Eastern Tyrone
Cookstown, the local commercial centre in eastern Tyrone, has had a troubled past since a Scottish landlord established a small town and market here in the 1620's. During the Irish uprising of 1641 the town was captured by the native Irish and then burnt to the ground after its recapture by the army - Cookstown lay derelict for a century until 1736. In that year, the grandson of the original settler, inspired by the streets of Dublin and Edinburgh, laid out a new town with a main street stretching over one and a quarter miles in length, the longest such in Ireland. A ‘planned planters' town, Cookstown curiously consists of very little else but that single straight street. Its principal landmark is the conspicuous 19 th century Catholic church.
Two miles south of Cookstown is Tullaghoge Fort, the erstwhile headquarters of the O'Hagans, chief justices of Ireland, who undertook the coronations of the O'Neill Kings from the 12 th to the 17 th century. Viewed from the road the fort appears to be simply a copse of beech and Scots pine on the top of a very gentle hill, but in fact there are very clear earthworks from the early Christian period - a circular outer bank with an inner oval enclosure. It was in Tullaghoge Forrest that O'Neill clansmen hid after the Flight of the Earls in 1607.
Legend has it that Fionn MacCumhaill took a massive lump of land from Ulster and hurled it across the Irish Sea to become the Isle of Man, while the remaining hole became Lough Neagh. The Lough's shores form Tyrone's eastern boundary and provide excellent fishing as well as an abundance of bird life. Covering 153-square miles, Lough Neagh is the largest lake in the UK, resembling a sea rather than a lake. Its waters are noted for a certain ‘petrifying' quality - objects placed in the water quickly become hardened with mineral deposits.
Close by the shores at Ardhoe stands an impressive 10 th century Celtic cross over 18 ft in height. The Ardhoe High Cross is richly carved with Biblical scenes. Although the elements have eroded much of the depictions beyond recognition it remains clear enough to make out Old Testament references on one side and New Testament on the other. The cross stands in the grounds of an early monastery associated with St Colman's 6 th century monastic community.
Ten miles south of Cookstown is Dungannon, a rather dreary town offering no trace of its former illustrious past as the hilltop seat of the O'Neills, from which they ruled Ulster for over five centuries. Contrasting favourably with Dungannon is the picturesquely graceful village of Benburb. The tiny cottages in Main Street were once apple-picking sheds and the parish church, dating from 1618, is one of the oldest still in regular use in Ireland. Neighbouring the church are the gates of a Servite Priory, the monastic order of Servants of the Virgin founded in Florence in 1233. There are scenic walks to be had along the banks of the Blackwater River in Benburb Valley Park where, perched on a rock 100 ft above the water are the substantial remains of Benburb Castle, built by Viscount Powerscourt in 1615 - Shane O'Neill had first fortified the cliff-top eyrie in the 16 th century. Located in the canalside hamlet of Milltown is the Benburb Valley Heritage Centre, housed in a 19 th century weaving factory. Included inside is a model layout of the 1646 Battle of Benburb, at which a Scottish army suffered catastrophic losses, some 3000 dead, in an encounter with the Irish under Owen Roe O'Neill.
The Blackwater River forms the Clogher Valley to the west of Benburb, a 20-mile stretch of pleasantly rolling countryside. The Great Ancestral Homeland is located here, another reminder of Ulster's connection with America. It was once a smallholding farmed by the maternal ancestors of the 18 th US president Ulysses S Grant (1822-85), whose life and exploits during the American Civil War are depicted in the visitor centre.
The novelist William Carleton (1794-1869) was born into a family of Irish-speaking peasants near Clogher, and his connection gives its name to the Carleton Trail, a series of three walking and cycling routes that all start and finish in Clogher. In the village itself is the 18 th century Church of Ireland cathedral and village, the oldest bishopric in Ireland - the cathedral's first bishop was St MacCartan, a disciple of St Patrick. Inside the cathedral is ‘the golden stone', dating from the 9 th century. The park behind the cathedral has a recently excavated Iron Age hill fort, thought to be the seat of the ancient Kings of Oriel - evidence of Clogher's earlier historical significance.