Trillick

Trillick is a small village in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It had a population of 2439 people in the 2011 Census. Trillick is in the Civil Parish of Cleenish, Barony of Clanawley. It is located within the Diocese of Clogher (both Roman Catholic and Church of Ireland).History before the 18th centuryTrillick Trí Leac “three stones”, is another term for a chambered tomb. The village is named from a ruined example beside Trillick Castle. The name is referred to in early records as Trelic and Trelic Mor, taking that name from the three pillars or standing stones located at what was the original Trelic and now generally referred to as the Old Castle. After 4,000 years, the three pillar stones and a stone doorway facing the rising sun, can be seen. It is believed to be a settlement of the Beaker people, who came from the Netherlands to Britain and then to Ulster around 2,000 B.C. They were skilled in making decorative gold, copper and metal objects and the gold lunula preserved in the National Museum of Ireland in Dublin is proof of their presence and activities here.The name of Trillick has been preserved through 4,000 years of history. Records show that the Celts had a major base here and, on being converted to Christianity, had established an Abbey at Trelic Mor by 613 A.D. Various records refer to St. Mobec of Trelic, whose commemoration or feast day is on 29 May. The Annals of the Four Masters record the death of Cinead Ó Ceallaigh, Bishop of Trelic, in 813 A.D. The O'Neills of Shane the Proud clan had a strong fort here, with their soldiers based at nearby Dernagilly. They fought the famous battle of Dreigh Hill in 1379 against the Maguires and won a victory which settled the Tyrone/Fermanagh county boundary here. The Annals record the death in 1526 of Henry O'Neill, Lord of the Braghaid, the name given to the territory ruled by the O'Neills from Old Trielic. Henry was a grandson of Shane the Proud, and his own grandson, Con, has a headstone in the old Kilskeery graveyard. The Civil Survey of 1654 says that the remains of a village, church, burial ground and mill could still be seen at Old Trelic but, by then, the new town of Trillick had been built.