It is with great regret and sadness we learn of the passing of Brendan McAnallen, founding member and past Chairman of The O’Neill Country Historical society and historical journal DÚICHE NÉILL .

Brendan was a frequent contributor to the journal over many years, his interest in people and places in our local history is renowned .

He was involved in many other projects such as the production of “The book of Eglish “and the Eglish Heritage trail .

He was deeply passionate about preserving our rich Irish culture and language, and devoted much of his time in writing and speaking about the history of the Benburb and Blackwater Valley area .

He will be sadly missed by all his colleagues in the Society

We convey our condolences to his wife Bridget, sons Fergus and Donal, his brothers and sisters.

Ar deis Dé go raibh a anam. 

04 August 2022

‘A Divided, if not A Foolish People’ by Michael McLoughlin
ISBN 978-0-9554524-9-9 Hardback, 492pp, £25, December 2019.

A REVIEW by Dr Darragh Curran

In the years immediately following the Famine, there was little to mark the town
of Dungannon apart from any other similar town in Ulster. Dominated by the
ascendant Ranfurly/Knox family, there had been little political challenge other
than a failed electoral attempt by John Falls in 1841. Intimidated and bruised,
Falls and his supporters melted back into oblivion leaving Dungannon Borough
firmly under the control of the Knox interest. In an area relatively evenly

matched in the religious sense, there seemed little prospect that the under-
represented Catholics, Presbyterians and indeed Anglicans of Dungannon

could ever break the harness of Ranfurly power. But from the midst of political
mediocracy, an inspirational figure would emerge who would change politics
forever in Dungannon and Co. Tyrone. The catalyst for change came in the
person of Presbyterian factory owner and linen merchant Thomas Alexander
Dickson.
The central focus of this work traces the life and career of Dickson through the
extraordinary years spanning from 1860 until the 1890s. More than anyone,
Dickson was responsible for breaking the Ranfurly political monopoly. How this

was achieved is a central theme of this monograph. The journey of this self-
made man from relatively humble beginnings to his representing three different

parliamentary constituencies in the 1870s, 1880s and early 1890s is fully
chronicled in the book.
The years under scrutiny saw significant political transformation for the people
of south-east Tyrone as changes in the electoral system allowed Dickson and
others such as J. W. E. Macartney and T. W. Russell gain election to
Westminster, thereby breaking the vice-like ascendancy grip on parliamentary
representation in Co Tyrone. Key national issues such as the land question and
the issue of Home Rule were played out in Tyrone as passionately as in any
other part of the country, and Dickson was at the fore, as a Liberal MP, in these
struggles.
Such campaigns proved greatly divisive for the people of south-east Tyrone,
and party spirit which had lain dormant over the previous decades reared its
head again. Opposing factions grew more polarised especially with the rise of
Parnell and the possibility of ‘Home Rule’, a doctrine also subscribed to by
Dickson. The ensuing boiling over of tensions are vividly described by the
author as he details Orange-Green clashes, the most notable of which was the
Lady Day riot of 1880. It is by the examination of these clashes that the reader

is introduced to an array of local characters whose stories allow a fascinating
insight into the everyday lives of the ‘ordinary’ people who seldom receive the
attention they deserve in historical works. The examination of the views of such
people can greatly help in the understanding of the past, and indeed the
present, and the author is to be commended for their inclusion.
Dickson did not escape the societal fissures and cracks that dogged the
campaign for Home Rule and his reason for taking an ‘anti-Parnell’ stance in
the National League split is highlighted. Ultimately however, the key question
requiring answer, at the time, was the one posed mainly to Protestant voters in
Co Tyrone – ‘Can anyone persuade you to support Home Rule?’ Dickson
staked his political career upon obtaining positive answers from them but his
failure to convince them of the merits of ‘Home Rule’ was no disgrace, even if
the rejection of the voters in the 1892 election ended his public political career.
The divisive attitudes formed over the issue of Home Rule still prevail today
and, with hindsight, it is not surprising that Thomas Alexander Dickson, despite
his best efforts and hopes, failed in the endeavour that was so close to his
political heart.
Retired School teacher and former civil rights activist Michael McLoughlin has
devoted quite considerable time to researching the little-known political career
of T. A. Dickson and has produced an outstanding work. Spanning sixteen
chapters and almost 500 pages, this is a well-illustrated book with an array of
informative pictures and tables. A full and comprehensive index is also
provided, as is a bibliography. Predominantly dealing with local issues, the
book nonetheless does not neglect the overall national picture and describes
how the people of Dungannon and south-east Tyrone dealt with events
originating in London and Dublin over which they had no control. Local history
case studies help put the pieces of a larger national jigsaw together and ‘A
divided, if not a foolish people’ more than does its part in this regard.

