But it was not to be an easy or long-lasting settlement. The fragile relationship between the conquering English and the ‘co-operating’ leaders of the old Gaelic Order was repeatedly riven over the course of the seventeenth century. Remaining clan leaders, including the O’Neills of Glasdrumman and the descendants of Oghie Óg O’Hanlon of Orior were driven off in the Cromwellian settlements.

At a level below this lost leadership, the Gaelic order of settlement persisted and people lived in clachans – groups of homes built along a ‘street’ with commonage land surrounding them. The remnants can be spotted by the keen eye here and there, for example, along the Mill Road in Lislea, or on the mountain road behind Omeath. The principal roads still followed the spring lines along the lower slopes of hills and mountains – a line that frequently can be traced between the ancient dolmens too that dated from a previous ‘order’.

By the eighteenth century, the major landowners in the area were all of the settler class. For example, in the area in question, the principal landowner was Richard Jackson. He built a rectory in Mullaghbawn and the Protestant Church of Ireland in Forkhill village – now a private residence.

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