page_title: Achaidh Leithdeircc
section_title: Aghaderg civil parish. County Down
hierarchical_section_title: Achaidh Leithdeircc / Aghaderg civil parish. County Down
caption_attribution_description: English: The Fourtowns School Road Townland of Drumsallagh near to Loughbrickland
context_page_description: Achaidh Leithdeircc is an ancient location in Ireland reputed to be the site of a historic battle, or series of battles, around the year 331AD, in which the forces of the Three Collas along with men of Connaught eventually conquered vast tracts of territory from the tribes of the Ulaid.
  The prehistoric royal site of Emhain Macha was burnt and plundered and ultimately this territory would re-emerge as part of the kingdom or federation of Airgíalla.
  The Battle of Achadh Leith-dheirg was fought in the territory of "Fearnmhagh", according to 19th-century Celtic scholar John O'Donovan. The place of the battle has been disputed between Fearn-mhagh, County Monaghan and Aghaderg, near Loughbrickland, County Down.
context_section_description: Aghaderg is a civil parish mainly in the Barony of "Iveagh Upper, Upper Half"  and partially  within the Barony of "Iveagh Lower, Lower Half" in the county of Down, Province of Ulster. Within the bounds of Aghaderg  parish  are the remains of many sites of great archaeological interest, from stone circles to hill top forts and settlements along river valleys. Lisnagade hillfort, the ancient standing stones named "The Three Sisters" at Greenan and  parts of the Black Pig's Dyke are all within its boundary. Aghaderg  parish  lies within  a drumlin belt landscape and encompasses the  historic settlements of Loughbrickland and Scarva where King William III encamped. The village of Loughbrickland is renowned for its ancient crannog.
  Aghaderg parish is bounded on the west and separated from county Armagh by the Newry Canal – which follows the path of the u-shaped valley from the mouth of upper River Bann at lough Neagh to Carlingford Lough known as the Glen Righe. This great swampy valley remained an almost impenetrable boundary for many centuries, however it did permit a seasonal though highly precarious route across at specific "passes"..
  These passes, in later years would become known as: Poyntzpass, Scarva pass, jerretspass, Terryhoogan pass.  These passes, though treacherous, seasonal and highly demanding may have allowed access to an invading army approaching from the west.
  The two earliest recorded forms of the name Aghaderg - "Uchderc", concerning the site of a battle in AD 1147, between the Ulaid and Cenél nEógain allied with Airgíalla, remain questionable.  The indigenous explanation around the early eighteenth century for the name of the parish implicates the old church of Drumsallagh.  Local tradition declared  that numerous holy men had been killed by the Danes, who destroyed the church and monastery, and that  afterwards this place became called Aghdurg, ‘the red or bloody ford’ - the boundary stream running close by the site.
  Most early spellings of Aghaderg have a vowel after Agh-, suggesting achadh - ‘field’ rather than ucht - ‘hill-breast’ or áth ‘ford’. According to "Placenamesni.org"  "The second element is probably dearg ‘red’, and the final syllable appearing as -rig in some forms up to 1834 could be explained as the epenthetic vowel pronounced in Irish between the r and g of dearg. Thus the name would be Achadh Dearg ‘red field’, the Irish form given in the 17th century (LCAB)."
caption: Drumsallagh - Aghaderg parish
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