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Tullaghoge Fort

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hagnel2
hagnel2
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Tullaghoge Fort

  • October 29, 2006
  • Rated 4 of 5 by hagnel2 from Hamilton, Ontario
Tullaghoge Fort

Tullaghoge means hillock of warriors or youths and was the seat of the O Neils and O Hagans. The O Hagan’s were chief justices of Tyrone and presided over all crownings.

Searching for this fort proved easier than our previous attempts finding Court Tombs and standing stones. The turn into the parking area was located on a bad bend and as usual we had a large transport truck attached to our bumper, therefore we followed the road about a mile until we could safely make a u turn. We parked the car in the minuscule parking lot and walked for about ten minutes up a signed paved steep path.

This impressive hilltop fort once the crowning place of the O’Neil’s dates back to the eleventh century. It is located atop a renowned hill overlooking hilly pastoral countryside with super views north to Slieve Gallion. "The ONeil" (head of the family) ruled over the kingdom of Tyrone from the eleventh to latter sixteenth century and it was upon this hill they were crowned. Present day you need to use your imagination because at first glance it seems to be merely a green hilly mound.

There is a wide outer treed bank but no outer ditch. Within this outer bank and separated from it by a wide space is an oval inner enclosure with a raised saucer shaped interior. Many early defensive hill forts had two rings of banks and ditches to keep out enemies. This fort is different, its two banks set wide apart has a flat area in between and both banks have a gap in them so you can walk into the inner area which is raised in the middle like an upside down saucer; there is no defensive ditch.

During the crowning the King elect sat on a stone inauguration chair a golden sandal was thrown over his head, a symbolic act indicating that he would strive to walk in his ancestors footsteps. Sandals were placed on his feet and he was then anointed and crowned by the primate of Armagh. Saint Patrick was purported to have blessed the stone chair, however, Lord Mountjoy destroyed the chair in 1602 on orders of Queen Elizabeth the first. The breaking of the chair marked the end of the O Neil power in Ireland, the last O Neil was named Hugh who submitted to Lord Mountjoy and the crown in 1603.

It is a mystical green place; the only sounds were birds, cows, and a faint buzz of traffic. We spent an hour walking all around the outer enclosure and looking out over the countryside trying to imagine the scenes in by gone days. Just below the fort a circular wall surround the burial place of the O Hagan’s but a muddy-padlocked gate and indeterminate livestock bar access.

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