Dungannon

Dungannon (, ) is a town in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is the second-largest town in the county (after Omagh) and had a population of 16,282 at the 2021 Census. The Dungannon and South Tyrone Borough Council had its headquarters in the town, though since 2015 the area has been covered by Mid-Ulster District Council.

For centuries, it was the 'capital' of the O'Neill dynasty of Tír Eoghain, who dominated most of Ulster and built a castle on the hill. After the O'Neills' defeat in the Nine Years' War, the English founded a plantation town on the site, which grew into what is now Dungannon. Dungannon has won Ulster in Bloom's Best Kept Town Award five times. It currently has the highest percentage of immigrants of any town in Northern Ireland.

History

For centuries, Dungannon's fortunes were closely tied to that of the O'Neill dynasty which ruled a large part of Ulster until the 17th century. Dungannon was the clan's main stronghold. The traditional site of inauguration for 'The O'Neill' was Tullyhogue Fort, an Iron Age mound some four miles northeast of Dungannon. The clan O'Hagan were the stewards of this site for the O'Neills. In the 14th century the O'Neills built a castle on what is today known as Castle Hill; the location was ideal for a fort, for it was one of the highest points in the area and dominated the surrounding countryside, giving (depending on the weather) the ability to see seven counties.

This castle was burned in 1602 by Hugh O'Neill, 2nd Earl of Tyrone, as Crown forces under Lord Mountjoy closed in on the Gaelic lords towards the end of the Nine Years' War. In 1607, ninety-nine Irish chieftains and their followers, including Hugh O'Neill, set sail from Rathmullan, bound for the continent, in an event known as the Flight of the Earls. In what became known as the Plantation of Ulster, their lands were confiscated and awarded to Protestant English and Scots settlers; Dungannon and its castle were granted to Sir Arthur Chichester, the Lord Deputy of Ireland.

Sir Phelim O'Neill seized the town in the opening stages of the Irish Rebellion of 1641, and issued the Proclamation of Dungannon, in which the rebels set out their aims and proclaimed their loyalty to Charles I. O'Neill claimed they had been ordered to rise by the King, and later produced a forged commission in support of this. During the course of the Irish Confederate Wars, Dungannon changed hands several times; Scots Covenanter forces under Alexander Leslie captured it in September 1642, before O'Neill took it back in spring 1643.

In 1973, the town became the seat of the new district of the Dungannon and South Tyrone Borough Council. In 1782, the town was the location where the independence of the Irish Parliament was declared by members of the Protestant Ascendancy who controlled the parliament at the time.

The castle was partially excavated in October 2007 by the Channel 4 archaeological show ''Time Team'', uncovering part of the moat and walls of the castle.

The Troubles

In the late 1960s Northern Ireland was plunged into an ethnopolitical conflict known as the Troubles. On 24 August 1968, the Campaign for Social Justice (CSJ), the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association (NICRA), and other groups, held Northern Ireland's first civil rights march from Coalisland to Dungannon. The rally was officially banned, but took place and passed off without incident. The publicity surrounding the march encouraged other groups to form branches of NICRA.

During the conflict Dungannon suffered numerous bombings, and almost 50 people were killed in and around the town. The deadliest attack was on 17 March 1976, when a loyalist car bomb killed four Catholic civilians.

The Dungannon circus crash

On 7 May 1954, a convoy of circus wagons crashed and overturned in Dungannon. The convoy was on its way to hold a circus in Ballygawley when a pilot lorry, which was towing three wagons, struck a chemist's shop while taking a sharp bend on Irish Street. The driver lost control of the lorry, which continued on to Market Square. The first of its wagons, carrying eight horses, four Shetland ponies and an ass, toppled over, smashing the front of two drapery shops. The second wagon, carrying three lions, crashed into the front of a hair salon and a hardware shop. Locals broke the back of the horses' wagon open, to free the animals trapped inside. A large group of locals and police physically moved the wagon containing the lions back onto the road to allow it to be removed.

Demography

The population of the town increased slightly overall during the 19th century:

2011 Census

Dungannon had a population of 14,340 at the 2011 census, rising by 3,349 (over 30%) from 10,983 in 2001, making it one of the fastest growing towns in Northern Ireland. It has the highest percentage of immigrants of any town in Northern Ireland."NI migrant population triples in decade, says study"
. BBC News, 26 June 2014 Immigrants make up about 11% of its population; more than twice the average. Between 2001 and 2011, the number of immigrants in Dungannon increased tenfold; the biggest increase of any town. Many came to work in the local food processing plants. There have been several attacks on immigrants and clashes between rival groups of immigrants in the area.