Sales:

Library sales at £25, contact onchmsec@gmail.com 

Delivery free of charge to libraries in north possible by prior arrangement.

ONCHS, c/o 8 Main St Benburb, Dungannon, Co Tyrone, BT 71 7LA.

Local sales points at £25:-

1. Ranfurly Arts & Visitors centre Dungannon 028 8772 8600.
2. Begley’s Gifts, 31-33 Irish St Dungannon.
3. 3.Unit 7 Ballysaggart Business Complex,2, Beechvalley Way, Dngannon.
4. McAnallen’s Spar shop, Dungannon St, Benburb.

The ONeill Country Historical Society’s next talk of the year is

Pathways to the Past a survey of townlands of the Armagh/Tyrone border

Do you ever wonder what your local area looked like in the past? Why does that road run there? How did we travel before we had the roads? Did we build our houses beside the roads or vice versa? These are questions that sometimes cross our minds. There are clues all around us to help us find answers. in this talk, Peter McNeill will present some of the findings in a study he undertook in the area of Kilmore (Armagh) and surrounding townlands. He will explain the abundance of avenues one can use to research an area and when combined the mystery often dissolves to reveal a vision of our ancestors, and how they lived. As well as the relatively recent introduction of online access to census records and old maps, one has many other sources such as old newspapers, photographs, postcards, museums, Griffith’s Valuations and Revision Books to mention a few. Peter will talk about the obvious indicators often ignored such as townland names and their meaning, which are rich in information, anecdotal evidence from locals and, perhaps most importantly, observation of the landscape.

Peter McNeill is a former teacher in St Catherine’s College, Armagh. He is a member of Ballyhegan and Kimore Community Heritage Association and is currently working with Townscape Heritage in Armagh City. 

Please come along to the Benburb Priory Library on Tuesday the 12^th of November @ 8pm to hear Peter deliver this fascinating talk 

THE FORTS ON THE BLACKWATER RIVER – “THE COCKPIT OF THE NORTH”

The ONeill Country Historical Society commences its summer lecture series with a talk on ‘The Forts on the Blackwater River’ delivered by Dr James O’Neill.

The Nine Years War (1593-1603), also known as Tyrone’s Rebellion represented the climactic clash between the forces of the native Irish and the Tudor state. We often hear of the political dynamics between figures in Ireland, Spain and England and of the dramatic event of the battles of Clontibret (1595), the Yellow Ford (1598) and Kinsale (1601), but for nine years the focus of these turbulent events kept returning to the same stretch of water along the Tyrone-Armagh border: the River Blackwater, with its key military installation, the fort at Blackwatertown ( Port Mór ) which has been described as the “Cock Pit of the North”

Dr James O’Neill worked in archaeology in Northern Ireland for 16 years, specialising in battlefield archaeology and twentieth century defence heritage. In 2008 he moved to the history fraternity at Queens University Belfast. His doctoral research focused on the military aspects of the Nine Years War, also known as Tyrone’s Rebellion. This has been recently published as a monograph by Four Courts Press titled “The Nine Years War 1593-1603: O’Neill, Mountjoy and the Military Revolution” He has published extensively on the Nine Years war but is also known and respected for his work on battlefield and defence heritage archaeology.

Tuesday 8^th May at 8.00pm

O’Neills GFC Community Sports Complex An Port Mór/Blackwatertown

32a Avonmore, Blackwatertown BT71 7HW

Refreshments Served & All are Welcome

THE O’NEILLS OF KINNARD AND SIR PHELIM O’NEILL, Speaker: Dr David Brown T.C.D.

This talk on Caledon is a synthesis of these two interests and relates how Sir Phelim O’Neill’s estate, forfeited due to his participation in the rebellion of 1641, was the subject of a protracted struggle among merchant elites. In marked contrast to the military conflicts normally described during this period, this was a legal and financial conflict that took place at the highest offices of a succession of regimes and rumbled on for a decade after O’Neill’s death. In many ways it is a very modern story of credit defaults, vulture funds and much of the other paraphernalia of modern banking. The words are different but the principles are the same. Finally, the story of Caledon in the 1640s and 1650s demonstrates that the Irish land settlements were far more complicated than they appear to be on the surface.

David Brown is a post doctoral researcher at Trinity College Dublin

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• This talk has been postponed due to the inclement weather. A new date will be rescheduled.

