Fintona is a village located in
County TyroneCounty Tyrone is one of the traditional counties of Ireland. It is located within the province of Ulster and is part of Northern Ireland....
,
Northern IrelandNorthern Ireland is a part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and it is situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
. It is the second largest settlement in the
Omagh District CouncilOmagh District Council is a Local Council in County Tyrone in Northern Ireland. It has headquarters in the town of Omagh, the county town of Tyrone. The Council area is about 440 square miles, making it the second largest local council area in Northern Ireland with a population just over 50,000...
area, after
OmaghOmagh is the county town of County Tyrone in Ireland, it is on the outskirts of the largest city in Tyrone,Gortin. situated where the rivers Drumragh and Camowen meet to form the Strule. The town, which is the largest in the county, has an estimated population of 22,182...
itself. Its population as of 2009 is estimated to be 1,406.
History
This area has known human habitation for around 4,000 years and there are numerous examples of burial places,
standing stoneStanding stones, orthostats, liths or more commonly, megaliths because of their large and cumbersome size, are solitary stones set vertically in the ground and come in many different varieties. Where they appear in groups together, often in a circular, oval, or horseshoe formation, or henge. They...
s,
stone circleA stone circle is an ancient monument of standing stones. It is not always precisely circular, often forming an ellipse, or more rarely a setting of four stones laid on an arc of a circle. The size and number of stones in a 'circle' varies from example to example...
s and graves in the area around the town. The
O'Neill-People:Surname* O'Neill , surname etymology; people with the nameGiven name*O'Neill Spencer, , a jazz drummer and singer.*O'Neill Donaldson, is an English former footballer....
s built a fortress here in the 15th century, but eventually the town passed in 1668 into the possession of the Eccles family.
Transport
- Fintona is linked to Omagh by the B122 road. This connects to the A5 Omagh to Ballygawley road 2 miles (3 km) outside Omagh. Recently there has been controversy over the state of a 0.5 mile stretch of this road, known as the "green spot", around 3 miles from Omagh. In 2005, modification works to the turn off to Fintona on the B122 involved the use of some soil removed from the site of the Omagh throughpass. During these works, part of the road began to subside, causing cracks and holes to appear. Despite repeated filling in and resurfacing, the road continues to disintegrate. This has caused great concern to those who use the road on a regular basis.
- There are no trains linking to Fintona. Public transport
Public transport comprises passenger transportation services which are available for use by the general public, as opposed to modes for private use such as automobiles or vehicles for hire.Public transport services are usually funded by fares charged to each passenger, with varying levels of subsidy...
to Omagh is by busA bus is a road vehicle designed to carry passengers. A bus seats a maximum of 8 to 300 passengers...
service (No.87) run by TranslinkTranslink is the brand name of the Northern Ireland Transport Holding Company , a public corporation in Northern Ireland which provides the public transport in the region. NI Railways, Ulsterbus and Metro are all part of Translink....
which operates six times a day on weekdays & five times on Saturdays (no service on Sunday). At Omagh connections can then be made to towns and cities across Northern IrelandNorthern Ireland is a part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and it is situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
and the Irish RepublicThe Irish Republic was a unilaterally declared independent state of Ireland proclaimed in the Easter Rising of 1916 and formally established on 21 January 1919 by Dáil Éireann...
.
- Fintona railway station opened on 5 June 1853 and Fintona Junction railway station opened on 1 May 1856. Both stations were finally closed on 1 October 1957.
Horse tram
One of the best known symbols of Fintona is the horse drawn
tramA tram, tramcar, trolley, trolleycar, or streetcar is a railborne vehicle, of lighter weight and construction than a conventional train, designed for the transport of passengers within, close to, or between villages, towns and/or cities, on tracks running primarily on streets...
(or van to the locals) that took passengers from Fintona railway station to Fintona Junction station one mile away on the main Omagh to
EnniskillenEnniskillen is the county town in County Fermanagh. It is located almost exactly in the centre of the county between the Upper and Lower sections of Lough Erne. It had a population of 13,599 in the 2001 Census...
railway. The name of the horse was always "Dick". The "van" itself had three classes of travel available on it, first and second class passengers travelled inside while third class travellers sat exposed to the elements on the top. The tram made its last journey on 30 September 1957 when the Omagh to Enniskillen line closed, and with it, Fintona's rail connections to the rest of
IrelandIreland is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island in the world. It lies to the north-west of continental Europe and is surrounded by hundreds of islands and islets. To the east of Ireland, separated by the Irish Sea, is the island of Great Britain...