On Census day (27 March 2011) there were 14,340 people living in Dungannon (5,388 households), accounting for 0.79% of the NI total. Of these:

* 22.01% were aged under 16 years and 12.09% were aged 65 and over;
* 50.33% of the usually resident population were female and 49.67% were male;
* 64.82% belong to or were brought up in the Catholic Christian faith, 30.46% belong to or were brought up in a 'Protestant and Other Christian (including Christian related)' religion;
* 31.63% had an Irish national identity, 28.27% indicated that they had a British national identity and 23.93% had a Northern Irish national identity (respondents could indicate more than one national identity);
* 34 years was the average (median) age of the population;
* 15.93% had some knowledge of Irish (Gaeilge), 4.82% had some knowledge of Ulster-Scots and 23.18% did not have English as their first language.

2021 Census

In the 2021 Census, Dungannon was recorded as having a population of 16,282, a 13.5% increase from 2011. Of these:

* 34.85% of the town's population was recorded as foreign-born (born outside the United Kingdom and Ireland), by far the largest of any settlement in Northern Ireland.
* The largest foreign-born communities are East Timorese (1,777 people), Lithuanian (1,565 people), Polish (717 people) and Portuguese (578 people).
* 67.15% of the population belong to or were brought up in the Catholic Christian faith, 24.25% belong to or were brought up in a 'Protestant and Other Christian (including Christian related)' religion, and 1.63% belonged to or were brought up in an other religion. 6.96% either declared no religion or did not state their religion.
* 22.45% were aged under 16 years and 12.48% were aged 65 or over.
* 49.24% of the usually resident population were female and 50.76% were male.
* 15.38% had some knowledge of the Irish language, 6.97% had some knowledge of Ulster-Scots and 31.52% did not have English as their first language.
* 27.15% had an Irish national identity, 21.98% had a British national identity and 19.64% had a Northern Irish national identity (respondents could indicate more than one national identity).

Places of interest

An interesting feature of the town is the former Royal Irish Constabulary barracks at the northeastern corner of the market square which is quite unlike any other police barracks of a similar vintage in Ireland. A popular but apocryphal story relates that the unusual design of this building is due to a mix-up with the plans in Dublin which meant Dungannon got a station designed for Nepal and they got a standard Irish barracks, complete with a traditional Irish fireplace. Dungannon Park covers ; it is centred round an idyllic still-water lake, with miles of pathways and views of the surrounding townland.

Geography

Dungannon is in the southeast of County Tyrone, within the historic barony of Dungannon Middle and the civil parish of Drumglass.

The town grew up around a hill, known locally as Castle Hill. There are three small lakes on the southern edge of town, the biggest of which is Black Lough. There are also two parks in the eastern part of town: Dungannon Park and Windmill Wood Park.

Townlands

Dungannon sprang up in a townland called Drumcoo. Over time, the urban area has spread into the neighbouring townlands. Many of its roads and housing estates are named after them. The following is a list of these townlands and their likely etymologies:
* Ballynorthland Park
* Ballysaggart ()
* Coolhill (from meaning 'the backwoods')
* Drumcoo (from meaning 'ridge of the cuckoo')
* Drumharriff (from meaning 'ridge of the bull')
* Gortmerron (from meaning 'Merron's field')
* Killymaddy (from meaning 'wood of the dogs')
* Killymeal (from meaning 'wood of the bald/hornless cow')
* Lisnaclin (from meaning 'ringfort of the bell chime')
* Lisnahull (from meaning 'ringfort of the hazel')
* Lurgaboy (from meaning 'yellow shin' i.e. shin-shaped hill)
* Mullaghadun (from meaning 'hilltop of the fort')
* Mullaghanagh (from meaning 'hillock of the kiln')
* Mullaghconor Glebe (from meaning 'Conchobhar's summit')
* Mullaghmore (from meaning 'big hilltop')

Economy

Until its closure in 2010, the crystal glass producer Tyrone Crystal was based in Dungannon.

Schools

;Primary
*Aughamullan (Holy Family) Primary School (RC)
*Bush Primary School
*Clintyclay Primary School
*Derrylatinee Primary School (RC)
*Donaghey Controlled Primary School
*Dungannon Primary School
*Killyman Primary School
*Laghey Primary School (RC)
*Lisfearty Primary School
*Newmills Primary School
*Orchard County Primary School (amalgamation of Annaghmore and Tullyroan primary schools)
*St Mary's Primary School
*St Patrick's Primary School
*Tamnamore Primary School
*Walker Memorial Primary School
*Windmill Integrated Primary School

;Secondary
* Royal School Dungannon
* Integrated College Dungannon
* St Patrick's Academy, Dungannon
* Drumglass High School
*St Patricks's College, Dungannon

Transport

Dungannon is linked to the M1 motorway, which runs from the southeast of the town to Belfast. There is an Ulsterbus town bus service that runs daily that serves the town's suburbs, formerly operated by the Optare Solo buses. The nearest railway station is on Northern Ireland Railways.

Former railways

The Irish gauge Portadown, Dungannon and Omagh Junction Railway (PD&O) linked the town with from 1858 and Omagh from 1861, completing the – Derry railway route that came to be informally called "The Derry Road". The Great Northern Railway took over the PD&O in 1876Hajducki, ''op. cit.'', page xiii and built a branch line from Dungannon to Cookstown in 1879.

