| Dungannon Castle | |
|---|---|
| Dungannon, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland | |
  Dungannon Castle | |
| Coordinates | 54°30′20″N6°46′04″W / 54.50565°N 6.7678°W |
| Site information | |
| Condition | Ruin |
Dungannon Castle was a castle at Dungannon, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland.
| Dungannon Castle | |
|---|---|
| Dungannon, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland | |
| Dungannon Castle | |
| Coordinates | 54°30′20″N6°46′04″W / 54.50565°N 6.7678°W |
| Site information | |
| Condition | Ruin |
Dungannon Castle was a castle at Dungannon, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland.
In 1305 a castle was built there by Domnall O'Neill, on what is today known as Castle Hill, one of the highest points in the area, which dominated the surrounding countryside with the ability to see seven counties depending on the weather.
During the 15th century a tower house was known to have been constructed upon the site. [1] Conn Mor O'Niell was in residence during 1483, and in 1559 Shane O'Neill burnt the castle to prevent use by English forces. [1] The O'Donnells demolished the castle in 1590. The castle was burned in 1595 and in 1602 by Hugh O'Neill, 2nd Earl of Tyrone as Crown forces under Charles Blount, Lord Mountjoy closed in on the Gaelic lords towards the end of the Nine Years' War. [1] In 1607, ninety-nine Irish chieftains and their followers, including Hugh O'Neill, set sail from Rathmullan, bound for the continent. What followed became known as the Plantation of Ulster and the town and its castle were granted to Sir Arthur Chichester, the architect of the Plantation. [2] Chichester rebuilt the castle and this castle was undermined and captured by Felim O'Neill of Kinard in 1641. [2] The castle was again slighted in 1690. The land was sold to Thomas Knox, 1st Earl of Ranfurly who built a mansion house on the site. The two ruined towers are the remains of this structure. [2]
Its location ultimately led to the British Army taking over the site in 1950 for a security installation during The Troubles, then the police, being returned to the local council only in August 2007. [2]
The castle was partially excavated in 2003. It was again excavated in October 2007, by the Channel 4 archaeological show Time Team, leading to the uncovering of part of the moat and walls of the castle. [3]
Charles Blount, 1st Earl of Devonshire, KG was an English nobleman and soldier who served as Lord Deputy of Ireland under Queen Elizabeth I, and later as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland under King James I.
Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone was an Irish Gaelic lord and key figure of the Irish Nine Years' War. Known as the "Great Earl", he led the confederacy of Irish clans against the English Crown in resistance to the Tudor conquest of Ireland under Queen Elizabeth I.
Shane O'Neill was an Irish chieftain of the O'Neill dynasty of Ulster in the mid-16th century. Shane O'Neill's career was marked by his ambition to be the O'Neill—sovereign of the dominant O'Neill family of Tír Eoghain. This brought him into conflict with competing branches of the O'Neill family and with the English government in Ireland, who recognised a rival claim. Shane's support was considered worth gaining by the English even during the lifetime of his father Conn O'Neill, 1st Earl of Tyrone. But rejecting overtures from Thomas Radclyffe, 3rd Earl of Sussex, the lord deputy from 1556, Shane refused to help the English against the Scottish settlers on the coast of Antrim, allying himself for a short time instead with the MacDonnells, the most powerful of these settlers. Shane viewed the Scottish settlers as invaders, but decided to stay his hand against them with hopes of using them to strengthen his position with the English. However, tensions quickly boiled over and he declared war on the Scottish MacDonnell's defeating them at the Battle of Glentaisie despite the MacDonnells calling for reinforcements from Scotland. The Scottish MacDonnells would later assassinate Shane O'Neill and collect the bounty on his head.
Earl of Ranfurly, of Dungannon in the County of Tyrone, a title in the Peerage of Ireland, was created in 1831 for Thomas Knox, 2nd Viscount Northland. He had earlier represented County Tyrone in the House of Commons, and had already been created Baron Ranfurly, of Ramphorlie in the County of Renfrew, in the Peerage of the United Kingdom in 1826. Knox was the eldest son of Thomas Knox, who represented Dungannon in the Irish House of Commons. He was created Baron Welles, of Dungannon in the County of Tyrone, in 1781, and Viscount Northland, of Dungannon in the County of Tyrone, in 1791. Both titles were in the Peerage of Ireland. Lord Northland also sat in the British House of Lords as one of the 28 original Irish representative peers.
The Flight of the Earls took place in September 1607, when Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone, and Rory O'Donnell, 1st Earl of Tyrconnell, and about ninety followers, left Ulster in Ireland for mainland Europe. Their permanent exile was a watershed event in Irish history, symbolizing the end of the old Gaelic order.
Dungannon is a town in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is the second-largest town in the county 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.
The Earl of Tyrone is a title created three times in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created for the final time in 1746 for Marcus Beresford, 1st Viscount Tyrone, son-in-law of the last de Poer earls. His son was created Marquess of Waterford in 1789, and the title has since been a subsidiary title of the Waterford title.
The Nine Years' War, sometimes called Tyrone's Rebellion, took place in Ireland from 1593 to 1603. It was fought between an Irish confederation—led mainly by Hugh O'Neill of Tyrone and Hugh Roe O'Donnell of Tyrconnell—against English rule in Ireland, and was a response to the ongoing Tudor conquest of Ireland. The war began in Ulster and northern Connacht, but eventually engulfed the entire island. The Irish alliance won numerous victories against the English forces in Ireland, such as the Battle of Clontibret (1595) and the Battle of the Yellow Ford (1598), but the English won a pivotal victory against the alliance and their Spanish allies in the siege of Kinsale (1601–02). The war ended with the Treaty of Mellifont (1603). Many of the defeated northern lords left Ireland to seek support for a new uprising in the Flight of the Earls (1607), never to return. This marked the end of Gaelic Ireland and led to the Plantation of Ulster.
