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 county covers an area of , making it the largest of Northern Ireland's six counties by size, and the second largest county in Ulster after Donegal. With a population of 188,383 as of the 2021 census, Tyrone is the 5th most populous county in both Northern Ireland and Ulster, and the 11th most populous county on the island of Ireland. The county derives its name and general geographic location from Tír Eoghain, a Gaelic kingdom under the O'Neill dynasty which existed until the 17th century.

Name

The name ''Tyrone'' is derived from the Irish , meaning 'land of Eoghan', the name given to the conquests made by the from the provinces of and Ulaid. Historically, it was anglicised as ''Tirowen'' or ''Tyrowen'', which are closer to the Irish pronunciation.

History

Historically Tyrone (then Tír Eoghain or Tirowen) was much larger in size, stretching 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 and 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.

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.

Geography

With an area of , 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 . The length of the county, from the mouth of the River Blackwater at Lough Neagh to the western point near Carrickaduff hill is . The breadth, from the southern corner, southeast of Fivemiletown, to the northeastern corner near Meenard Mountain is ; giving an area of . Annaghone lays claim to be the geographical centre of Northern Ireland.

Tyrone is connected by land to the counties 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. It is the second largest of Ulster's nine traditional counties by area and fourth largest by population.

Administration

The county was administered by Tyrone County Council from 1899 until the abolition of county councils in Northern Ireland in 1973.

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 2021 census. In 1900 County Tyrone had a population of 197,719, while in 2021 it was 188,383. At the time of the 2021 census, 66.49% were from a Catholic background, 28.88% were from a Protestant and Other Christian (including Christian related), 0.66% were from other religions, and 3.97% had no religious background.

Irish language and Ulster Scots

In the 2021 UK census in County Tyrone:
* 18.44% claim to have some knowledge of the Irish language, whilst 5.84% claim to be able to speak, read, write and understand spoken Irish. 3.62% claim to use Irish daily. 0.38% claim that Irish is their main language.
* 8.15% claim to have some knowledge of Ulster Scots, whilst 0.91% claim to be able to speak, read, write and understand spoken Ulster Scots. 1.26% claim to use Ulster Scots daily.

Settlements

Large towns

(population of 18,000 or more and under 75,000 at 2021 Census)
*Omagh

Medium towns

(population of 10,000 or more and under 18,000 at 2021 Census)
* Cookstown
*Dungannon
*Strabane

Small towns

(population of 4,500 or more and under 10,000 at 2021 Census)
*Coalisland

Intermediate settlements

(population of 2,250 or more and under 4,500 at 2021 Census)
* Castlederg

Villages

(population of 1,000 or more and under 2,250 at 2001 Census)
* Ardboe
* Carrickmore
* Dromore
*Fintona
* Fivemiletown
* Killyclogher
* Moy
*Newtownstewart
*Sion Mills

Small villages

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

Subdivisions

Baronies

*Clogher
* Dungannon Lower
* Dungannon Middle
* Dungannon Upper
* Omagh East
*Omagh West
*Strabane Lower
* Strabane Upper
Parishes

Townlands

Future railway revival

There is the possibility of the line being reopened to Dungannon railway station from Portadown.

Sport

Major sports in Tyrone include Gaelic games, association football, rugby union and cricket:
*Gaelic football is more widely played than hurling in Tyrone. The Tyrone GAA football side has had considerable success since 2000, winning four All Ireland titles (in 2003, 2005, 2008 and 2021). They have also won sixteen Ulster titles (1956, 1957, 1973, 1984, 1986, 1989, 1995, 1996, 2001, 2003, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2016, 2017 and 2021) and two National League titles (in 2002 and 2003).
*Association football also has a large following in Tyrone. Omagh Town F.C. were members of the Irish Football League until they folded in 2005 due to financial problems. Dungannon Swifts F.C. compete in the NIFL Premiership – the top division. Other teams include NIFL Championship side Dergview F.C.
*Rugby union is very popular in the county. Dungannon RFC, Omagh Academicals RFC and Clogher Valley RFC play in the All-Ireland League. Other teams include Cookstown RFC and Strabane RFC.
*International Cricket is also played on the Bready Cricket Club Ground which is owned by Bready Cricket Club. It is Ireland's fourth venue for International Cricket hosting its first International Cricket match when Ireland played against Scotland in a series of T20I matches in June 2015. It was selected as a venue to host matches in the 2015 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier tournament.

