Eglinton, County Londonderry
Eglinton
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 Eglinton
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| Eglinton shown within Northern Ireland | |
| Population | 3,165 (2001 Census) |
| • Belfast | 58 mi (93 km) |
| District | |
| County | |
| Country | Northern Ireland |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | LONDONDERRY |
| Postcode district | BT47 |
| Dialling code | 028 |
| EU Parliament | Northern Ireland |
| UK Parliament | |
Eglinton (formerly known as Muff) is a village in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It lies 5.5 miles (8.9 km) east-north-east of Derry, to which it serves as a sleeper village, and 9.5 miles (15.3 km) west-south-west of Limavady. Eglinton had a population of 3,165 people in the 2001 Census. It lies within Derry and Strabane district. The City of Derry Airport, also known as Eglinton Aerodrome and formerly as Londonderry Eglinton Airport, lies a short distance from the village.
Eglinton still has an elegant church, former market house, trees around a green and four oaks which started life in Windsor Great Park. The River Muff flows through the village with the afforested Muff Glen being situated just south of the village. At an embankment of Lough Foyle, birdwatchers can find the feeding ground of many seabirds and waders on the mud flats at low tide.
The village of Eglinton was originally known as (the) Muff, and alternatively as (the) Moigh or Mough. These come from Irish Magh / an Mhagh, meaning "the plain" and were the names of the townland in which the village began. The village was founded in 1619 by the Grocers' Company of London. As part of the Plantation of Ulster, James I had granted a large area (15,900 acres) of Faughanvale parish to the Grocers in 1609. The Grocers did not farm it themselves but leased this area to Edward Rone of Essex in 1615 with the stipulation that he built a bawn and 12 houses by 1619. The yearly rent being £116-13s-4d. Rone died in 1618 but his brother-in-law Robert Harrington took over and by 1619 a castle and bawn and 8 houses were erected in the townland of Muff (now Eglinton) and by 1622 the stipulated building was completed
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