Derrygonnelly is of ancient origin taking its name from doire or grove of the O'Connelly's it was a site of inauguration for Irish kings. Derrygonnelly was planted by General Archdale as a Plantation town. The area hosted fairs from the late 18th century but the village itself only really developed as late as 1812 when the long, flat main street was built along the Sillees River. The main road to Enniskillen was known as the Famine Road as it was made during the 1846 famine as a relief scheme. The townland of Derrygonnelly contains two Scheduled Historic Monuments: Dunbar manor plantation castle, grid ref: H11871 52475 and a 17th-century church, grid ref: H1208 5240.
Places of interest
The old creamery in Derrygonnelly has been converted into a residential environmental education centre, Tir Navar, run by the Field Studies Council. Approximately one mile to the northwest of the village are the ruins of Carrick Church; built by Gilbert O'Flanagan in 1483 "In Honour of God and Mary". The church's graveyard was used by the locals until around 1930. Also just north of the village is a small ruined church that combines medieval and Renaissance features, built in 1627 by Sir John Dunbar. His coat of arms is located over the doorway. Other 17th-century ruins in the nearby area include Monea Castle and Tully Castle, the latter having been sacked and burned by Rory Maguire on Christmas Day during the 1641 rebellion. As well as Lower Lough Erne to the north, Derrygonnelly is surrounded by small lakes and is split by the Sillees River, which is popular with canoeists. outside the village towards Garrison is Correl Glen and Lough Navar Forest Drive. The Forest Drive is a walk through Lough Navar Forest and has a viewpoint at the top which overlooks Lower Lough Erne, as far as the Donegal coast to the west and the Sperrin Mountains in County Tyrone to the north and east. On the opposite side of the road lies Correl Glen, which features another walking route, with some small waterfalls near the entrance.
The local Gaelic football team are the Derrygonnelly Harps who play on their home ground of Canon Maguire Park. The club was founded in 1924. The team have won three New York Gold Cups, one in 1995, 2004 and the most recent in 2009. There are teams fielded at every level of men's and ladies' football.
2001 Census
Derrygonnelly is classified as a small village or hamlet by the . On Census day there were 594 people living in Derrygonnelly. Of these:
23.6% were aged under 16 and 19.7% were aged 60 and over
50.3% of the population were male and 49.7% were female
77.4% were from a Catholic background and 20.1% were from a Protestant background
4.0% of people aged 16–74 were unemployed.
For more details see:
2011 Census
On Census Day the usually resident population of Derrygonnelly Settlement was 680 accounting for 0.04% of the NI total.
75.88% belong to or were brought up in the Catholic religion and 20.15% belong to or were brought up in a 'Protestant and Other Christian ' religion; and
19.85% indicated that they had a British national identity, 46.62% had an Irish national identity and 34.85% had a Northern Irish national identity*.
