HILL of THE O'NEILL & RANFURLY HOUSE Arts & Visitor Centre
| Address: | 26 Market Square Northern Ireland DUNGANNON County Tyrone BT70 1AB |
| Telephone: | 028 8772 8600 |
| Website: | www.dungannon.info/ |
| Email: |
You don’t have to travel too far to experience some of the history and heritage right on your doorstep.
Step inside the old Belfast Bank in Dungannon, now transformed into Ranfurly Arts and Visitor Centre, and you stand not just in a beautifully renovated Victorian centrepiece at the heart of the town, but also at the threshold of one of the most ancient sites in Ulster – The Hill of The O’Neill.
Ranfurly House has a multi-media exhibition narrating the Hill’s importance in Irish and European history, its links to the O’Neill clan and the subsequent Flight of the Earls and The Plantation of Ulster.
You can take a tour of the exhibition space on your own or with an experienced guide, where you’ll hear tales of the skeletons found on the Hill during a major excavation in 2010, the escape tunnels leading from the O’Neill castle, which snake underneath Dungannon town, and the well which served as a hiding place for the inhabitants of the Hill during many sieges.
At least two castles are thought to have been built on the Hill, as well as a grand manor house and a fortified town.
A walk to the top of the Hill brings stunning views across 7 Ulster counties - all the more impressive when seen from the height of a new glass viewing tower - making it all the more clear why this site was chosen by the famous O’Neill dynasty to rule Gaelic Ireland for over 300 years.
Step inside the old Belfast Bank in Dungannon, now transformed into Ranfurly Arts and Visitor Centre, and you stand not just in a beautifully renovated Victorian centrepiece at the heart of the town, but also at the threshold of one of the most ancient sites in Ulster – The Hill of The O’Neill.
Ranfurly House has a multi-media exhibition narrating the Hill’s importance in Irish and European history, its links to the O’Neill clan and the subsequent Flight of the Earls and The Plantation of Ulster.
You can take a tour of the exhibition space on your own or with an experienced guide, where you’ll hear tales of the skeletons found on the Hill during a major excavation in 2010, the escape tunnels leading from the O’Neill castle, which snake underneath Dungannon town, and the well which served as a hiding place for the inhabitants of the Hill during many sieges.
At least two castles are thought to have been built on the Hill, as well as a grand manor house and a fortified town.
A walk to the top of the Hill brings stunning views across 7 Ulster counties - all the more impressive when seen from the height of a new glass viewing tower - making it all the more clear why this site was chosen by the famous O’Neill dynasty to rule Gaelic Ireland for over 300 years.