. When retired, it was the last existing example of a horse drawn tram in public service in the UK and Ireland. The "van" now lies at the Ulster Transport Museum.
When entering the village, the signs greeting you to the village include a
silhouetteA silhouette is a view of an object or scene consisting of the outline and a featureless interior, with the silhouetted object usually being black...
of the horsetram with "Dick" pulling the tram along with the driver and
conductor-Train conductor :The conductor is the railway employee charged with the management of a freight, passenger, or various other types of train, and is also the direct supervisor of the train's "Train Crew" . All train crew members on board the train work under his or her direction...
on board. In recent years this image has been used as a symbol or crest of the village for identity.
Both the Fintona branch (with its horse tram) and the main line through Fintona Junction were part of the
Great Northern Railway (Ireland)The Great Northern Railway was an Irish railway company formed in 1876 by a merger of the Irish North Western Railway , Northern Railway of Ireland, and Ulster Railway. The Ulster Railway was the GNRI's oldest constituent, having opened between Belfast and Lisburn in 1839 and extended in stages...
.
Geography
Fintona lies about halfway between two of Ulster's notable natural landmarks, the Sperrin Mountains to the north and
Lough ErneLough Erne refers to two lakes in Northern Ireland, which are in effect widened sections of the River Erne. The waterway is mostly situated in County Fermanagh. The river begins by flowing north, and then curves west into the Atlantic. The southern-most lake is further up the river and so is named...
to the south. Omagh, the county town of Tyrone, lies 8 miles (13 km) north. Enniskillen is 19 miles (30 km) south-west,
BelfastBelfast is the capital of and the largest city in Northern Ireland, a constituent country of the United Kingdom. It is the seat of devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly. It is the largest urban area in the province of Ulster, and the second largest city on the island of...
66 miles (106 km) east and
DublinDublin is the largest city and capital of Ireland. It is officially known in Irish as Baile Átha Cliath or Áth Cliath ; the English name comes from the Irish Dubh Linn meaning "black pool". It is located near the midpoint of Ireland's east coast, at the mouth of the River Liffey and at the...
108 miles (173 km) south-east.
The village itself lies across several gentle hills, including the centre of the village itself at Main Street. The street rises to the hill's summit at its centre with both ends at the foot. There are small pockets of level ground, chiefly in the Ecclesville Demesne. Halfway between Fintona and
FivemiletownFivemiletown, known before the Plantation of Ulster as Ballylurgan , is a village in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is situated 16 miles east of Enniskillen and 26 miles west-south-west of Dungannon, on the A4 Enniskillen-to-Dungannon road. Its population as of 2009 is estimated to be 1,128...
(nine miles south east) the land rises significantly where Murley Mountain lies. This mountain marks the western edge of the Clogher Valley, and rises to a peak of 312 metres (1024 ft) above sea level. On the summit is the Lendrums Bridge
wind farmA wind farm is a group of wind turbines in the same location used for production of electric power. Individual turbines are interconnected with a medium voltage power collection system and communications network...
, one of the largest in Ireland, with 20 turbines. Another 10 are planned for neighbouring Hunter's Hill. Murley Mountain's location is lonely and exposed, especially to prevailing south-westerly winds. This makes it a prime site for wind-generated power.
Agriculture plays a special role in the economy of Fintona. Much of the farming is
cattleCattle are the most common type of large domesticated ungulates. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae, are the most widespread species of the genus Bos, and are most commonly classified collectively as Bos primigenius...
based involved meat and milk production, with some sheep rearing, particularly on higher ground. There are also a number of pig farms in the area. The land and climate does not lend itself to
arableAgronomy is the science and technology of using plants for food, fuel, feed, and fiber. Agronomy encompasses work in the areas of plant genetics, plant physiology, meteorology, and soil science. Agronomy is the application of a combination of sciences like biology, chemistry, ecology, earth...
farming, but some
maizeMaize , is a herbaceous plant domesticated in Mesoamerica and subsequently spread throughout the American continents...
is grown. This does not ripen and is not intended for human consumption, but is used to boost the
proteinProteins are organic compounds made of amino acids arranged in a linear chain and folded into a globular form. The amino acids in a polymer chain are joined together by the peptide bonds between the carboxyl and amino groups of adjacent amino acid residues...
content of local cattle feed. On higher ground approaching the summit of Murley Mountain, there are also peat bogs.
