Historic Building Details

HB Ref No:
HB11/07/008

Address :
Milligan Cross Drumragh Graveyard Blackfort Road Omagh Co Tyrone BT78 1PR

Townland:
Drumragh

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Survey 2:
B2

Date of Listing:
08/07/1991 00:00:00

Date of De-listing:

Current Use:
Memorial

Former Use
Memorial

Conservation Area:
No

Industrial Archaeology:
No

Vernacular:
No

Thatched:
No

Monument:
Yes

Derelict:
No

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OS Map No:
138-9

IG Ref:
H4568 6984

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Owner Category

Local Govt

Exterior Description And Setting

Freestanding memorial, erected c. 1916, located within family plot within Drumragh Graveyard to the west side of Blackfort Road. Memorial consists of rockfaced granite plinth surmounted by granite cross. East elevation of plinth has inscription; ‘In loving memory of Seaton F Milligan MRIA died 6th April 1916 aged 80 years. His wife Charlotte Elizabeth Died 13th January 1916 aged 72 years. Also their children Charlotted Olivia Fox Died 25th March 1916 aged 52 years. Edward M Milligan … Maud Milligan…’. Recessed panel to centre of cross contains carved Celtic cross motif; west elevation is blank. Memorial set within family plot enclosed by low plinth walling; short square piers to corners. At right, plinth wall inscribed ‘George died in infancy, nurse Mary Walker died 1874. At front of plot, memorial stone reads ‘Alice L Milligan. She loved no other place but Ireland. Born Omagh September 1866 Died Omagh April 1953’. Broken headstone within plot reads ‘To the memory of William H Milligan….1905’. Plot located to the south-west corner of Drumragh Graveyard; selection of nineteenth- and twentieth-century gravestones and memorials. Graveyard bounded to road at east by rubble walling, accessed through square sandstone pillars supporting pair of iron gates. Old graveyard to south contains ruins of Drumragh church. Roof N/A Walling Granite Windows N/A Rainwater goods N/A

Architects

Not Known

Historical Information

The ‘Old Church’ is captioned on the first edition OS Map of 1833. The second edition OS Map of 1854 captions it as ‘Drumragh Church (in ruins)’ and ‘Grave Yard’. OS Memoirs makes the following remarks; “Drumragh old church is pleasantly situated on the river of that name, and has the walls and gables yet standing. No account can be obtained respecting its history, except that it was burned in Cromwell’s time, rebuilt and is now a ruin.” (p.108) Rowan comments; “The ruins of Drumragh Church…in an old graveyard just after Drumragh Bridge consist of the walls of a rectangular early 17th century building reputedly burned by Cromwellian troops. The side walls are low, but both gables stand. Double-chamfered window reveals.” the church is a scheduled monument. The memorial marks the Milligan family plot. Seaton Milligan was an Omagh businessman who was a prominent member of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland. The most celebrated member of the family, Seaton’s daughter Alice Milligan, is also commemorated. She was a poet, playwright, novelist, Celtic scholar and Irish nationalist; friend to Roger Casement and W B Yeats. Her most famous poem is entitled “When I was a Little Girl” When I was a little girl In a garden playing, A thing was often said To chide us, delaying When after sunny hours At twilight’s falling Down through the garden walks Came our old nurse calling – “Come in! for it’s growing late And the grass will wet ye! Come in! or when it’s dark The Fenians will get ye!” (Johnston 1994) References: Primary Sources 1. PRONI OS/6/6/43/1-3 – Ordnance Survey Maps (1833, 1854, 1906) 2. Day, A and McWilliams, P eds. ‘OS Memoirs of Ireland, Parishes of County Tyrone I, 1821, 1823, 1831-36, Vol 5’ Institute of Irish Studies, 1990 Secondary Sources 1. Johnston, S K ‘Alice – A Life of Alice Milligan’, Colourpoint Press, 1994 2. Rowan, A ‘The Buildings of Ireland: North West Ulster’, Penguin Books, 1979

Criteria for Listing

Architectural Interest

A. Style B. Proportion C. Ornamentation J. Setting

Historic Interest

V. Authorship X. Local Interest

Evaluation

Freestanding memorial, erected c. 1916, located within family plot within Drumragh Graveyard to the west side of Blackfort Road. The memorial, consisting of plinth surmounted by a cross displays ornate Celtic stone carving. As the burial place of a prominent local poet who had connections to Yeats, the structure is of historic interest as a link with the wider world of the Celtic Twilight.

General Comments

Date of Survey

02 February 2009