Creggan, Derry

Creggan (Irish: An Creagán; meaning stony place) is a large housing estate in Derry in Northern Ireland. It was the first housing estate built in Derry specifically to provide housing for the Catholic majority. It is situated on the outskirts of the city and is built on a hill. The name Creggan is derived from the Gaelic word creagán meaning stony place. The housing estate is very close to the border with County Donegal. The estate is often referred to locally as the Creggan.

Education

Primary

• Holy Child Primary School
• St John's Primary School

Secondary

• St Cecilia's College
• St. Joseph's Boys' School
• St. Mary's Girls School^[1]
• St. Peter's High School

Places of interest

• Graveyard - Derry's largest graveyard.
• Creggan Country Park - recreation centre.
• Murals commemorating the 1972 Olympics in Munich.^[2]
• Bishop's Field - Astro-Turf pitch.
• Corn Beef Tin - Ration Distribution Point (Free Meat Chunks in gravy)

Notable people from Creggan

• Mickey Bradley, bass guitarist with The Undertones
• Liam Ball - Irish Olympic swimmer
• Dana – Pop star, Ireland's first Eurovision song contest winner and politician
• Michael Devine - Hunger Striker.^[3]
• Don Mullan - Author.
• Professor Dean Eugene Power - Physicist with BSc (Hons) MSc PHd from Liverpool John Moores University
• Charlie Nash - Boxer.
• Raymond Gilmour - undercover Royal Ulster Constabulary (R.U.C.) member (also known as a Supergrass) who prevented Irish National Liberation Army (I.N.L.A.) and Provisional IRA attacks throughout The Troubles.
• Terry Harkin - International Footballer
• James McClean - Professional Footballer

2001 Census

Two wards in Derry have the name Creggan- Creggan Central and Creggan South.

Creggan Central and South are classified by the NI Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) as being within Derry Urban Area (DUA). On Census day (29 April 2001) there were 3,504 people living in Creggan Central and 2,453 people living in Creggan South.

Of those living in Creggan Central:

• 34.1% were aged under 16 years and 9.1% were aged 90 and over
• 46.5% of the population were male and 53.5% were female
• 98.7% were from a Catholic background and 0.9% were from a Protestant background
• 12.5% of people aged 16–74 were unemployed

Of those living in Creggan South:

• 30.2% were aged under 16 years and 15.6% were aged 60 and over
• 45.6% of the population were male and 54.4% were female
• 98.8% were from a Catholic background and 0.9% were from a Protestant background
• 10.0% of people aged 16–74 were unemployed

For more details see: NI Neighbourhood Information Service

NIMDM Deprivation 2005

Of 582 wards in Northern Ireland, Creggan Central is the 11th most deprived while Creggan South is ranked 15th.

For more details see: NI Neighbourhood Information Service

Further reading

Extracts from - 'Creggan: more than a history' by Michael McGuinness and Garbhan Downey (2000). ISBN 0-946451-59-1.

'Off Broadway' by Garbhan Downey (Guildhall Press, 2005). A series of humorous short stories set in post-ceasefire Creggan.

References

1. ^ St. Mary's College Retrieved 28 December 2006.
2. ^ A Directory of Murals - Album 34 Dr Jonathan McCormick. Retrieved 28 December 2006.
3. ^ Hunger Strikers of 1981 Published in IRIS, Vol. 1, No. 2, November 1981. IRIS was a publication of the Sinn Féin Foreign Affairs Bureau. Retrieved 28 December 2006.

External links

• Case study - Creggan Enterprises Limited Social Enterprise Coalition. Retrieved 28 December 2006.