A small river known as the "Quiggery Water" flows through Fintona, with bridges crossing it at Kiln Street and Mill Street. This river then joins with the Ballynahatty Water to form the Drumragh River, which in turn joins the Camowen River at Omagh to form the River Strule.
Sport and leisure
- There are several sports clubs situated in Fintona, which include Fintona Tennis
Tennis is a sport played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a strung racquet to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court....
Club, Fintona CyclingCycling is an activity most commonly performed on a bicycle - when it is it is also referred to as bicycling or simply biking. It is the use of the bicycle, unicycle , tricycles , quadracycles , and other similar wheeled human-powered vehicles for the purpose of transport, as a form of...
Club and Fintona BadmintonBadminton is a racquet sport played by either two opposing players or two opposing pairs , who take positions on opposite halves of a rectangular court that is divided by a net. Players score points by striking a shuttlecock with their racquet so that it passes over the net and lands in their...
Club. Two indoor bowls clubs are also in existence. The Fintona GolfGolf is a precision club-and-ball sport, in which competing players , using many types of clubs, attempt to hit balls into each hole on a golf course while employing the fewest number of strokes. Golf is one of the few ball games that does not require a standardized playing area...
Club, situated next to the Ecclesville Demesne, is regarded by many as one of the finest nine hole golf courses in IrelandIreland is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island in the world. It lies to the north-west of continental Europe and is surrounded by hundreds of islands and islets. To the east of Ireland, separated by the Irish Sea, is the island of Great Britain...
.
- Partly thanks to the number of public houses in Fintona (no less than 10), darts
Darts is a form of sport where darts are thrown at a circular target hung on a wall. Though various different boards and games have been used in the past, the term 'darts' usually now refers to a standardized game involving a specific board design and set of rules...
, poolEight-ball, sometimes called stripes and solids and, more rarely, bigs and littles or highs and lows, is a form of pool popular in much of the world, and the subject of international amateur and professional competition...
and snookerSnooker is a cue sport that is played on a large baize-covered table with pockets in each of the four corners and in the middle of each of the long side cushions. A regulation table is . It is played using a cue and snooker balls: one white , 15 worth one point each, and six balls of different ...
also prove popular.
- The Fintona Swifts Football
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of eleven players using a spherical ball...
Club field two teams in the Fermanagh & Western Junior Football league. Home games are not played in Fintona, instead they are played at Cranny Bridge in OmaghOmagh is the county town of County Tyrone in Ireland, it is on the outskirts of the largest city in Tyrone,Gortin. situated where the rivers Drumragh and Camowen meet to form the Strule. The town, which is the largest in the county, has an estimated population of 22,182...
. As of March 2009 accommodation is being prepared to bring the team "home" with the development of a football pitch in Ecclesville Park by Omagh District Council. As well as having achieved promotion to Division 2 after finishing Division 3 runners up in the 2006/7 league, the club caused a major shock when they reached the final of the Fermanagh & Western's cup competition, the Mulhern Cup, defeating the two-time holders & neighbours Tummery Athletic in the semi-final after a penalty shoot-out, becoming the first club from outside the top two divisions of the league to reach this stage. They were defeated in the final by Division 2 league champions Strathroy Harps after another penalty shoot-out. The 2008/2009 season saw the proudest day in Fintona Swift history.The Swifts not only gain promotion to Division One, but they also went into the highest tier of the Fermanagh and Western Leagues as Chmampions of Division 2. Having been promoted on the penultimate weekend of league fixtures the title wasn't decided until the final league game. Although losing out to Mountjoy United Reserves 2-1, on the 21st April, the Swifts were crowned champions due to the fact that other results went their way, meaning they couldn't be caught.
- Fintona Pearses
Fintona Pearses is a Gaelic Athletic Association club. The club is based in Fintona, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, and is named after the Irish poet and revolutionary, Patrick Pearse....
Gaelic Athletic AssociationThe Gaelic Athletic Association is an amateur Irish and international cultural and sporting organisation focused primarily on promoting Gaelic games, which include the traditional Irish sports of hurling, camogie, Gaelic football, handball and rounders. The GAA also promotes Irish music and...
