County Tyrone

"Tyrone" redirects here. For other uses, see Tyrone (disambiguation).
County Tyrone
Contae Thír Eoghain
Coontie Tyrone

Coat of arms
Motto: Consilio et Prudentia  (Latin)
"By Wisdom and Prudence"
Country United Kingdom
Region Northern Ireland
Province Ulster
County town Omagh
Area
 • Total 1,218 sq mi (3,150 km2)
Area rank 8th
Population (2011) 177,986
 • Rank 10th[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, meaning "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

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

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

Townlands

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.

Notable people

Matthias KELLY QC SC Chairman of the Bar of England and Wales 2003, born in Dungannon, co Tyrone. Educated St Patrick's Academy, Dungannon.

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to County Tyrone.

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. 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. Archived from the original on 17 February 2012. Retrieved 18 January 2013.
  10. ↑ Lee, JJ (1981). "On the accuracy of the Pre-famine Irish censuses". In Goldstrom, J. M.; Clarkson, L. A. 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. 1 2 3 "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. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "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. ↑

Further reading

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for County Tyrone.
 County Londonderry
County Donegal Lough Neagh
   County Tyrone  
County Fermanagh County Monaghan County Armagh
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