Rosslea
Rosslea or Roslea (from Irish: Ros Liath, meaning "grey wood or wooded height")[1] is a small village in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland, near the border with County Monaghan in the Republic of Ireland. It stands on the River Finn and is beset by small natural lakes. Roslea Forest is nearby. In the 2011 Census it had a population of 528 people.
Rosslea
| |
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Roslea parish church | |
Rosslea Location within Northern Ireland | |
Population | 528 (2011 Census) |
District | |
County | |
Country | Northern Ireland |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Postcode district | BT |
Dialling code | 028 |
UK Parliament | |
NI Assembly | |
History
There were several incidents in the Rosslea area during the Irish War of Independence. On 21 February 1921, a group of Special Constables and Ulster Volunteers burned ten homes owned by Irish nationalists and a priest's house in Rosslea as revenge for the shooting of a Special Constable. A UVF member mistakenly shot and killed himself during the attacks.[2] On the night of 21 March, the Irish Republican Army attacked the homes of up to sixteen Special Constables in the Rosslea district, killing three and wounding others. IRA volunteers were also wounded and one was captured.[3] When news of these killings reached Belfast, gunfire broke out in the York Street area and a Catholic civilian was killed.[4]
Rosslea was one of several Catholic border villages in Fermanagh that would have been transferred to the Irish Free State had the recommendations of the Irish Boundary Commission been enacted in 1925.[5]
For more information see The Troubles in Rosslea, which includes a list of incidents in Roslea during the Troubles (1960s–1990s) resulting in two or more fatalities.
Transport
Ulsterbus route 95C provides a commuter service to Enniskillen with one journey to the county town in the morning returning in the evening. There is no service on Saturdays and Sundays. Onward connections are available at Enniskillen. Due to proposed cuts to bus services route 95C may be withdrawn in 2015.[6][7]
Sport
The local Gaelic football club is Roslea Shamrocks, founded in 1888, they are the third most successful club in County Fermanagh (after Teemore Shamrocks and Lisnaskea Emmetts).
2001 Census
Roslea is classified as a small village or hamlet by the NI Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) (i.e. with population between 500 and 1,000 people). On Census day (29 April 2001) there were 554 people living in Roslea. Of these:
- 25.0% were aged under 16 years and 16.8% were aged 60 and over
- 46.8% of the population were male and 53.3% were female
- 97.5% were from a Catholic background and 2.0% were from a Protestant background
- 10.6% of people aged 16–74 were unemployed
2011 Census
On Census Day (27 March 2011) the usually resident population of Rosslea Settlement was 528 accounting for 0.03% of the NI total.
- 99.43% were from the white (including Irish Traveller) ethnic group;
- 93.18% belong to or were brought up in the Catholic religion and 5.11% belong to or were brought up in a 'Protestant and Other Christian (including Christian related)' religion; and
- 6.82% indicated that they had a British national identity, 66.86% had an Irish national identity and 23.11% had a Northern Irish national identity*.
Respondents could indicate more than one national identity
On Census Day 27 March 2011, in Rosslea Settlement, considering the population aged 3 years old and over:
- 29.53% had some knowledge of Irish;
- 0.39% had some knowledge of Ulster-Scots; and
- 4.13% did not have English as their first language.
Education
References
- Place Names NI
- Lawlor, Pearse. The Outrages: The IRA and the Ulster Special Constabulary in the Border Campaign. Mercier Press, 2011. pp.115-116
- Lawlor, Pearse. The Outrages, pp.117-119
- https://web.archive.org/web/20100330024621/http://www.dcu.ie/~foxs/irhist/march_1921.htm. Archived from the original on 30 March 2010. Retrieved 26 March 2010. Missing or empty
|title=
(help) - "Irish Boundary Commission Report". National Archives. 1925. p. 140-43.
- "All Enniskillen town bus services facing the chop". Fermanaghherald.com. 11 March 2015. Retrieved 26 February 2016.
- "Ulsterbus services consultation response deadline extension – April 17". Translink.co.uk. 31 March 2015. Archived from the original on 4 October 2015. Retrieved 26 February 2016.