East Londonderry UUP launches campaign to save town land names
Mr Robert Carmichael, the East Londonderry Ulster Unionist Party Association Chairman, has called on the community to join the UUP campaign to preserve town land names across the constituency.
In a statement on behalf of the UUP Association, Mr Carmichael added: “Town land names have an important role in understanding the history of areas across East Londonderry and should be used in local address systems.
“We, as an Ulster Unionist Association, call upon the entire East Londonderry community to rally behind our campaign for the retention of town lands in the address system.
“Town land names have been with us in one form or another for more than a 1,000 years and were an ancient way of land division before parishes and counties.
“These town land names contain a mix of ancient origins and names associated with Ulster Scots including names from prominent families at that time.
“These town lands have given people a sense of identity and allows people to trace their ancestry right down to former family homesteads.
“They are also an important piece of culture we can use to promote cultural tourism that will help bring much-needed employment.
“We also call on the Stormont Executive to help protect these town land names by ensuring that they become part of the legal address system so that they can be preserved for future generations,” said Mr Carmichael on behalf of the Association.