Clogher is home to the provincial office in northern Ireland for the congregation of the Sisters of mercy. The mercy order employed some of their nuns at saint macartans primary school However the school was actually founded by the sisters of saint Louis in the 1930’s due to the high demand for primary catholic education in the Clogher Area. The sisters of mercy also had ownership of the saint macartans nursing and dementia care home. The sisters of Saint Louis left clogher in the 1970’s and the mercy order continued their work however In the late 1980’s the sisters of mercy were phased out of the school and retired from the job of teaching at the st macartans school due to falling numbers of nuns and the newer curriculum was introduced in ulster because it meant they needed more qualifications. They have since severed most ties with the st macartans convent school but still live in the convent of mercy on the Ballagh road clogher Next to the saint macartans nursing home. The name Clochar refers to something made of stone ; probably on the site of the medieval monastery or a nearby ringfort. Archaeological remains from before the 5th century have been found in the vicinity. Clogher is said to have been the location of a gold-covered paganoracle stone named Cermand Cestach. The story goes that "Cloch-Ór, may have been a ceremonial or oracle stone originally covered in gold sacred to the druids...given to Mac Cairthinn by an old pagan noble, who had harassed him in every possible way until the saint's patient love won the local ruler to the faith." The stone is recorded as being "a curiosity in the porch of the Cathedral of Clogher" in the time of Annalist Cathal Maguire of Fermanagh in the late 15th century. Tighernach of Clones, later succeeded St. Mac Cairthinn as Bishop of Clogher. Clogher has been a religious center since St. Patrick's time and likely before. St. Aedh Mac Cairthinn of Clogher an early disciple and companion of Saint Patrick founded a monastery at the site, which later the Synod of Rathbreasail recognised as an episcopal see. The Cathedral Church of Saint Macartan in the village is now one of two cathedrals of the Church of Ireland diocese of Clogher; the other is at Enniskillen. The Roman Catholic Diocese of Clogher has its cathedral in Monaghan. The meetinghouse of is outside the village in the townland of Carntall. The "City of Clogher" was a rotten borough in the Parliament of Ireland in the gift of the Protestant bishop. The village also gives its name to the Barony of Clogher, one of the original four baronies of County Tyrone.
Transport
Clogher railway station opened on 2 May 1887, but finally closed on 1 January 1942. Clogher also has Ulsterbus services to Omagh and on the 261/X261 between Belfast and Enniskillen.
James Graham Fair, one of the 'Bonanza Kings', was born in the town in 1831
Roisin Walsh, Dublin's first Chief Librarian, was born in Lisnamaghery, Clogher, in 1889
Education
Carntall Primary School
St. Macartan's Convent Primary School
Demography
19th-century population
The population of the village decreased during the 19th century:
Year
1841
1851
1861
1871
1881
1891
Population
702
558
389
242
225
273
Houses
109
94
79
51
61
59
2011 Census
On Census Day the usually resident population of Clogher Settlement was 717 accounting for 0.04% of the NI total.
97.63% were from the white ethnic group;
54.67% belong to or were brought up in the Catholic religion and 42.96% belong to or were brought up in a 'Protestant and Other Christian ' religion; and
Respondents could indicate more than one national identity On Census Day 27 March 2011, in Clogher Settlement, considering the population aged 3 years old and over:
15.81% had some knowledge of Irish;
3.66% had some knowledge of Ulster-Scots; and
7.61% did not have English as their first language.
