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County Tyrone

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County Tyrone
Contae Thír Eoghain (Irish)
Coontie Owenslann (Ulster-Scots)
County
Coat of arms of County Tyrone
Coat of arms
Nickname: 
The Red Hand County
Motto(s): 
Consilio et Prudentia (Latin)
"By Wisdom and Prudence"
Location of County Tyrone
CountryUnited Kingdom
RegionNorthern Ireland
ProvinceUlster
Established1585
County townOmagh
Area
[1]
 • Total1,261 sq mi (3,270 km2)
 • Rank8th
Highest elevation
(Sawel Mountain)
2,224 ft (678 m)
Population
 (2021)
188,383
 • Rank11th[2]
Time zoneUTC±0 (GMT)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+1 (BST)
Postcode area
BT
Contae Thír Eoghain is the Irish name; Countie Tyrone,[3] Coontie Tyrone[4] and Coontie Owenslann[5] are Ulster Scots spellings (the latter used only by Dungannon & South Tyrone Borough Council).

County Tyrone (/tɪˈroʊn/;[6] from Irish Tír Eoghain, meaning 'land of Eoghan' [tʲiːɾʲ ˈɔːn]) 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 1,261 square miles (3,266 km2),[1] 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

[edit]

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

[edit]
Main article: List of Kings of Tír Eógain

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.[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

[edit]

With an area of 1,261 square miles (3,266 km2), 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 metres (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 1,261 sq mi (3,270 km2).[14] 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.[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

[edit]

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

Demography

[edit]
Religious Background in Tyrone (2021)
Religion Per cent
Catholic
 
 66.5%
Protestant and Other Christian
 
 28.9%
None
 
 4.0%
Other faiths
 
 0.7%

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.[19] In 1900 County Tyrone had a population of 197,719,[14] 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.[19]

Religion or religion brought up in (2021 Census)
Religion or religion brought up in Number %
Catholic 125,251 66.49%
Protestant and Other Christian 54,407 28.88%
Other religions 1,251 0.66%
None (no religion) 7,474 3.97%
Total 188,383 100.00%
National identity (2021 Census)[20][21][22][23]
National identity Number (%)
Irish only 78,291 41.6%
British only 39,551 21.0%
Northern Irish only 38,698 20.5%
British and Northern Irish only 8,197 4.4%
Irish and Northern Irish only 3,853 2.1%
British, Irish and Northern Irish only 1,175 0.6%
British and Irish only 737 0.4%
Other identity 17,881 9.5%
Total 188,383 100.0%
All Irish identities 84,562 44.9%
All British identities 50,768 27.0%
All Northern Irish identities 52,667 28.0%

Irish language and Ulster Scots

[edit]

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

[edit]
Main article: List of places in County Tyrone

Large towns

[edit]

(population of 18,000 or more and under 75,000 at 2021 Census)[24]

Medium towns

[edit]

(population of 10,000 or more and under 18,000 at 2021 Census)[24]

Small towns

[edit]

(population of 4,500 or more and under 10,000 at 2021 Census)[25]

Intermediate settlements

[edit]

(population of 2,250 or more and under 4,500 at 2021 Census)[24]

Villages

[edit]

(population of 1,000 or more and under 2,250 at 2001 Census)[25]

Small villages

[edit]

(population of less than 1,000 at 2001 Census)[25]

Subdivisions

[edit]
Further information: Clonaneese

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

[edit]

There is the possibility of the line being reopened to Dungannon railway station from Portadown.[26]

Sport

[edit]

Major sports in Tyrone include Gaelic games, association football, rugby union and cricket:

Notable people

[edit]
See also: Category:People from County Tyrone

See also

[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to County Tyrone.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b Northern Ireland General Register Office (1975). "Table 1: Area, Buildings for Habitation and Population, 1971". Census of Population 1971; Summary Tables (PDF). Belfast: HMSO. p. 1. Archived (PDF) from the original on 23 July 2019. Retrieved 28 August 2019.
  2. ^ "Religion or religion brought up in". NISRA. Retrieved 17 August 2023.
  3. ^ "North-South Ministerial Council: 2010 Annual Report in Ulster Scots" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 February 2013. Retrieved 18 January 2013.
  4. ^ "North-South Ministerial Council: 2006 Annual Report in Ulster Scots" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 February 2013. Retrieved 18 January 2013.
  5. ^ "Dungannon and South Tyrone Borough Council". Dungannon.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 8 April 2013. Retrieved 18 January 2013.
  6. ^ BBC (1990). Graham E. Pointon (ed.). BBC pronouncing dictionary of British names (2 ed.). New York: Oxford University Press. p. 248. ISBN 0192827456. Tyrone Co. name, ti'roʊn
  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. Archived from the original on 9 March 2005. 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. Retrieved 3 September 2009.
  14. ^ a b c Joyce, Patrick Weston; Sullivan, Alexander Martin; Nunan, P. D. (1900). Atlas and Cyclopedia of Ireland. Murphy and McCarthy. Archived from the original on 19 September 2008. Retrieved 24 February 2009. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  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 Archived 17 June 2016 at the Wayback Machine
  18. ^ "Local Government Act (Northern Ireland) 1972". Legislation.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 30 October 2019. Retrieved 29 November 2019.
  19. ^ a b "Religion or religion brought up in". NISRA. Retrieved 17 August 2023.
  20. ^ "National Identity (Irish)". NISRA. Retrieved 18 August 2023.
  21. ^ "National Identity (British)". NISRA. Retrieved 18 August 2023.
  22. ^ "National Identity (Northern Irish)". NISRA. Retrieved 18 August 2023.
  23. ^ "National identity (person based) - basic detail (classification 1)". NISRA. Retrieved 18 August 2023.
  24. ^ a b c "Settlement 2015". NISRA. Retrieved 17 August 2023.
  25. ^ a b c "Statistical classification of settlements". NI Neighbourhood Information Service. Archived from the original on 17 February 2010. Retrieved 23 February 2009.
  26. ^ "All aboard! Dungannon railway hopes revived". Archived from the original on 1 September 2021. Retrieved 1 September 2021.
  27. ^ The Tyrone GAA team have won the Ulster Senior Championship on eight occasions in the 20th century
  28. ^ Sean Moran (29 April 2002). "Tyrone's superiority is total". The Irish Times. Retrieved 14 February 2022.
  29. ^ "Tyrone outclass Laois". BBC News. 4 May 2003. Retrieved 14 February 2022.
  30. ^ "Tyrone Kane given first Ireland call-up for World T20 qualifiers". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 2 June 2015. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
  31. ^ Ireland's Bready Cricket Club Gets ICC's Recognition[permanent dead link]
  32. ^ "ICC announces schedule of ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier 2015". International Cricket Council. Archived from the original on 18 May 2015. Retrieved 14 May 2015.
  33. ^ "Kansas Governor Walter Roscoe Stubbs". National Governors Association. Archived from the original on 14 June 2012. Retrieved 29 September 2012.
  34. ^ Sidney Elisabeth Croskery: Whilst I Remember (1983), ISBN 978-0-85640-260-9
  35. ^ Who Was Who in America, Historical Volume, 1607–1896. Chicago, IL: Marquis Who's Who. 1963.
  36. ^ "Ryan Kelly". Archived from the original on 25 November 2015. Retrieved 24 November 2015.
  37. ^ Professor P G (Gerry) McKenna Archived 20 May 2017 at the Wayback Machine. 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

[edit]
  • 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
[edit]
Wikivoyage has a travel guide for County Tyrone.
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