Club provide for Gaelic footballGaelic football , commonly referred to as "Football" , "Gaelic" or "Gah" is a form of football played mainly in Ireland...
teams in the village, and play their home games at St. Lawrence's Park just outside Fintona on the Tattymoyle Road. It is the oldest sports club in Fintona and has in the past supplied the Tyrone county teamThe Tyrone County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association or Tyrone GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Tyrone. The county board is also responsible for the Tyrone inter-county teams.-History:Tyrone have won three All-Ireland...
with players, with former clubman Aidan McCarron a member of the 2007 county senior football team that won the Ulster Senior Football Championship. A Ladies Gaelic football team of the same name and Setanta GAA Club, which fields hurlingHurling is an outdoor team sport of ancient Gaelic origin, administered by the Gaelic Athletic Association, and played with sticks called hurleys and a ball called a sliotar. The game, played primarily in Ireland, has prehistoric origins and is thought to be the world's fastest field team sport...
teams at youth level, also play their home games at St. Lawrence's Park.
- The Ecclesville Centre, situated on the Ecclesville Demesne, is one of the most unusual in the UK and Ireland in that it is a combined equestrian
Equestrianism refers to the skill of riding or driving horses. This broad description includes both use of horses for practical, working purposes as well as recreational activities and competitive sports.-Overview of equestrian activities:...
facility and local communityIn biological terms, a community is a group of interacting organisms sharing an environment.In human communities, intent, belief, resources, preferences, needs, risks, and a number of other conditions may be present and common, affecting the identity of the participants and their degree of...
& leisureLeisure or free time, is a period of time spent out of work and essential domestic activity. It is also the period of recreational and discretionary time before or after compulsory activities such as eating and sleeping, going to work or running a business, attending school and doing homework,...
complex. Opened in 1995, the facility has proven popular not only among equestrian users, but also for other sports activities, in particular indoor footballIndoor soccer or arena soccer, or six-a-side football in the United Kingdom, is a game derived from association football adapted for play in an indoor arena such as a turf-covered hockey arena or skating rink. The most important difference in play is that the indoor field is surrounded by a wall...
, bowls and badminton. The equestrian part of the centre includes stables, an indoor arena and outdoor arena with the open park land and forestA forest is an area with a high density of trees. There are many definitions of a forest, based on the various criteria. These plant communities presently cover approximately 9.4% of the Earth's surface in many different regions and function as habitats for organisms, hydrologic flow modulators,...
of the Ecclesville Demesne also available. The leisure end of the centre includes a sports hall, a minor hall, changing roomsA changeroom , locker room, dressing room or changing room is a room or area designated for changing one's clothes...
and a fitness suite with tennis courts and an all-weather basketballBasketball is a team sport in which two teams of 5 players try to score points against one another by placing a ball through a
10 foot high hoop under organized rules...
and football area. The centre also hosts the Fintona Cross-Community Youth ClubA youth club is a place where young people can meet and enjoy activities such as fooseball, table tennis, or video games, and are frequently sponsored by a community center. Many youth clubs are set up to provide young people within an area with activities designed to keep them off the streets, and...
and a computerA computer is a machine that manipulates data according to a set of instructions.Although mechanical examples of computers have existed through much of recorded human history, the first electronic computers were developed in the mid-20th century . These were the size of a large room, consuming as...
suite for IT-based learning and recreation.
Parks
The main public park in Fintona is situated on the Ecclesville Demesne, and is known as Ecclesville Park. The park itself contains a play-area for children, and an all-weather football, basketball and tennis courts used in conjunction with the Ecclesville Centre,
walkingWalking is the main form of animal locomotion on land, distinguished from running and crawling. When carried out in shallow waters, it is usually described as wading and when performed over a steeply rising object or an obstacle it becomes scrambling or climbing...
routes, a
pondA pond is an inland body of standing water, either natural or man-made, that is usually smaller than a lake. A wide variety of man-made bodies of water are classified as ponds, including water gardens designed for aesthetic ornamentation, fish ponds designed for commercial fish breeding, and solar...
and a forest.
Other children’s play-areas are situated at Mill Street and Ashfield Gardens.
Education
Fintona has two primary schools, Denamona County Primary School and St. Lawrence's Primary School. St. Patrick's Primary School lies three miles (5 km) east of Fintona in the
townlandA townland is a small geographical division of land used in Ireland, believed to be of Gaelic origin; the term was at one time also used in Scotland.-Etymology:...
of Garvallagh but is scheduled to close on 31st August 2009 due to low enrolment numbers. Another Primary school, St. Joseph's, situated in the townland of Lisconrea, was closed in 2003, again due to low enrolment numbers.
