Tullyhogue Fort

Inauguration site of the O'Neill kings of Ulster for over 400 years

Tullyhogue Fort is an Iron Age hillfort about 5 kilometres south of Cookstown that served as the inauguration site of the O'Neill kings of Ulster, the most powerful Gaelic dynasty in Ireland, from the 12th century until the Elizabethan conquest in the early 17th century. The fort consists of two concentric earthwork rings on a hilltop, enclosing a central area where the inauguration ceremonies took place.

The site is freely accessible and managed by the Northern Ireland Environment Agency. The walk up to the hilltop from the car park takes about ten minutes and the views over the surrounding Tyrone countryside are good. Interpretive panels at the site explain the history of the O'Neill dynasty and the significance of the inauguration rites. The earthworks themselves are well-preserved — the banks are still several metres high — and give a strong sense of the site's original enclosure.

things to do sight
A story
Tullyhogue was the inauguration site of the O'Neill dynasty for over four centuries. During the inauguration ceremony, the new king was seated on a stone chair — Leac na Rí, the Stone of the Kings — and a sandal was placed on his foot as a symbol of his authority. The chair was destroyed in 1602 by Lord Mountjoy during the Elizabethan conquest of Ulster, a deliberate act to break the symbolism of O'Neill power. The site itself survived and remains one of the most important places in Ulster's pre-plantation history.

Other places in Things to Do