civil parish
County
Tyrone
Coordinates
54.79752, -7.57232 (approximate)
Logainm ID
63188 ↗

Sources & further reading

  1. Logainm.ie — Urney. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
  2. Urney, A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland 1837 · Samuel Lewis
  3. Urney Glebe looking northwest toward the River Finn and County Donegal, as photographed in February 2015 illustration: based on a Urney Glebe by Kenneth Allen. AI-assisted watercolour and ink adaptation; cream paper margins added, incidental clutter omitted and fine details simplified. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0.

Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2008-09-30. How this page was prepared.