There are no post-primary schools in Fintona, children continue their education at schools usually either in
OmaghOmagh is the county town of County Tyrone in Ireland, it is on the outskirts of the largest city in Tyrone,Gortin. situated where the rivers Drumragh and Camowen meet to form the Strule. The town, which is the largest in the county, has an estimated population of 22,182...
,
DromoreDromore is a small town in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is situated nine miles south west of Omagh on the A32 road and sixteen miles from Enniskillen. The town had a population of 1,101 in the 2001 Census. Agriculture and the building trades are the primary sources of employment in the town...
or
FivemiletownFivemiletown, known before the Plantation of Ulster as Ballylurgan , is a village in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is situated 16 miles east of Enniskillen and 26 miles west-south-west of Dungannon, on the A4 Enniskillen-to-Dungannon road. Its population as of 2009 is estimated to be 1,128...
, while a few have also attended schools in
BallygawleyBallygawley is a village in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is situated about 21 kilometres southwest of Dungannon and to the north of the intersection of the A5 Omagh to Monaghan and the A4 Dungannon to Enniskillen roads....
and
EnniskillenEnniskillen is the county town in County Fermanagh. It is located almost exactly in the centre of the county between the Upper and Lower sections of Lough Erne. It had a population of 13,599 in the 2001 Census...
.
Omagh College also provided outreach courses at the Ecclesville Centre.
Literature
Fintona also has many literary associations with poets Wilson Guy and
John MontagueJohn Montague is an Irish poet. He was born in New York and brought up in Tyrone. He has published a number of volumes of poetry, two collections of short stories and a two volumes of memoir. He is one of the best known Irish contemporary poets...
originating from the area.
Media and communications
As a part of the Omagh District, the media in Fintona very much mimics that of its big neighbour, with newspapers based in Omagh covering events Fintona. This includes the
Tyrone ConstitutionThe Tyrone Constitution is a newspaper based in Omagh, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is published by the Alpha Newspaper Group. It describes itself as "The traditional newspaper for Omagh and district since 1844"....
, the Tyrone Herald and the
Ulster HeraldThe Ulster Herald is a weekly newspaper based in Omagh, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, known locally as The Herald. http://www.ulsterherald.com...
.
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, a monthly local news magazine, the "Village Voice" was also published by the now defunct Fintona Development Association. The magazine covered news, features and activities in Fintona,
SeskinoreSeskinore or Seskanore is a small village in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is situated north east of Fintona and from Omagh. The village had a population of 162 people in the 2001 Census and is a prosperous farming-based community...
and
EskraEskra or Eskragh is a small village located in the south-west of County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is located on the Omagh to Clogher road, about 10 miles from Omagh and about 4 miles from Clogher. It was originally part of Clogher and also contains the hamlet of Newtownsaville.The Roman...
.
A
Post OfficePost Office Ltd is a retail post office company in the United Kingdom that provides a wide range of products including postage stamps and banking to the public through its nationwide network of post office branches.-Structure:Post Office Ltd...
lies in the Main Street with daily collections (inc. Saturdays & Sundays). The local postcode starts with BT78, usually followed by a 2 and two letters e.g. BT78 2AB for Fintona
PSNIThe Police Service of Northern Ireland GC is the police service that covers Northern Ireland...
station. A second post collection box is located at the Supervalu supermarket on the Tattymoyle Road.
A BT Telephone exchange lies just outside the village on the Castletown road, serving the village and the neighbouring hamlets of Seskinore and Eskra. The STD code is 028 in common with the rest of Northern Ireland, with all local numbers being in the format 8284xxxx. The exchange was enabled for ADSL broadband in September 2004. BT have set a date of the first quarter of 2010 for the exchange to be upgraded for the 21st Century Network.
Terrestrial TelevisionTerrestrial television is a mode of television broadcasting which do not involve satellite transmission or via underground cables—typically through the atmosphere from a transmitting antenna....
(both analogue & digital),
FMIn telecommunications, frequency modulation conveys information over a carrier wave by varying its frequency . In analog applications, the instantaneous frequency of the carrier is directly proportional to the instantaneous value of the input signal...
radio &
DABDigital Audio Broadcasting , is a digital radio technology for broadcasting radio stations, used in several countries, particularly in Europe. As of 2006, approximately 1,000 stations worldwide broadcast in the DAB format....
services are received on a primary basis from the Brougher Mountain transmitter site. Satellite television is popular, nearly all with capable receivers subscribe to
Sky DigitalSky Digital is the brand name for British Sky Broadcasting's digital satellite television and radio service, transmitted from SES Astra satellites located at 28.2° east and Eutelsat's Eurobird 1 satellite at 28.5°E....
