Town in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland
Dungannon
A hilltop town in Tyrone that was the O'Neills' stronghold, where an 18th-century meeting shook the British Empire and a 1916 rebel leader learned his politics.
Key information
- County
- County Tyrone
- Nation
- Northern Ireland
- Population
- about 14,300 (2011 Census)
- Known for
- The O'Neill stronghold, the 1782 Volunteers' Convention, Tyrone Crystal
- Famous people
- Hugh O'Neill, Tom Clarke, Stephen Ferris
- Football clubs
- Dungannon Swifts
About Dungannon
The hill that was the O'Neills' stronghold
Dungannon sits on a hill, and that hill is the whole point. Long before the town had streets, Castle Hill was the power base of the O'Neills, the dynasty that ruled Tyrone and dominated much of Gaelic Ulster. Its Irish name, Dún Geanainn, means Geanann's fort. The most famous O'Neill to hold it was Hugh, Earl of Tyrone. He led the Nine Years' War against Elizabeth I's armies, and for a while he seemed to be winning. After the war ended in defeat, he left Ireland in 1607 in the Flight of the Earls, and Gaelic Ulster's old order went with him. The castle was eventually destroyed, but the hilltop is still the natural place to start a visit. Stand there and you can see why anyone wanted it.
The meeting that made London nervous
On 15 February 1782, 242 delegates from the Irish Volunteers, a citizen militia raised to defend Ireland while British troops were abroad, packed into a church in Dungannon. They came out with resolutions declaring that only the King, Lords and Commons of Ireland could make laws for Ireland. It was a bold thing to say with a militia at your back. The Dungannon Convention helped push the case for legislative independence, and Henry Grattan's Parliament followed later that year. The Volunteers also voted to support easing the restrictions on Catholics, a radical idea for the time. The independence settlement did not last, and Dublin lost its parliament again in 1801. But Dungannon's name stuck as shorthand for the moment Irish opinion found its voice.
A plantation school and a rebel apprentice
After the Earls fled, Tyrone was reshaped by the Plantation of Ulster. One lasting result was the Royal School Dungannon, set up under a royal charter in 1614 and still educating pupils today. It is one of the oldest schools in the north. A very different Dungannon figure was Tom Clarke. Born at Hurst Castle in Hampshire, on the English mainland opposite the Isle of Wight, to an Irish soldier's family, he grew up in the town and joined its Fenian circle as a young man. He later became a leading organiser of the 1916 Rising and the first signatory of the Proclamation of the Irish Republic. He was executed in May 1916. The town's best-known GAA club, Dungannon Clarke's, carries his name.
Glass, sport and a very Tyrone Saturday
Tyrone Crystal began in 1971 at Killybrackey, on the edge of Dungannon, and made the town a byword for hand-cut glass. Its pieces have turned up as gifts and trophies far beyond Ulster. Sport here splits along familiar Tyrone lines. Gaelic football is the great passion, and the county's All-Ireland wins in 2003, 2005 and 2008 were celebrated in every club around. Rugby is just as strong. Dungannon's rugby club has a long pedigree, and the forward Stephen Ferris, born in Portadown, played for Dungannon before going on to play for Ulster and Ireland. The football club is Dungannon Swifts, founded in 1949, who play in the Irish League.
What to see today
Ranfurly House, named for the Knox family, Earls of Ranfurly, who were the town's leading landlords, is now an arts and visitor centre and a good place to learn about the town's story. Dungannon Park offers a lake and a green break from the busy town centre. Back on the hill, the layout of the old centre still follows the climb up to Castle Hill. Dungannon makes a handy base for exploring Tyrone, with Lough Neagh's shore and the Sperrin foothills both within easy reach.