Caledon, County Tyrone


Caledon is a small village and townland in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is in the Clogher Valley on the banks of the River Blackwater, 7 miles from Armagh. It lies in the southeast of Tyrone and near the borders of County Armagh and County Monaghan. It is situated in the historic barony of Dungannon Lower and the civil parish of Aghaloo. In the 2001 Census it had a population of 387 people. It is a designated conservation area. It was historically known as Kinnaird (Irish: Cionn Aird, meaning "head/top of the height or hill".

History

The old settlement of Kinard was burned in 1608 by the forces of Sir Cahir O'Doherty during O'Doherty's Rebellion. Sir Henry Óg O'Neill, the main local landowner, was killed by the rebels.
Caledon House was built in 1779 by James Alexander, a member of the Irish House of Commons for Londonderry, who had previously in 1778 bought the Caledon Estate. James Alexander was made Baron Caledon in 1790 and later Viscount Caledon in 1797. The House was begun in 1779 to designs by Thomas Cooley, but altered by John Nash in 1808-10.
In 1967 the Gildernew family, began a protest about discrimination in housing allocation by 'squatting' in a house in Caledon. The house had been allocated by Dungannon Rural District Council to a 19-year-old unmarried Ulster Protestant woman, Emily Beattie, who was the secretary of a local Ulster Unionist Party politician. Beattie was given the house ahead of older married Catholic families with children. The protesters were evicted by officers of the Royal Ulster Constabulary, one of whom was Beattie's brother. The next day, the annual conference of the Nationalist Party unanimously approved of the protest action by Currie.

Transport

Caledon railway station opened on 2 May 1887, but finally closed on 1 January 1942. Tynan and Caledon railway station on the mainline opened by the Ulster Railway on 25 May 1858. In 1876 the Ulster Railway merged with other railways companies to become the Great Northern Railway. The station was finally closed on 1 October 1957.

People

19th century population

The population of the village decreased during the 19th century:
Year184118511861187118811891
Population1046999825579562703
Houses183172155120131151

21st century population

On Census day there were 387 people living in Caledon. Of these:
For more details see:

Caledon Townland

The townland is situated in the historic barony of Dungannon Lower and the civil parish of Aghaloo and covers an area of 232 acres.
The population of the townland declined during the 19th century:
Year18511861187118811891
Population2828382516
Houses551074

The village of Caledon is in the townland of the same name and in 1891 had an area of 45 acres.
The townland contains one Scheduled Historic Monument: a Beam engine.