. There are no
cableCable television is a system of providing television to consumers via radio frequency signals transmitted to televisions through fixed optical fibers or coaxial cables as opposed to the over-the-air method used in traditional television broadcasting in which a television antenna is required...
operators in the village.
Government
Fintona lies in the
West TyroneWest Tyrone can refer to:*The western part of County Tyrone*West Tyrone *West Tyrone *West Tyrone...
electoral constituency for elections to both the Houses of Parliament during the General Elections and to the
Northern Ireland AssemblyThe Northern Ireland Assembly is the devolved legislature of Northern Ireland. It has power to legislate in a wide range of areas that are not explicitly reserved to the Parliament of the United Kingdom, and to appoint the Northern Ireland Executive...
during Assembly elections. For local government elections to elect councillors to
Omagh District CouncilOmagh District Council is a Local Council in County Tyrone in Northern Ireland. It has headquarters in the town of Omagh, the county town of Tyrone. The Council area is about 440 square miles, making it the second largest local council area in Northern Ireland with a population just over 50,000...
, Fintona lies within the West Tyrone District Electoral Area along with
DromoreDromore is a small town in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is situated nine miles south west of Omagh on the A32 road and sixteen miles from Enniskillen. The town had a population of 1,101 in the 2001 Census. Agriculture and the building trades are the primary sources of employment in the town...
,
DrumquinDrumquin is a small village in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, between Omagh and Castlederg. It is situated on the banks of the Drumquin River and had a population of 1923 people in the 2001 Census. The village is largely dependent on farming for its economy. Areas of great natural beauty, such...
,
TrillickTrillick is a small village in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It had a population of 303 people in the 2001 Census. Trillick is situated in the Omagh District Council area.-Name:...
, Seskinore and Newtownsaville.
Religion
Fintona has several religious denominations including...
People
- John of Fintona
John of Fintona, fl. late 13th century.Called "subtillissimus canonum doctor/a most subtle teacher of canon law" by Tommaso Diplovataccio, John was the compiler of a fine commentry on decretals....
, fl. late 13th century.
- Gerry Armstrong
Gerard "Gerry" Joseph Armstrong is a Northern Irish former footballer. He spent the majority of his career in England, as well as having a spell in Spain. He represented the Northern Ireland national football team and won acclaim at the 1982 FIFA World Cup, where he was the highest scoring British...
, the Northern IrishThe Northern Ireland national football team represents Northern Ireland in international football. Before 1921, all of Ireland was represented by a single side, the Ireland national football team, organised by the Irish Football Association...
footballer, who scored three goals in the 1982 World CupThe 1982 FIFA World Cup, the 12th FIFA World Cup, was held in Spain from 13 June to 11 July. Spain was chosen as hosts by FIFA in July 1966. This World Cup was won by Italy, who beat West Germany 3-1 in the final. With their third World Cup title , Italy drew level with Brazil as the most...
grew up in Fintona.
- Laurence Armstrong-successful business man
- Kieran Corrigan (film producer) produced movies such as The General and Evelyn; he grew up and went to school in Fintona.
- Country music singer Derrick Mehaffey, a former "Male vocalist of the Year" at the European CMA awards , lives just outside Fintona; he once owned a radio & television sales and repair shop in the village.
2001 Census
Fintona is classified as a village by the
NI Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) (i.e., with population between 1,000 and 2,250 people). On Census day (29 April 2001) there were 1,359 people living in Fintona. Of these:
- 24.9% were aged under 16 and 17.4% were aged 60 and over
- 48.3% of the population were male and 51.7% were female
- 72.3% were from a Catholic
The word Catholic is derived from the Greek adjective , meaning "universal". In the context of Christian ecclesiology, it has a rich history and several usages. For some, the term "Catholic Church" refers to the church in full communion with the Bishop of Rome, made up of the Latin Rite and the 22...
background and 27.1% were from a ProtestantProtestantism is a branch within Christianity, containing many denominations with some differing practices and doctrines, that principally originated in the sixteenth-century Protestant Reformation. It is considered to be one of the major divisions within Christianity, together with the Roman...
background
- 5.9% of people aged 16-74 were unemployed.
For more details see:
NI Neighbourhood Information Service
External links