Talk on Wednesday 28th February at 8.00pm in the new Library at Benburb Priory.             Speaker: Mr James Kane

JAMES BRUCE J.P. D.L. The Belfast industrialist who purchased the Northern Wingfield/ Powerscourt estate and built his Manor House (now Benburb Priory) and completely remodelled the historic village of Benburb. 

James Bruce was a self-made Belfast millionaire who bought the Wingfield estate at Benburb in 1877. He proceeded to re-model and dramatically transform the historic village to support his ambition to create a personal country squireocracy.  Bruce died in 1917 but most of the very substantial structural changes he made to the area are still evident in Benburb to this day.

This talk outlines the following subjects:

• The original Plantation estate granted to Sir Richard Wingfield, Marshal of Ireland by the Crown circa 1610. This included the remnants of the castles of Shane ONeill (The Proud) and his successor as The ONeill, Tarlach Luinneach.
• The relationship between the Wingfield/ Powerscourt estate centred around Powerscourt house in Co. Wicklow and the Tyrone estate. Wingfield was created Viscount Powerscourt in 1618.
• The development of the Benburb estate by the Powerscourts up until 1870.
• James Bruce’s Scots and Presbyterian ancestry. Nine of his ancestors were Presbyterian ministers in Ulster.
• His early career and his business and social contacts in Victorian Belfast including his business partner James Craig, father of Capt. James Craig, later, first Viscount Craigavon and first Prime Minister of N. I.
• The development of Dunville and Company whiskey distillers, into a huge and very profitable company.
• The purchase of the Wingfield Tyrone estate including Benburb and 49 townlands.
• The development of the Benburb estate from 1880 including :
• The erection of the Manor House (now Benburb Priory), the demolition of many buildings and the erection of new buildings including a school, post office, an R.I.C. Station, gas production plant and houses. Extensions to the existing churches and the McKean Bros Linen mill. In short, the complete re-development and substantial alterations to the appearance of the old village.

These changes carried out by James Bruce over a 20 year period at the end of the 19th century were far more significant than all the alterations carried out by the various Wingfields in the previous 250 years and they are today incorporated as part of the essential fabric of the village.

Professor Adrian Long will deliver a talk on his life as an engineer, from his early days in his father’s blacksmith shop in Carrowbeg, Eglish, to become a world leader in Civil Engineering. Adrian attended Dungannon Royal School before entering Queens University where he graduated with a first Class Honours and later completed his PhD. He moved to Canada as a bridge designer in Toronto and later developed his patented Arch Bridge system. He returned to Queens University where he spent the next thirty years lecturing and researching, first into reinforced and prestressed concrete, and later into wave energy.

In 2002-03 he was appointed President of the Institute of Civil Engineering and in this capacity traveled to many countries.  Professor Long was awarded an OBE for his services to Higher Education and Engineering,

The talk organised by the ONeill Country Historical Society will take place in Eglish Presbyterian Hall (146 Eglish Road, Dungannon BT70 1LB) on Tuesday 21st February at 8.00pm. All are welcome to come along to hear this inspirational story.

Rev William Richardson of Clonfeacle – Political Parson & would be  Horticulturalist

The ONeill Country Historical Society commences its Autumn Lecture Series with a talk on Rev William Richardson of Clonfeacle delivered by Dr Allan Blackstock.

Reverend William Richardson, who, despite his connections to Coleraine, became vicar at Benburb  during the United Irish trouble of the later 1790s – Richardson, along with Thomas Knox of Dungannon, was a prime mover in the establishment of yeomanry corps to counteract the United Irishmen and their allies, the Defenders – both men saw mid Ulster as crucial in stopping the spread of the United Irish system from eastern Ulster to the west of the province.

As well as being involved in politics William Richardson was primarily a botanist and his main interest was in fiorin grass. He believed that this grass could produce winter hay for livestock and function as an improving agent for Irelands extensive bogland. He thought planting with fiorin right to the summit of mountains would render such areas sources of food for livestock. But he exaggerated the benefits of fiorin and his remedies were ultimately failures. The main interest concerns his ability to publicise fiorin grass by writing and to connect with influential landowners (including the Marquis of Abercorn).

Dr Allan Blackstock is Reader Emeritus in History at the Ulster University. His research interests are in eighteenth and early nineteenth century Ireland and include popular politics and protest, print culture, associationalism and intellectual history. He is author of An Ascendancy Army: the Irish Yeomanry, 1796-1834 (Four Courts Press, Dublin, 1998) and Loyalism in Ireland, 1798-1829 (Boydell & Brewer Woodbridge, 2007).  He has also published a biographical study of the Reverend William Richardson.

 Tuesday 22 September at 8.00pm Church of Ireland Parish Hall, Benburb

Refreshments Served & All are Welcome