Loughtee Lower

Loughtee Lower (Irish: Lucht Tí Íochtarach), or Lower Loughtee, is a barony in County Cavan, Ireland.^[1][2][3] Baronies were mainly cadastral rather than administrative units.^[4] They acquired modest local taxation and spending functions in the 19th century before being superseded by the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898.^[5]

Loughtee Lower Lucht Tí Íochtarach (Irish)
Barony
Centre of Milltown, County Cavan
Barony map of County Cavan, 1900; Loughtee Lower is in the north, coloured pale yellow.
Sovereign state	Ireland
Province	Ulster
County	Cavan
Area
• Total	114.28 km2 (44.12 sq mi)

Etymology

Loughtee Lower takes its name from the Irish Lucht Tí, Early Modern Irish lucht tighe Még Mathghamhna (Annals of the Four Masters), "people of the household of Mac Mahon"; presumably the land was allocated to the vassals of the McMahon tribe.^[6][7][8]

Geography

Loughtee Lower is located in the north of County Cavan, on the River Erne and south of the Woodford River.^[9]

History

Map of Breifne in AD 700; Lr. Loughtee Lower is seen near to the Masraige territory.

The Ó Faircheallaigh (Farrelly) and MacGaghrans (Magaherans) were ruling Gaelic Irish tribes in the area; they were hereditary coarbs and erenachs of Drumlane Abbey, located near here.^[10]

The barony of Loughtee was created by 1609 in the Plantation of Ulster, and was archaically spelled Loughty.^[11] Its alluvial soil was recognised as the best in Cavan, and it was originally allocated to the Crown, then later to undertakers.^[12]

It was split into Lower and Upper parts in 1821.^[13]

List of settlements

Below is a list of settlements in Loughtee Lower:

• Belturbet
• Milltown