Altmore (from , meaning "great glen")) is a hamlet and

townland A townland (; Ulster-Scots: ''toonlann'') is a traditional small land division used in Ireland and in the Western Isles of Scotland, typically covering . The townland system is of medieval Gaelic origin, predating the Norman invasion, and mo ...

County Tyrone County Tyrone (; ) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the thirty-two traditional counties of Ireland. Its county town is Omagh. Adjoined to the south-west shore of Lough Neagh, the cou ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

. It is five miles from

Carrickmore Carrickmore () is a small town in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is situated in the historic barony of Omagh East, the civil parish of Termonmaguirk and the Roman Catholic Parish of Termonmaguirc between Cookstown, Dungannon and O ...

and four miles from Pomeroy. The townland is actually called Altmore (alias Barracktown) and is situated in the historic

barony Barony may refer to: * Barony, the peerage, office of, or territory held by a baron * Barony, the title and land held in fealty by a feudal baron * Barony (county division), a type of administrative or geographical division in parts of the British ...

Dungannon Middle Dungannon Middle (named after Dungannon town) is a barony in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It was created in 1851 with the splitting of the barony of Dungannon. It is bordered by Lough Neagh to the east and six other baronies: Dungannon Uppe ...

and the

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

of Pomeroy and covers an area of 1117 acres (4.52 sq km).

Demographics

The population of the townland declined during the nineteenth century:

Places of interest

The townland contains two Scheduled Historic Monuments: a

Megalith A megalith is a large stone that has been used to construct a prehistoric structure or monument, either alone or together with other stones. More than 35,000 megalithic structures have been identified across Europe, ranging geographically f ...

(grid ref: H6710 6936) and a

court tomb The court cairn or court tomb is a megalithic type of chambered cairn or gallery grave. During the period, 3900–3500 BC, more than 390 court cairns were built in Ireland and over 100 in southwest Scotland. The Neolithic (New Stone Age) monu ...

(grid ref: H6686 6961). Other places of interest include: * The Mountains of Pomeroy overlook the area. There are several ancient sites in the area, including some possible

burial grounds A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite, graveyard, or a green space called a memorial park or memorial garden, is a place where the remains of many death, dead people are burial, buried or otherwise entombed. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek ...

. Though modern farming methods have diminished a number of them, a few can still be seen. * Altmore Fisheries is a small holiday site with static caravans and areas to erect tents; there are also log cabins which can be rented and a small shop on site. * Altmore House was built after 1734 by Patrick Shields. That premises was converted into Barracktown House. The Shields family lived in the house until the 1970s when it was sold and turned into a hotel. The hotel was blown up during the Troubles on two occasions and after several years of dormancy the ruins were eventually knocked down. The house was the birthplace of James Shields who became a politician in North America (being the only person to have served as a United States Senator from three different states). * Shane Bernagh’s Chair is a small rocky area on the outskirts of Cappagh and Altmore. It received its fame from local highwayman Shane Bernagh, who used the mountain area as a vantage point to hold up carriages travelling on the main

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

Derry Derry, officially Londonderry, is the second-largest City status in the United Kingdom, city in Northern Ireland, and the fifth-largest on the island of Ireland. Located in County Londonderry, the city now covers both banks of the River Fo ...

road nearby. Local legend has it that the highwayman assisted impoverished locals with his robberies, which primarily targeted members of the

Protestant Ascendancy The Protestant Ascendancy (also known as the Ascendancy) was the sociopolitical and economical domination of Ireland between the 17th and early 20th centuries by a small Anglicanism, Anglican ruling class, whose members consisted of landowners, ...

. A

barracks Barracks are buildings used to accommodate military personnel and quasi-military personnel such as police. The English word originates from the 17th century via French and Italian from an old Spanish word 'soldier's tent', but today barracks ar ...

was built in the Altmore area in an attempt to curb his activities but to little avail. Because of this Bernagh has over time become a local legend in the mould of

Robin Hood Robin Hood is a legendary noble outlaw, heroic outlaw originally depicted in English folklore and subsequently featured in literature, theatre, and cinema. According to legend, he was a highly skilled archer and swordsman. In some versions o ...

who robbed from the rich and gave to the poor. He was eventually captured and executed by the

Dublin Castle administration Dublin Castle was the centre of the government of Ireland under English and later British rule. "Dublin Castle" is used metonymically to describe British rule in Ireland. The Castle held only the executive branch of government and the Privy Cou ...

, and his body was cast into a

lough ''Loch'' ( ) is a word meaning "lake" or " sea inlet" in Scottish and Irish Gaelic, subsequently borrowed into English. In Irish contexts, it often appears in the anglicized form "lough". A small loch is sometimes called a lochan. Lochs whic ...

at the summit of

Slieve Beagh Slieve Beagh () is a mountainous area straddling the border between County Monaghan in the Republic of Ireland and County Fermanagh and County Tyrone in Northern Ireland. A point just east of its summit is the highest point in Monaghan; however ...

, which straddles the counties of Tyrone,

Fermanagh Historically, Fermanagh (), as opposed to the modern County Fermanagh, was a kingdom of Gaelic Ireland, associated geographically with present-day County Fermanagh. ''Fir Manach'' originally referred to a distinct kin group of alleged Laigin or ...

and

Monaghan Monaghan ( ; ) is the county town of County Monaghan, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It also provides the name of its Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish and Monaghan (barony), Monaghan barony. The population of the town as of the 2022 cen ...

. His life was covered in the ballad "The Mountains of Pomeroy". The actual rocky area looks like a chair and has thus become known as Shane Bernagh's Chair.

Notable people

* Shane Bernagh, 17th century

rapparee Rapparees or raparees (from the Irish ''ropairí'', plural of ''ropaire'', whose primary meaning is "thruster, stabber", and by extension a wielder of the half-pike or pike), were Irish guerrilla fighters who operated on the Royalist side dur ...

* James Shields (1806–1879), the only person in U.S. history to serve as a Senator for three different states

References

{{Coord, 54, 33, 15, N, 6, 59, 10, W, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Villages in County Tyrone Archaeological sites in County Tyrone Townlands of County Tyrone Barony of Dungannon Middle

Demographics

Places of interest

Notable people

See also

References