Dungannon

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Template:Infobox Irish Place Dungannon (from Irish Dún Geanainn 'Geanann's fort') is a town in County Tyrone in Northern Ireland. It is the third largest town in the County (next to Omagh and Strabane) and has a population of 11,139 people in the 2001 Census. In August 2006, Dungannon won the Ulster In Bloom Best Kept Town award for the fifth time. It contains the headquarters of the Dungannon and South Tyrone Borough Council.

History

At one stage Dungannon was the capital of Ireland in the early 1600s due to the fact that the King of Ireland Hugh O'Neill situated there. Dungannon was also the county town of Tyrone, but High Court Judges who travelled to Dungannon to the courthouse were attacked in the village of Cappagh. The county town was then moved to Omagh

The Troubles

Dungannon was one corner of the infamous murder triangle during the Troubles. For more information see The Troubles in Dungannon, which includes a list of incidents in Dungannon during the Troubles resulting in two or more fatalities.

Places of interest

An interesting feature of the town is the former Police barracks at the top right hand corner of the market square which is quite unlike any other barracks of a similar vintage in Ireland. A popular but apocryphal story relates that the unusual design of this building is due to a mix up with the plans in Dublin which meant Dungannon got a station designed for the Khyber Pass in Afghanistan and they got a standard Irish barracks, complete with a traditional Irish fireplace.

Economy

The once thriving linen industry has largely been replaced by glass-blowing, and the Tyrone Crystal factory is a major visitor attraction in Northern Ireland. Dungannon also has brick making industry using Coalisland fireclay. Dungannon has large numbers of migrant workers employed locally in factories including Moy Park and Dungannon Meats. The majority of these workers come from Portuguese backgrounds, East Timor, Poland and Lithuania.

Education

Infrastructure

Rail-map-Viceregal-1906

Dungannon was served by four different systems which stretched throughout Northern Ireland, into Derry, Co. Donegal and deep into southern Ireland. At the turn of the last centuary, Clones was one of the major junctions from Derry, Omagh, and Belfast to north Leinster, in particular, the major market towns of Athlone, Cavan, and Mullingar via the Inney junction. This back-bone rail infrastructure was administered by Midland Great Western Railway which also linked to other major centres namely, Sligo, Tullamore, via Clara, other destinations such as Dublin, Limerick, and other market centres of the south coast.

There is a town bus service that runs daily, and a night bus service at weekends. Both services serve the town's suburbs.

Other Transport Projects

Sport

Dungannon has also achieved much sporting success within its history. It was one of the first towns in Ireland to form a rugby club, probably due to the Royal School. Dungannon's rugby team's most recent success was sharing the Ulster Senior League title with Ballymena. They were also the first Ulster club to win the All Ireland League

At least one player from Dungannon is listed in the first ever Irish side. The rugby club was founded in 1873, was the sixth club in Ireland and a founder member of the IRFU. Despite being a rugby union club since inception it's official title is Dungannon Football Club. This was in common with other clubs, such as the now defunct North of Ireland club from Belfast, who were founded prior to the formal division of the different styles of football into Association (soccer) and rugby. The town also has connections to New Zealand rugby. The Earl of Ranfurly presented the Ranfurly Shield to the NZRFU.

The town has also achieved much success in Gaelic games, Gaelic football and hurling. Dungannon has produced many footballers, especially for the Tyrone County Team, who won the All-Ireland Gaelic Football Championship in 2003 and 2005, in partcular, Gerard Cavlan. The local GAA club is Thomas Clarke's Dungannon GFC (Thomáis Uí Chléirigh Dún Geanainn).

Dungannon Swifts F.C. is the town's local soccer team, which performs well in the Irish Premier League, and is Tyrone's only representatives in the league, following Omagh Town's collapse.

People

One of Dungannon's most famous sons is Thomas J. Clarke, the first signatory of the 1916 Proclamation of the Irish Republic (Poblacht na hÉireann as gaeilge). Clarke was one of the main leaders and key figures in the 1916 Easter Rising and was executed by the British authorities on May 3rd at the age of 59 for his role in the rising. Dungannon GAA club is named after him.

Dungannon is the birthplace of professional golfer Darren Clarke, motorbike racer Ryan Farquhar, artist Victor Sloan, and TV presenters Adrian Logan and Joanne Salley.

2001 Census

Dungannon is classified as a Medium Town by the NI Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) (ie with population between 10,000 and 18,000 people). On Census day (29 April 2001) there were 11,139 people living in Dungannon. Of these:

  • 24.0% were aged under 16 years and 17.8% were aged 60 and over
  • 47.4% of the population were male and 52.7% were female
  • 57.6% were from a Catholic background and 40.3% were from a Protestant background
  • 3.7% of people aged 16-74 were unemployed.
  • approximately one-eighth were of Portuguese origin, with a sizeable number of other ethnic groups also noted.

Dungannon now has a thriving immigrant population - many of which work within the local food processing industry

For more details see: NI Neighbourhood Information Service

External links

See also

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