placenamesOritor
Na Coracha Beaga
Oritor, commonly written Orritor, has a history of estate administration and livestock fairs, with its roads later becoming part of the Cookstown 100.
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
- Na Coracha Beaga · Irish · main form · validated name
- Oritor · English · main form
Place & story
The manor changes hands
The Castle Stewart archive records Andrew Thomas Stuart’s purchase of the manor of Orritor in 1782. Its alternative names included Orator, Auraghter and Manor Annesley. The acquisition brought it into a larger group of Tyrone estates. Papers now held by the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland preserve the family’s land administration, building projects and legal affairs. [2]
Fair days and the manor court
Samuel Lewis described Oritor in 1837 as a village of twenty-two houses on the Omagh–Belfast road, west of Cookstown. Its fairs traded cattle, sheep and pigs. A monthly manor court dealt with small debts and had jurisdiction over twelve townlands in Kildress parish. Lewis also recorded a Presbyterian meeting house erected in 1825, showing the village’s combined commercial, legal and religious functions. [3]
The Orritor road circuit
The Cookstown 100 uses a road circuit at Orritor. Mid Ulster’s official account describes the modern course as 2.1 miles long and identifies Joey Dunlop, Guy Martin and Ryan Farquhar among those who have raced there. Organised by Cookstown and District Motorcycle Club, the event gives the local roads a sporting identity reaching well beyond the village. [4]
Geographic information
- Place type
- Population centre
- County
- Tyrone
- Barony
- Dungannon Upper
- Civil parish
- Kildress
- Coordinates
- 54.65319, -6.80689 (approximate)
- Logainm ID
- 1414276 ↗
Sources & further reading
- Logainm.ie — Oritor. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
- The Castle Stewart Papers, PRONI D 1618 · Public Record Office of Northern Ireland / Irish Archives Resource
- Oritor: A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland (1837) · Samuel Lewis · 1837
- Cookstown 100 and the Orritor Circuit · Mid Ulster District Council, Visit Mid Ulster
Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2012-01-25. How this page was prepared.