County Tyrone

County Tyrone (/tɪˈroʊn/;[5] from Irish: Tír Eoghain, meaning "land of Eoghan") is one of the thirty-two counties of Ireland, one of the six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the nine counties of Ulster. It is no longer used as an administrative division for local government but retains a strong identity in popular culture.

This article is about the county in Ireland. It is not to be confused with topics listed at Tyrone (disambiguation).

County Tyrone

Contae Thír Eoghain
Coontie Owenslann
Coat of arms
Nickname(s): 
The Red Hand County
Motto(s): 
Consilio et Prudentia  (Latin)
"By Wisdom and Prudence"
CountryUnited Kingdom
RegionNorthern Ireland
ProvinceUlster
Established1585
County townOmagh
Area
 • Total1,260.0 sq mi (3,263 km2)
Area rank8th
Highest elevation2,224 ft (678 m)
Population
 (2011)
177,986
 • Rank10th[1]
Time zoneUTC±0 (GMT)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+1 (BST)
Postcode area
BT
Websitediscovernorthernireland.com/about-northern-ireland/counties/co-tyrone/tyrone/
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).

Adjoined to the south-west shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of 3,263 km2 (1,260 sq mi)[6] and has a population of about 177,986; its county town is Omagh. 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 Irish Tír Eoghain 'land of Eoghan', the name given to the conquests made by the Cenél nEógain from the provinces of Airgíalla and Ulaid.[7] Historically, it was anglicised as Tirowen or Tyrowen, which are closer to the Irish pronunciation.

History

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 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.[14]

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.[15]

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).[14] 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.[16] It is the second largest of Ulster's nine traditional counties by area and fourth largest by population.[17]

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

Administration

The county was administered by Tyrone County Council from 1899 until the abolition of county councils in Northern Ireland in 1973.[18]

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,[14] 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)[19]

Medium towns

(population of 10,000 or more and under 18,000 at 2001 Census)[19]

Small towns

(population of 4,500 or more and under 10,000 at 2001 Census)[19]

Intermediate settlements

(population of 2,250 or more and under 4,500 at 2001 Census)[19]

Villages

(population of 1,000 or more and under 2,250 at 2001 Census)[19]

Small villages

(population of less than 1,000 at 2001 Census)[19]

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 possibility of the line being reopened to Dungannon railway station from Portadown.[20]

Sport

The major sports in Tyrone are Gaelic games, association football, rugby union and cricket.

Notable people

See also

References
  1. Cookstown.gov.uk Archived 27 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  2. "North-South Ministerial Council: 2010 Annual Report in Ulster Scots" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 February 2013. Retrieved 18 January 2013.
  3. "North-South Ministerial Council: 2006 Annual Report in Ulster Scots" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 February 2013. Retrieved 18 January 2013.
  4. "Dungannon and South Tyrone Borough Council". Dungannon.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 8 April 2013. Retrieved 18 January 2013.
  5. 248: "Tyrone Co. name, ti'roʊn"
  6. Britannica - County Tyrone
  7. Art Cosgrove (2008); "A New History of Ireland, Volume II: Medieval Ireland 1169-1534". Oxford University Press.
  8. For 1653 and 1659 figures from Civil Survey Census of those years, Paper of Mr Hardinge to Royal Irish Academy, 14 March 1865.
  9. "Census for post 1821 figures". Cso.ie. Retrieved 18 January 2013.
  10. "Histpop.org". Histpop.org. Archived from the original on 7 May 2016. Retrieved 18 January 2013.
  11. "Nisranews.gov.uk". Nisranew.nisra.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 17 February 2012. Retrieved 18 January 2013.
  12. 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.
  13. 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. hdl:10197/1406. Archived from the original on 4 December 2012.
  14. "Description of County Tyrone from Atlas and Cyclopedia of Ireland (1900)". Library Ireland. Retrieved 24 February 2009.
  15. McCavitt, John. The Flight of the Earls. Gill & MacMillan, 2002. p.143-44
  16. Corry, Eoghan (2005). The GAA Book of Lists. Hodder Headline Ireland. pp. 186–191. ISBN 0-340-89695-7.
  17. Marie Veronica Tarpey The role of Joseph McGarrity in the struggle for Irish independence
  18. "Local Government Act (Northern Ireland) 1972". Legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 29 November 2019.
  19. "Statistical classification of settlements". NI Neighbourhood Information Service. Archived from the original on 17 February 2010. Retrieved 23 February 2009.
  20. "All aboard! Dungannon railway hopes revived".
  21. The Tyrone GAA team have won the Ulster Senior Championship on eight occasions in the 20th century
  22. "Tyrone Kane given first Ireland call-up for World T20 qualifiers". BBC Sport. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
  23. Ireland's Bready Cricket Club Gets ICC's Recognition
  24. "ICC announces schedule of ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier 2015". International Cricket Council. Archived from the original on 18 May 2015. Retrieved 14 May 2015.
  25. "Kansas Governor Walter Roscoe Stubbs". National Governors Association. Retrieved 29 September 2012.
  26. Sidney Elisabeth Croskery: Whilst I Remember (1983), ISBN 978-0-85640-260-9
  27. Who Was Who in America, Historical Volume, 1607–1896. Chicago, IL: Marquis Who's Who. 1963.
  28. "Ryan Kelly". Retrieved 24 November 2015.
  29. Professor P G (Gerry) McKenna. gerrymckenna.co.uk.

Pointon, GE (1990), BBC Pronouncing Dictionary of British Names (2nd ed.), Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 92, ISBN 0-19-282745-6

Further reading
  • Joost, Augusteijn (ed.) (1920s). The Memoirs of John M. Regan, a Catholic Officer in the RIC and RUC, 1909–48. Co. Tyrone. ISBN 978-1-84682-069-4.
  • McNeill, I. (2010). The Flora of County Tyrone. National Museums of Northern Ireland. ISBN 978-1-905989-17-1
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