The GNR Board cut back the Cookstown branch to Coalisland in 1956Hajducki, ''op. cit.'', map 39 and the Ulster Transport Authority (UTA) closed the branch altogether in 1959. In accordance with the Benson Report submitted to the Government of Northern Ireland 1963 the UTA closed the "Derry Road" through Dungannon in 1965. The site of Dungannon station is now a public park and the former trackbed through the station is now a greenway.

Notable people

1800s

* Thomas J. Clarke (1858–1916) – first signatory of the 1916 Proclamation of the Irish Republic; executed by the British authorities
* Dixie Paumier Clement – Irish-born Australian physician and obstetrician
* Richard Dowse (1824–1890) – judge
* Sister Nivedita (born Margaret Elizabeth Noble) (1867–1911) – social worker, author, teacher and disciple of Swami Vivekananda
* George T. Oliver (1848–1919) – U.S. Senator
* Henry W. Oliver (1840–1904) – Pittsburgh industrialist
* Thomas Wilson Spence (1846–1912) – Wisconsin lawyer and state politician

1900s

* Darren Clarke (born 1968) – professional golfer
* Austin Currie (1939–2021) – former member of the Parliament of Northern Ireland and Dáil Éireann, attended St Patrick's Academy in Dungannon.
* Bernadette Devlin McAliskey (born 1947) – former British MP; Irish republican activist, attended St Patrick's Girls Academy in Dungannon.
* Ryan Farquhar (born 1976) – motorcycle racer
* Fra Fee (born 1987) – film, stage actor
* Dominic Gates (born 1954/1955) – journalist and Pulitzer Prize winner
* Adrian Logan (born 1955) – television presenter
* Michaella McCollum Connolly – criminal (convicted drug smuggler)
* Gerry McGeough (born 1958) – Provisional Irish Republican Army volunteer; prison escapee.
* Niall McGinn (born 1987) – footballer, Dungannon Swifts.
* Gerry McKenna (born 1953) – MRIA, biologist, Senior Vice President of the Royal Irish Academy, Vice Chancellor and President of University of Ulster
* Kris Meeke (born 1979) – rally driver
* Colin Morgan (born 1986) – actor, attended Integrated College Dungannon
* Joanne Salley (born 1977) – television presenter
* Victor Sloan (born 1945) – artist
* Gareth Steenson (born 1984) – rugby union player
* Birdy Sweeney (1931–1999) – actor
* Patrick Wallace (born 1969) – snooker player

Sport

Cricket

Dungannon Cricket Club was established in 1865. Attempts were made to re-establish the club after the First World War and this was done in 1929 and survived until 1933 when Lord Ranfurly died, which for a second time left the club without a ground. Cricket was kept alive by the Royal School, Bankers and the RUC until 1939 when the Second World War broke out. The club was reformed in 1948 mainly due to the efforts of Eddie Hodgett and the NCU leagues in 1952 and continues to do so to the present time. The club has never quite reached senior cricket as it has limited resources and relies on the District Council for a ground. The club has played on at least five different locations during its existence. Home games are played at Dungannon Park.

Football

Dungannon Swifts F.C. is the town's local team, which plays in the NIFL Premiership, and is Tyrone's only representative in the league, following Omagh Town's collapse. The club represented Northern Ireland in European competition in the 2006 UEFA Intertoto Cup and the 2007–08 UEFA Cup.

Gaelic games

The local boys' Gaelic football club is Dungannon Thomas Clarkes (''Thomáis Uí Chléirigh Dún Geanainn'') while the ladies' football team is Aodh a Ruadh.

Golf

Dungannon Golf Club, which provides an 18-hole course, appointed its first woman captain in January 2022.

Hare coursing

The local Hare Coursing Club has been in existence since the 1920s but the sport was popular in the area long before the formation of the club. With hare coursing currently banned in Northern Ireland, the Dungannon club organises meetings in the Republic of Ireland.

Greyhound racing

Greyhound racing was once a popular sport in Dungannon. The Dungannon Greyhound Stadium was opened in July 1930, the third track in Northern Ireland after Celtic Park and Dunmore Stadium. The stadium, also known as the Oaks Park Greyhound Stadium, remained operational until January 2003 when it was closed by Dungannon (Oaks Park) Stadium Greyhound Racing Limited who had taken over the track in 1995 and saw the opportunity to make a substantial profit by developing the site.

Rugby

Dungannon Rugby FC, founded in 1873, was one of the first towns in Ireland to form a rugby club.

See also

* Abbeys and priories in Northern Ireland (County Tyrone)
* List of towns and villages in Northern Ireland
* List of localities in Northern Ireland by population
* O'Neill dynasty
* Tullyhogue Fort

References

Sources

*
*
*

External links

Dungannon Enterprise CentreDungannon Life

{{Authority control

O'Neill dynasty
Towns in County Tyrone