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County Tyrone

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"Tyrone" redirects here. For other uses, see Tyrone (disambiguation).

County Tyrone
Contae Thír Eoghain
Coontie Tyrone
Coat of arms of County Tyrone
Coat of arms
Motto(s): 
Consilio et Prudentia  (Latin)
"By Wisdom and Prudence"
Location of County Tyrone
CountryUnited Kingdom
RegionNorthern Ireland
ProvinceUlster
County townOmagh
Area
 • Total1,218 sq mi (3,150 km2)
 • Rank8th
Population
 (2011)
177,986
 • Rank10th[1]
Contae Thír Eoghain is the Irish name; Countie Tyrone,[2] Coontie Tyrone[3] and Coontie Owenslann[4] are Ulster Scots spellings (the latter used only by Dungannon & South Tyrone Borough Council).

County Tyrone (from Irish Tír Eoghain, meaning 'land of Eoghan') is one of the six historic counties of Northern Ireland. It is also one of the thirty-two traditional counties of Ireland, and lies within the historic province of Ulster. It is no longer used as an administrative division for local government, but retains a strong identity in popular culture.

Adjoined to the south-west shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of 3,155 km² (1218 sq mi) and has a population of about 177,986, with its county town being Omagh.

Name

The name Tyrone is derived from Irish Tír Eoghain 'land of Eoghan', the name given to the conquests made by the Cenél nEógain from the provinces of Airgíalla and Ulaid.[5] Historically, it was anglicised as Tirowen or Tyrowen, which are closer to the Irish pronunciation.

History

Main article: List of Kings of Tír Eógain

Historically Tyrone stretched as far north as Lough Foyle, and comprised part of modern-day County Londonderry east of the River Foyle. The majority of County Londonderry was carved out of Tyrone between 1610–1620 when that land went to the Guilds of London to set up profit making schemes based on natural resources located there. Tyrone was the traditional stronghold of the various O'Neill clans and families, the strongest of the Gaelic Irish families in Ulster, surviving into the seventeenth century. The ancient principality of Tír Eoghain, the inheritance of the O'Neills, included the whole of the present counties of Tyrone and Londonderry, and the four baronies of West Inishowen, East Inishowen, Raphoe North and Raphoe South in County Donegal.[12]

In 1608 during O'Doherty's Rebellion areas of the country were plundered and burnt by the forces of Sir Cahir O'Doherty following his destruction of Derry. However, O'Doherty's men avoided the estates of the recently fled Earl of Tyrone around Dungannon, fearing Tyrone's anger if he returned from his exile.[13]

Geography

With an area of 3,155 square kilometres (1,218 sq mi), Tyrone is the largest county in Northern Ireland. The flat peatlands of East Tyrone border the shoreline of the largest lake in the British Isles, Lough Neagh, rising gradually across to the more mountainous terrain in the west of the county, the area surrounding the Sperrin Mountains, the highest point being Sawel Mountain at a height of 678 m (2,224 ft). The length of the county, from the mouth of the River Blackwater at Lough Neagh to the western point near Carrickaduff hill is 55 miles (89 km). The breadth, from the southern corner, southeast of Fivemiletown, to the northeastern corner near Meenard Mountain is 37.5 miles (60.4 km); giving an area of 1,260 square miles (in 1900).[12] Annaghone lays claim to be the geographical centre of Northern Ireland.

Tyrone is connected by land to the county of Fermanagh to the southwest; Monaghan to the south; Armagh to the southeast; Londonderry to the north; and Donegal to the west. Across Lough Neagh to the east, it borders County Antrim. It is the eighth largest of Ireland's thirty-two counties by area and tenth largest by population.[14] It is the second largest of Ulster's nine traditional counties by area and fourth largest by population.[15]

Blackrock Bridge near Newtownstewart, carrying the closed GNR mainline that ran through the county.

Demography

It is one of four counties in Northern Ireland which currently has a majority of the population from a Catholic community background, according to the 2011 census. In 1900 County Tyrone had a population of 197,719,[12] while in 2011 it was 177,986.

Settlements

Main article: List of places in County Tyrone

Large towns

(population of 18,000 or more and under 75,000 at 2001 Census)[16]

Medium towns

(population of 10,000 or more and under 18,000 at 2001 Census)[16]

Small towns

(population of 4,500 or more and under 10,000 at 2001 Census)[16]

Intermediate settlements

(population of 2,250 or more and under 4,500 at 2001 Census)[16]

Villages

(population of 1,000 or more and under 2,250 at 2001 Census)[16]

Small villages

(population of less than 1,000 at 2001 Census)[16]

Subdivisions

Baronies

Main article: Barony (Ireland)

Parishes

Main article: List of civil parishes of County Tyrone

Townlands

Main article: List of townlands in County Tyrone

Future Railway Revival

There is the future possibility of the line being reopened to Dungannon railway station from Portadown.[17]

Sport

The major sports in Tyrone are Gaelic games, Association football and Rugby Union.[citation needed]

