Overview
Augher (Irish: Eochair, ‘edge’ or ‘border’) is a village of 391 people in the Clogher Valley of south County Tyrone, six miles from the County Monaghan border. The A4 runs straight through it, linking Dungannon and Enniskillen, so most travellers meet Augher through a windscreen. It’s worth pulling in: the hill to the north holds a Neolithic passage tomb, and the old railway station now serves a full Irish breakfast. If you make one stop, climb Knockmany for the tomb and the view over the valley.
History and the borough charter
Augher’s position was worth fighting over early. During the Nine Years’ War it served as a garrison for Lord Mountjoy, Elizabeth I’s Lord Deputy, as he worked to break the Earl of Tyrone’s forces.
After the war, the Plantation of Ulster granted 315 acres around Augher to Sir Thomas Ridgway, the former Treasurer at War for Ireland, in 1613. Ridgway developed the settlement quickly enough that King James I gave it a borough charter within two years, and the borough returned two members to the Irish Parliament until the Act of Union in 1801. The castle and estate later passed, through Sir James Erskine, to the Richardson family, who held it well into the 19th century.
Augher also has a sporting pedigree out of proportion to its size. Augher St Macartan’s GAC took the Tyrone senior football championship in 1976, 1982 and 1985, and produced county coach Fergal McCann and former captain Eugene McKenna. And the first Catholic Archbishop of New York, John Hughes, was born in the townland of Annaloghan just outside the village.
Spur Royal Castle
The most visible reminder of that past is Spur Royal Castle. Sir Thomas Ridgway built the original fortified house in the years after his 1613 grant, and it was held successfully during the Irish Rebellion of 1641 before burning down in 1689. What stands today is largely the work of an 1832 restoration and extension, which reused parts of the original bawn wall. It’s now a Grade A listed building on the edge of a lake, its grounds listed in the Heritage Gardens Inventory of Northern Ireland and still holding a historic kitchen garden with raised beds and herb borders.
Visitor information
- Admission: Free to view from the surrounding fields and public paths.
- Access: A short, firm track leads from the village car park to a viewpoint over the ruins and lake; the surrounding fields are uneven underfoot.
- Parking: Free roadside parking near the viewpoint, plus a small car park in the village centre.
Knockmany and the passage tomb
Just north of the village, Knockmany Forest Park spreads over the former Cecil Manor estate. The manor house is gone, but a Douglas fir avenue still marks the old drive, and mature woodland rings a small lake popular with anglers.
The draw is the Knockmany Passage Grave at the summit – a Neolithic cairn decorated with megalithic art. Since 1959 the stones have been protected inside a concrete chamber, and you can normally only see them through the entrance gates; there’s no going inside. Park at the bottom of the hill and walk up. To get past the gates, book onto the Spirit of Knockmany guided walk (about 6 km, two hours, moderate fitness), whose keyholder unlocks the tomb; it starts from the main car park, where there are toilets.
The forest’s marked trails suit families and dog walkers, on mostly level ground that turns muddy after rain, so bring boots and keep dogs under control.
Augher Station House Café
The café is worth the stop for the building alone. It opened as Augher railway station on 2 May 1887, a stop on the narrow-gauge Clogher Valley Railway, and closed on 1 January 1942. After years of other uses – including a spell as a coffee shop, Rosamunde’s – it was refurbished and reopened as the Station House Café.
It’s a reliable spot for a full Irish, homemade filled soda bread, or a sausage-and-chip lunch, with some of the railway heritage still on the walls and level access to the main dining room. Hours shift through the week, so check before making a detour.
- Phone: 028 8554 8888
- Address: 2 Crossowen Road, Augher, BT77 0AX
St Patrick’s Chair and Well, and other curiosities
On the outskirts of the village sits a large 2 m sandstone seat known as St Patrick’s Chair and Well – also called the Druids’ Chair or St Brigid’s Well – tucked in woodland, with a well beside it said to have healing powers; the site was recently given protected status. For something odder, the Cooneen Ghost House nearby is reputedly the only house in Ireland to have had an exorcism, its story built around a troublesome poltergeist.
Practical information
Getting there Augher is easiest by car, on the A4 between Dungannon and Enniskillen. Belfast International, the nearest major airport, is about an hour and fifteen minutes away via the M1 and A4. Public transport is thin – the nearest regular buses run through Dungannon and Fivemiletown.
Where to stay Augher itself is small: Campbell’s and Knockmany View Glamping are in the village. For more choice, Ballygawley and Fivemiletown have self-catering cottages, and the 4-star Corick House Hotel & Spa is in nearby Clogher.
Local services The village has a post office (Monday to Friday 9am–1pm and 1.30pm–5.30pm, Saturday 9am–2pm), a primary school and a few independent shops. Mid Ulster Council runs visitor information centres in Dungannon and Cookstown with maps and walking advice for the Clogher Valley.
Fuel up at the Station House Café before the climb to Knockmany – the filled soda bread is the reliable order.