The village hosts some of the district's key events each year, including the Derg Vintage Rally, Dergfest music festival, Red River Festival and the traditional Apple Fair.
Castlederg was a traveller's stop along the ancient pilgrimage route to Station Island on Lough Derg. The town boasts ancient ruins and monastic settlements.
History
Early history
Historically the area around the town was a site of contestation between the territories of Cenél nEógain (later Tír Eoghain) and Connail (later Tír Chonaill – mostly modern County Donegal). This rivalry between the two powers continued until the 16th century when they combined in the defence of Ulster against the encroaching Elizabethan armies. The Castlederg area, lying within the new barony of Omagh, was granted to the English Attorney-General for Ireland, Sir John Davies. Two castles were constructed on his proportion, Castle Curlews (Kirlish Castle) outside Drumquin and Derg Castle, the ruins of which can be seen today on the northern bank of the River Derg at Castlederg.[6] A bronze-age cauldron was found at Castlederg in 2011.[7]
The population of the village increased during the 19th century:[3][10]
2011 Census
Castlederg is classified as an intermediate settlement by the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) (i.e. with a population between 2,500 and 4,999 people).[11]On Census Day (27 March 2011) the usually resident population of Castlederg Settlement was 2,976, accounting for 0.16% of the NI total.[12] Of these:
19.72% were under 16 years old and 16.97% were aged 65 and above;
48.42% of the population were male and 51.58% were female; and
55.36% were from a Catholic community background and 40.22% were from a 'Protestant and Other Christian (including Christian related)' community background.
36.56% indicated that they had a British national identity, 34.54% had an Irish national identity, and 30.51% had a Northern Irish national identity.
2021 Census
On Census Day (21 March 2021) the usually resident population of Castlederg Settlement was 2,980.[5] Of these:
20.20% were aged under 16, 60.64% were aged between 16 and 65, and 19.16% were aged 66 and over.[13]
52.75% of the population were female and 47.25% were male.[14]
57.25% belong to or were brought up Catholic, 38.19% belong to or were brought up Protestant (including other Christian denominations), 0.94% belonged to or were brought up in an 'other' religion, and 3.62% did not adhere to or had no religion.[15]
39.83% indicated they had an Irish national identity,[16] 33.96% indicated they had a British national identity,[17] 32.38% indicated they had a Northern Irish national identity,[18] and .4.46% indicated they had an 'other' national identity.[19] (respondents could indicate more than one national identity)
13.36% had some knowledge of Irish (Gaeilge) and 10% had some knowledge of Ulster Scots.[20][21]
Climate
2010 and 2021 temperature records
Castlederg recorded Northern Ireland's lowest-ever recorded temperature of −18.7 °C (−1.7 °F) on the morning of 23 December 2010.[23] The town recorded Northern Ireland's highest-ever recorded temperature of 31.3 °C (88.3 °F) on 21 July 2021. On 22 July, Armagh reported 31.4 °C (88.5 °F) which has since been rejected by the UK Met Office, meaning Castlederg holds both the highest and lowest temperature records in Northern Ireland. Prior to the 21st and 22nd, the record was also broken on 17 July 2021 with a value of 31.2 °C (88.2 °F) at Ballywatticock.[24][25]
^"Preview data for Age | NISRA Flexible Table Builder". build.nisra.gov.uk. Retrieved 28 March 2024.
^"Preview data for Sex (MS-A07) | NISRA Flexible Table Builder". build.nisra.gov.uk. Retrieved 28 March 2024.
^"Religion or religion brought up in". NISRA. Retrieved 17 August 2023.
^"Preview data for National Identity (Irish) | NISRA Flexible Table Builder". build.nisra.gov.uk. Retrieved 28 March 2024.
^"Preview data for National Identity (British) | NISRA Flexible Table Builder". build.nisra.gov.uk. Retrieved 28 March 2024.
^"Preview data for National Identity (Northern Irish) | NISRA Flexible Table Builder". build.nisra.gov.uk. Retrieved 28 March 2024.
^"Preview data for National identity (person based) – basic detail (classification 1) (MS-B15) | NISRA Flexible Table Builder". build.nisra.gov.uk. Retrieved 28 March 2024.
^"Preview data for Knowledge of Irish (MS-B05) | NISRA Flexible Table Builder". build.nisra.gov.uk. Retrieved 28 March 2024.
^"Preview data for Knowledge of Ulster-Scots (MS-B08) | NISRA Flexible Table Builder". build.nisra.gov.uk. Retrieved 28 March 2024.
^"Castlederg 1981–2010 averages". Met Office. Retrieved 17 May 2021.
^"Northern ireland diary of highlights December 2010" Archived 5 April 2011 at the Wayback Machine. Met Office. Retrieved 14 August 2011
^"Extreme heat: NI records hottest day ever for second time in week". BBC News. Retrieved 21 July 2021.
^"UK climate extremes". Met Office. Retrieved 26 September 2021.
^"The District Electoral Areas (Northern Ireland)". Retrieved 20 November 2018.
^"Edwards Primary School". Retrieved 20 November 2018.
^"Gaelsoil na Deirg". Archived from the original on 12 December 2021. Retrieved 20 November 2018.
^"Killen Primary School". Retrieved 20 November 2018.
^"Saint Patrick's Primary School". Retrieved 20 November 2018.
^"Castlederg High School". Retrieved 20 November 2018.
^Hanna, Gareth (26 May 2021). "Who is Conor Bradley? All you need to know about Liverpool star named in the Northern Ireland squad". Belfast Telegraph. Retrieved 24 September 2021.
^"Pressing matters: Coming to terms with the Troubles and the past. Big Girl Small Town author Michelle Gallen revisits her Border town in her new novel, Factory Girls]]". Retrieved 18 March 2024.
This article contains quotations from this source, which is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0. © Crown copyright.