placenamesTullaghoge
Tulaigh Óg
Tullaghoge’s hilltop fort served as an O’Neill inauguration centre and remained a focus of occupation into the early Plantation period.
The name
These Irish name elements are associated with this record in the Logainm glossary.
An element’s translation is a clue, rather than a complete explanation of the name. Its form and meaning depend on local history and the full Irish name.
Recorded forms
- Tulaigh Óg · Irish · main form · validated name
- Tullaghoge · English · main form
- Tullyhog · English · main form · historical name
Place & story
A royal centre
Tullaghoge came to prominence as a dynastic centre and inauguration place of the Cenél nÉogain, later the O’Neills, during the eleventh century. The fort occupies a hilltop with wide views across the surrounding country. Its position and political role made this more than a defensive enclosure: it was a recognised place where authority was conferred and displayed. [2]
The Lindsey occupation
The site continued in residential use after its Gaelic political role declined. Queen’s University’s historical review records a grant to Robert Lindsey in 1611 and describes his widow’s occupation in 1619, within an earthen enclosure containing a timber house. By 1622 the family had moved to the foot of the hill. The account distinguishes this short Plantation occupation from the fort’s earlier inauguration history. [3]
Community archaeology
In September and October 2014, Brian Sloan directed excavations around the fort for Queen’s University Belfast. Local primary schools and adult volunteers joined the work, undertaken with the Northern Ireland Environment Agency and Cookstown Council. Trenches investigated areas outside the monument and tested features suggested by earlier geophysical surveys. The project brought community participation into research on the landscape surrounding the historic enclosure. [4]
Geographic information
- Place type
- Population centre
- County
- Tyrone
- Barony
- Dungannon Upper
- Civil parish
- Desertcreat
- Coordinates
- 54.60749, -6.73083 (approximate)
- Logainm ID
- 135126 ↗
Sources & further reading
- Logainm.ie — Tullaghoge. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
- Tullaghoge Fort, TYR038:016 · Department for Communities
- Magnetometry survey, Tullaghoge Fort, CAF GSR31, historical background p.4 · Centre for Archaeological Fieldwork, Queen’s University Belfast
- Community Excavation Adjacent to Tullaghoge Fort, CAF DSR109 (2014), p.5 · Brian Sloan, Centre for Archaeological Fieldwork
Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2010-04-19. How this page was prepared.