Notable people

* Philomena Begley, Irish country music singer
* James E. Boyd, seventh Governor of Nebraska
* Paul Brady, musician
* Conor Bradley, footballer
* Colin Broderick, Author and Filmographer.
* William Burke (1792–1829), grave robber and murderer
* Peter Canavan, former All Ireland Tyrone captain
* William Carleton (1794–1869), writer
* Chipzel, musician
* Darren Clarke, professional golfer
* Tom Clarke, Irish Republican and leader of the 1916 Easter Rising
* Jimmy Cricket, comedian
* Sidney Elisabeth Croskery, doctor
* Austin Currie, politician, founding member SDLP; Member of Parliament (MP) and later Teachta Dála (TD)
* Janet Devlin, soul and pop artist and contestant on ''The X Factor'' (UK)
* Ryan Dolan, Ireland representative at the Eurovision Song Contest 2013
* Brian Dooher, former captain of the Tyrone senior football team
* Hugo Duncan, singer and broadcaster on BBC Radio Ulster
* 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
* Sylvia Hermon, Member of Parliament for North Down, born in Galbally, County Tyrone
* Aaron Hughes, captain of the Northern Ireland football team
* John Hughes (1797–1864), first Archbishop of Roman Catholic Diocese of New York
* Martin Hurson, Irish Republican
* Ryan Kelly, singer with Celtic Thunder
* Benedict Kiely (1919–2007), writer and broadcaster
* Conor McKenna, AFL Player for the
* Gerry McKenna MRIA (1953–), biologist; Vice Chancellor and President, University of Ulster; Senior Vice President, Royal Irish AcademyProfessor P G (Gerry) McKenna
. ''gerrymckenna.co.uk''.
* 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 'Bard of Tyrone', Presbyterian minister, author and poet
* Thomas Mellon, founder of Mellon Bank, now Bank of New York Mellon
* Sister Nivedita (1867–1911), Irish social activist
* Flann O'Brien (1911–1966), writer
* Dominic Ó Mongain (1715–1770s), poet and harpist
* Arthur O'Neill (1737–1816), travelling blind Irish harpist
* Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone (Aodh Mór Ó Néill) (1550–1616), Irish leader during the Nine Years' War
* Thomas Porter, member of the Wisconsin State Assembly
* Martha M. Simpson (1864–1948), educationalist
* Victor Sloan, visual artist
* Ivan Sproule, football player for Bristol City F.C.
* Dennis Taylor, former world snooker champion
* John K. Tener, former baseball player and Governor of Pennsylvania. Creator of Congressional Baseball Game.

See also

* Abbeys and priories in Northern Ireland (County Tyrone)
* High Sheriff of Tyrone
* List of civil parishes of County Tyrone
* List of places in County Tyrone
* List of townlands in County Tyrone
* Lord Lieutenant of Tyrone
* Ulster American Folk Park
* The Moorlough Shore
* List of archaeological sites in County Tyrone

References

Further reading

* Joost, Augusteijn (ed.) (1920s). ''The Memoirs of John M. Regan, a Catholic Officer in the RIC and RUC, 1909–48''. Co. Tyrone. .
* McNeill, I. (2010). ''The Flora of County Tyrone''. National Museums of Northern Ireland.

External links

Tyrone on the interactive map of the counties of Great Britain and Ireland
– Wikishire
A Flavour of TyroneCounty Tyrone.com

{{Authority control

Tyrone

O'Neill dynasty