Profile Villages

Riverstown

Riverstown is off the main Sligo to Dublin Road.  It is a small village situated between two rivers, the Unshin and the Douglas.  The locals often describe the village as a ‘village of two’ - two schools, two churches, two halls, two rivers.  The village has a population of approximately 250.   It is a small but busy community with a post office, grocery, butcher and chip shops, a guest house, a pharmacy, three pubs and two accountants.  Riverstown is very fortunate to have a second level vocational school at Coola, a few miles from the village. The area falls in to the parishes of Riverstown and Taunagh.

The ‘Celtic Tiger’ has had limited impact in Riverstown, the most obvious sign being the building of new housing developments.  There are very few employment opportunities within the village and most people travel to the nearby Sligo.  There is however a very developed community sector with many active and vibrant community groups providing a range of essential services and supports within the community.  The village also boasts the Sligo Folk Park, a community tourism enterprise.

Riverstown has been the winner of many tidy towns awards and in 2004 was the winner of a ‘Pride of Place’ award. 

Brookeborough

Brookeborough is situated off the main Enniskillen to Belfast Road.  Originally named Aghalun, the village was renamed in the 17th centuyry when the Brooke family were granted land in Co Fermanagh and settled there establishing their family home, Colebrooke. 

There are two primary schools in the village and the area includes the parishes of Aghavea and Colebrooke.  Brookeborough and the surrounding area has a number of churches - Baptist, Catholic, Church of Ireland, Elim Pentecostal and Methodist.

The village has an interesting history and there are many monuments to the distant and recent past including the gates from the old Maguire Castle, the Boer War Memorial and the restored Station House. 

The village has a population of approximately 600 and a number of family run businesses - grocers, butchers, hardware & feed store, public houses, and a hairdresser.  The area has a strong self-help ethos with a number of community and church based groups working hard to serve the needs of their community.

Like many small rural villages employment opportunities in Brookeborough are limited and most people travel to the nearby towns of Enniskillen and Omagh for work while the young people travel to Enniskillen, Lisnaskea and Fivemiletown for second level education. 

Private housing development has been slow to come to Brookeborough but recently developments have commenced.  This is welcomed and will bring new energy to the village which combined with the existing community ethos should ensure that Brookeborough will continue to be a vibrant and energetic community for years to come.