Belfast Castle is a mansion located in Cave Hill Country Park in Belfast, Northern Ireland, in a prominent position 400 feet (120 m) above sea level. Its location provides unobstructed views over the City of Belfast and Belfast Lough. There have been several structures called "Belfast Castle" over the centuries, located on different sites. The current "castle" is a Victorian structure, built between 1867 and 1870 on the slopes of Cave Hill, and is Grade A listed. The main entrance into the Belfast Castle Demesne is now where Innisfayle Park meets Downview Park West, just off the Antrim Road. The original main entrance into the current demesne was formerly on the Antrim Road itself, where Strathmore Park now meets the Antrim Road.
Castlecaulfield is a village in the south-east of County Tyrone in Northern Ireland. It lies about 2 miles west of Dungannon and is part of the Mid Ulster District Council area. The village is mostly within the townland of Drumreany, although part of it extends into Lisnamonaghan. It is situated in the historic Barony of Dungannon Middle and the civil parish of Donaghmore.
The Battle of Carrickfergus took place in November 1597, in the province of Ulster in what is now County Antrim, Northern Ireland, during the Nine Years War. It was fought between the crown forces of Queen Elizabeth I and the Gaelic clan of MacDonnell, with military support from Hugh O'Neill, earl of Tyrone, and resulted in a defeat for the English.
Stewartstown is a village in Northern Ireland, close to the western shore of Lough Neagh, about 5 miles (8 km) from Cookstown, 3 miles (5 km) from Coalisland and 7 miles (11 km) from Dungannon. Established by Scottish Planters early in the 17th century, its population peaked before the Great Famine of the 1840s at over 1000. In the 2011 Census the town had a population of 650 people. Formerly in the historic County Tyrone, today it is in local-government district of Mid Ulster.
Hugh McShane O'Neill was an early modern Irish nobleman and rebel associated with the McShanes of Glenconkeyne and Killetra. This group was also called the "Wild Clan Shanes of Killetragh" or the "McShane-O'Neills". His parentage is disputed however he is claimed by some as being either a grandson or great-grandson of Conn O'Neill, 1st Earl of Tyrone, and Gearoid Mór Fitzgerald, 8th Earl of Kildare, and of the primary line of the O'Neill of Tyrone clan.
Clandeboye or Clannaboy was a kingdom of Gaelic Ireland, comprising what is now south County Antrim, north County Down, and the barony of Loughinsholin. The entity was relatively late in appearance and is associated partly with the Gaelic resurgence of the High Middle Ages. The O'Neill Clandeboy who reigned in the territory descended from Hugh Boy O'Neill, a king of Tyrone. His descendants took advantage of the demise of the Earldom of Ulster during the latter 14th century and seized vast portions of territory. Clandeboye's main seats of power were Shane's Castle and Castle Reagh.
Tír Eoghain, also known as Tyrone, was a kingdom and later earldom of Gaelic Ireland, comprising parts of present-day County Tyrone, County Armagh, County Londonderry and County Donegal (Raphoe). The kingdom represented the core homeland of the Cenél nEógain people of the Northern Uí Néill and although they ruled, there were smaller groups of other Gaels in the area. One part of the realm to the north-east broke away and expanded, becoming Clandeboye, ruled by a scion branch of the O'Neill dynasty. In one form or another, Tyrone existed for over a millennium. Its main capital was Dungannon, though kings were inaugurated at Tullyhogue Fort.
Arthur Chichester, 1st Baron Chichester, of Carrickfergus in Ireland, was an English administrator and soldier who served as Lord Deputy of Ireland from 1605 to 1616. He was instrumental in the development and expansion of Belfast, now Northern Ireland's capital. Several streets are named in honour of himself and his nephew and heir Arthur Chichester, 1st Earl of Donegall, including Chichester Street and the adjoining Donegall Place, site of the Belfast City Hall.
Sir Francis Roe, alias Rooe, was an English-born infantry officer who served in Ireland during the Nine Years' War, obtained grants of land during the Plantation of Ulster, and became a member of the Parliament of Ireland and mayor of Drogheda.
The Burning of Dungannon took place in June 1602 when Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone, abandoned and set fire to Dungannon, the traditional capital of the O'Neills. It marked the beginning of the final stage of Tyrone's Rebellion when the Earl became a fugitive, before his sudden reprieve the following year.
On 16 February 1595, a Gaelic Irish force assaulted and captured the English-held Blackwater Fort at Blackwatertown in County Armagh. The Irish were led by Art MacBaron O'Neill, brother of Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone, and marked Tyrone's break with the English Crown as he openly waged war against the English forces in Ireland.
Donnell Ballagh O'Cahan was an Irish landowner in Ulster. A vassal of Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone, O'Cahan was frequently in rebellion alongside his lord in the closing years of the 16th century. Although he did not go into exile with Tyrone, he claimed to have been betrayed by the English Crown, which he accused of failing to keep to an agreement over a large grant of lands. Arrested for treason, he was never brought to trial but was held captive in Tower of London until his death sometime around 1627.
