Bleary Rural Community

Bleary is a small village situated in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. It is located around two and a half miles from the towns of Lurgan and Portadown and lies within the Craigavon Borough Council area. 

Bleary Farmers’ Hall lies within the parish of Tullylish, Co Down. The hall is located approximately 2 ½ miles from Lurgan and Portadown. The existing parish contains some 19 townlands with the Farmers’ Hall located in the north of the parish in the townland of Ballydougan, approximately 1 mile from the rural hamlet of Bleary.

Adjoining Ballydougan are the townlands of Bleary, Ballynagarrick and Clare, all within the same parish, while Ballygargan, Lisnamintry and Crossmacahilly townlands lie due westwards of Ballydugan.

The vast part of the above townlands were owned freehold by the Magennis family. Landholding within this area was distinguished by giving the names of townlands to small hamlets as with Bleary and Ballydugan.

During the 1600’s, much of the lands changed ownership with George Rawdon acquiring several of the lands of the parish of Tullylish.

Ballydougan
Modern Ballydougan lies on the boundary between Counties Armagh and Down. The hamlet of Dowgane first appeared in 1611 as part of an area within a townland then known as Ballydromneskie. By the middle of the century, the townland of Ballydoogan is cleary cited on the boundary of Lower Iveagh with an area within marked Shian. This clearly has been preserved in the modern name of a hill in the townland- ‘Shanes Hill’.

There is some slight confusion as to were the present ‘Dugan’ originated. It may be plausible that the Dugan is an offshoot of a surname Dunganes, established tenants in Co. Armagh in 1609.

Although Ballydougan is generally pronounced Dougan in the area, some of the immediate locals may say Duggan.

Bleary

As mentioned earlier, Bleary is a townland within the parish of Tullylish. Bleary first appears in 1611 as a small hamlet within the townland of Bleary. The earliest spelling which clearly refers to this area is Blyery, but from the 17th century onwards, the spelling is more commonly noted as Bleery or Bleary.

Bleary as a townland appears to have replaced an earlier name referred to as Ballytullyconally meaning townland of the hillock of O’Connelly or O’Leary as sometimes noted. As for the ‘hillock’, the highest ground in the townland lies east of Bleary near an area known locally as ‘Wells Cross’.

John Harrison 2008.