Notable people

  • Ryan Dolan – Representing Ireland at the Eurovision Song Contest 2013.
  • Philomena Begley, Irish country music singer
  • James E. Boyd, seventh Governor of Nebraska[19]
  • Paul Brady, musician.
  • William Burke, 1792–1829, grave robber and murderer
  • Peter Canavan, former All Ireland winning Tyrone captain and second top scorer in Senior Ulster Championship football.
  • William Carleton (1794–1869), writer
  • Darren Clarke, professional golfer.
  • Tom Clarke, Irish Republican and leader of the 1916 Easter Rising
  • Janet Devlin, soul and pop artist and contestant on The X Factor (UK)
  • Brian Dooher, former captain of the Tyrone senior football team.
  • Hugo Duncan, singer and broadcaster on BBC Radio.
  • John Dunlap (1747–1812), publisher of the first American daily newspaper the Pennsylvania Packet in 1784, also the printer of the American Declaration of Independence.
  • Brian Friel, dramatist and theatre director
  • Aaron Hughes, current captain of the Northern Ireland football team and also plays for Fulham.
  • John Hughes (1797–1864), born in Annaloghan, first Archbishop of Roman Catholic Diocese of New York.[20]
  • Martin Hurson, Irish Republican, died on Hunger Strike at Long Kesh Prison in 1981.
  • Ryan Kelly, singer with Celtic Thunder "Ryan Kelly". Retrieved 24 November 2015.
  • Professor Dr Patrick Gerald "Gerry" McKenna (born 1953), lecturer in human biology and genetics, (New) University of Ulster (1979–84); Director, Biomedical Sciences Research Centre (1985–88); Dean, Faculty of Science (1994–97); Vice Chancellor and President (1999-2005); President Emeritus and Honorary Executive Secretary, Heads of University Centres of Biomedical Science (2011–present); Chair, University Centres of Biomedical Science (1995–97)[21][22]
  • Benedict Kiely (1919–2007), writer and broadcaster
  • William McMaster (1811–1887), Founder of Canadian Bank of Commerce and namesake of McMaster University
  • Mary Mallon (1869–1938), more commonly known as Typhoid Mary
  • W. F. Marshall (1888–1954), the 'The Bard of Tyrone', Presbyterian minister, author and poet, creator of one of Northern Ireland's most popular dialect poems 'Me an' Me Da', and many others in similar vein, lecturer at Magee College Derry and leading authority on Mid Ulster English.
  • Thomas Mellon, founder of Mellon Bank, now Bank of New York Mellon
  • Flann O'Brien, 1911–1966, writer
  • Dominic Ó Mongain (1715–1800?), Poet and harpist.[23] cláirseach
  • Thomas Porter, member of the Wisconsin State Assembly.
  • Victor Sloan MBE, Visual Artist
  • Ivan Sproule, football player for Bristol City F.C.
  • Dennis Taylor, former World Snooker Champion.
  • Sylvia Hermon, Member of Parliament for North Down, born in Galbally, County Tyrone
  • Jimmy Cricket, Comedian
  • Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone (c. 1550 - 20 July 1616)

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to County Tyrone.

References

  1. ^ Cookstown.gov.uk Template:Wayback
  2. ^ "North-South Ministerial Council: 2010 Annual Report in Ulster Scots" (PDF). Retrieved 18 January 2013.
  3. ^ "North-South Ministerial Council: 2006 Annual Report in Ulster Scots" (PDF). Retrieved 18 January 2013.
  4. ^ "Dungannon and South Tyrone Borough Council". Dungannon.gov.uk. Retrieved 18 January 2013.
  5. ^ Art Cosgrove (2008); "A New History of Ireland, Volume II: Medieval Ireland 1169-1534". Oxford University Press.
  6. ^ For 1653 and 1659 figures from Civil Survey Census of those years, Paper of Mr Hardinge to Royal Irish Academy, 14 March 1865.
  7. ^ "Census for post 1821 figures". Cso.ie. Retrieved 18 January 2013.
  8. ^ "Histpop.org". Histpop.org. Retrieved 18 January 2013.
  9. ^ "Nisranews.gov.uk". Nisranew.nisra.gov.uk. Retrieved 18 January 2013.
  10. ^ Lee, JJ (1981). "On the accuracy of the Pre-famine Irish censuses". In Goldstrom, J. M.; Clarkson, L. A. (eds.). Irish Population, Economy, and Society: Essays in Honour of the Late K. H. Connell. Oxford, England: Clarendon Press.
  11. ^ Mokyr, Joel; O Grada, Cormac (November 1984). "New Developments in Irish Population History, 1700–1850". The Economic History Review. 37 (4): 473–488. doi:10.1111/j.1468-0289.1984.tb00344.x.
  12. ^ a b c "Description of County Tyrone from Atlas and Cyclopedia of Ireland (1900)". Library Ireland. Retrieved 24 February 2009.
  13. ^ McCavitt, John. The Flight of the Earls. Gill & MacMillan, 2002. p.143-44
  14. ^ Corry, Eoghan (2005). The GAA Book of Lists. Hodder Headline Ireland. pp. 186–191. ISBN 0-340-89695-7.
  15. ^ Marie Veronica Tarpey The role of Joseph McGarrity in the struggle for Irish independence
  16. ^ a b c d e f "Statistical classification of settlements". NI Neighbourhood Information Service. Retrieved 23 February 2009.
  17. ^ "All aboard! Dungannon railway hopes revived".
  18. ^ The Tyrone GAA team have won the Ulster Senior Championship on eight occasions in the 20th century
  19. ^ "Kansas Governor Walter Roscoe Stubbs". National Governors Association. Retrieved 29 September 2012.
  20. ^ Who Was Who in America, Historical Volume, 1607–1896. Chicago, IL: Marquis Who's Who. 1963.
  21. ^ http://www.gerrymckenna.co.uk
  22. ^ http://www.debretts.com/people-of-today/profile/35837/Patrick-Gerald-(Gerry)-McKENNA
  23. ^
  • The Memoirs of John M. Regan, a Catholic Officer in the RIC and RUC, 1909–48, Joost Augusteijn, editor, District Inspector, Co. Tyrone, 1920s, ISBN 978-1-84682-069-4.

Further reading

  • McNeill, I. 2010. The Flora of County Tyrone. National Museums of Northern Ireland. ISBN 978-1-905989-17-1
Wikivoyage has a travel guide for County Tyrone.
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