Moneymore – Springhill and its walks

Overview

Moneymore sits in a shallow glen in County Londonderry, between Cookstown and Magherafelt, with the slopes of Slieve Gallion rising to the west. About 1,900 people live here, and the settlement keeps the neat grid its 17th-century planners drew for it. Most visitors are really here for one thing – Springhill House, on the edge of the village – but the streets themselves, and a lakeside walk a few miles off, round out an easy half-day.

A planned settlement

The Irish name Muine Mór means ‘large thicket’, a nod to the woodland that once covered the ground. In the early 1600s the Drapers’ Company of London was granted the land and laid Moneymore out as a model plantation town; it’s often cited as the first settlement in Ulster to get a piped water supply. The Conyngham family (later Lenox-Conyngham) ran the estate from the late 17th century until 1957, when they handed Springhill House and its grounds to the National Trust.

The village is older than the plantation in one respect: the Battle of Móin Daire Lothair was fought nearby in 563 AD, between the Northern Uí Néill and the Cruithin. A railway station opened here in 1856 and closed in 1955, one of many small Ulster lines that came and went inside a century.

Springhill House and estate

Springhill House is the anchor. The whitewashed 17th-century manor holds period furniture, family portraits, and a well-known costume collection that runs from a 1740s Court Mantua gown up to the 20th century – and, by long tradition, a ghost. Outside, marked routes thread the estate:

• Sawpit Hill Walk – a short perimeter climb marked by great oaks, with views out to Slieve Gallion on a clear day.
• Beech Walk – a historic path leading up to an 18th-century tower through an avenue of beech trees.
• Snowdrop Walk – at its best in February and early March, when the woodland floor turns white.

One caveat worth knowing before you plan lunch: the café at Springhill is temporarily closed as of the latest National Trust update, so bring a flask or eat in the village. The second-hand bookshop is usually open. Check current admission prices on the National Trust site rather than at the gate.

The village on foot

A self-guided heritage trail links the village’s plantation-era landmarks – the Manor House, the Old Market House, the First Presbyterian Church – with interpretation plaques along the way, some carrying brass inserts you can take a wax rubbing from. Behind the Manor House on High Street, in a Victorian walled garden, the Moneymore Model Village recreates 17th-century rural Ulster in miniature; it’s the stop children tend to remember.

Lough Fea and family days out

A few miles from the village, Lough Fea has a flat four-kilometre track right around the lake, with a children’s play area, toilets and rain shelters, and mountain scenery for the whole loop – the easiest good walk in the area, and buggy-friendly with it. Closer in, the local GAA club plays through the summer, and the village stages a sports day in August with traditional races that draw crowds from across Mid-Ulster.

Practical information

Getting here and nearby stops

Moneymore is reached via the A6 and A31. Ulsterbus routes 110 and 278 serve the village, connecting it to Cookstown, Magherafelt and beyond. For a longer day out, pair Springhill with the Lough Fea loop or a walk on Slieve Gallion.

Time your visit for February if you can, and start on the Snowdrop Walk while the woodland floor is white – then pick up a brass-rubbing at the Manor House and trace the old plantation grid on foot before the light goes.