Dungannon is a town historically in County Tyrone in Northern Ireland, but since 2015 part of Mid-Ulster "super-council" area. It's industrial, with a population in 2021 of 16,000, and has become a commuter town for Belfast as it stands at the western terminus of M1. Dungannon (which in Irish means "Geanann's fort") is about five miles from the banks of Lough Neagh and ten miles from County Monaghan in the Republic of Ireland.

Dungannon is a good example of the rise and fall of the Irish crystal glass trade. Glass was made from ancient times, and Dunmisk Hill 15 miles northwest was a factory as early as the 8th century AD (meaning manufacture from raw materials, not simply molding of existing glass). Medieval Britain and Ireland had many glassworks, almost 90 by 1780 when a tax-break favoured Ireland. Waterford, Cork and Dungannon came to specialise in lead (aka "crystal") glass, a trade that lasted 200 years then was uneconomic and collapsed.

Lead crystal glass has at least 24% by weight of lead oxide. This makes it heavy and resonant — flick the edge of your tumbler and it sings, instead of skittering off the table. Lead glass can be fine-cut and has a high refractive index so it catches the light, with rainbows glinting along its cut edges. It became a popular luxury item, marketed as "crystal" and avoiding any mention of lead. Customers might think that was toxic - and it is! Never use lead crystal as a storage container, as within a few days the lead leaches into the contents. It's alright to use as a wine-glass and even as a decanter providing those are rinsed before and after use, and the contents only sit for hours not days.

Dungannon was near a coalfield and had a range of early modern industries, but local glass-making lapsed until 1971 when the company Tyrone Crystal was founded. In the 1990s it moved to a new factory, wrought many fine pieces and became a tourist attraction; the chandelier in Belfast's magnificent Merchant Hotel Grand Room was made here in 2006. But East European competition brought down all the Irish specialist crystal companies, and Tyrone Glass folded in 2010. Glassworking continues in town in a small way in craft studios, but is no longer an industry here.

'"`UNIQ--maplink-00000001-QINU`"'

Map of Dungannon

By road follow M1 west then A29 into town.

The nearest railway station is Portadown 17 miles east, with frequent trains from Lisburn, Belfast and Bangor, and the hourly Enterprise Train between Dublin and Belfast

Ulsterbus 75 takes 50 min between Portadown and Dungannon, with six M-F and three on Saturday. Bus 67 also runs by a slightly longer route.

Goldliner 273 runs from Belfast Grand Central via Lurgan to Dungannon, taking an hour. It runs hourly M-Sa and every two hours Sunday, and continues to Ballygawley, Omagh, Newtonstewart, Sion Mills, Strabane and Derry.

X4 runs six times a day from Dublin city and airport, taking 2 hr 30 min to Dungannon. It's heading to Derry but you can't ride it for that section. Don't take X3, which takes a different route to Derry.

Ulsterbus 72 runs every two hours from Armagh, taking 40 min via Moy, and Bus 80 runs from Cookstown every hourly taking 50 min via Coalisland.

Goldliner 261 runs from Belfast to Lurgan, Dungannon and Enniskillen. It's hourly M-Sa and every two hours on Sunday.

Goldliner 278 runs in university term-time, with one bus Su-F from Monaghan via Armagh, Moy, Dungannon, Cookstown, Magherafelt, Garvagh and Coleraine to Ulster University, Portstewart and Portrush.

54.5011-6.77411 Dungannon bus station is southwest corner of town on Beechvalley Way.

You need your own wheels to reach The Argory.

Taxi firms in town are Taxi Network (+44 7722 678333), Home James (+44 28 8772 2655), Mark Taxi (+44 7922 938 538) and NW Taxi (+44 7595 971034).

National Cycleway 95 runs mostly on-road from Armagh to Dungannon, Cookstown and Strabane, while Route 94 circles Lough Neagh.

• 54.5051-6.76831 Hill of the O'Neill was the seat of power of that dynasty, lords of all they surveyed until Elizabethan England encroached. The Gaelic chieftains fought back in the Nine Years War, but finally lost at Kinsale in 1602. Some knuckled under to the new regime, some went into exile, some tried to fetch reinforcements from Spain. Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone, tried to have it all ways up, but in 1607 he fled to the continent along with the Earl of Tyrconnell and some 90 followers, "The Flight of the Earls". Thus ended the Irish Gaelic aristocracy: their lands were seized, to be settled by loyal British subjects, the beginning of the "Plantations" that made Ulster a Protestant province. O'Neill's castle on the hill was torched and replaced by a mansion which in turn has crumbled. There's a visitor centre at Ranfurly House on Market Square, open M-Sa 9AM-5PM and Apr-Sep Su 1-5PM.
• St Anne's is a sturdy Anglican church in town centre, built 1867.
• St Patrick's is the RC church on Circular Rd, completed in 1876.
• 54.495-6.7772 Ballysaggart Lough is the lake southeast of town, with lots of waterfowl.
• 54.4648-6.65763 The Argory, 144 Derrycaw Rd, Moy BT71 6NA, ☏ +44 28 8778 4753, [email protected]. Apr-Oct W-Su 11AM-5PM, Nov-Mar Sa Su noon-3PM. Irish gentry house retaining its plush 1824 interior and wooded riverside estate. Adult £12.10, child £6.10, NT free. (updated Aug 2025)
• 54.5311-6.81324 Donaghmore High Cross is a richly carved 9th-century cross. It's in Donaghmore village 3 miles northwest of town along B43.
• See Cookstown for Tullyhogue Fort, and Ardboe on the shore of Lough Neagh.
• See Portadown for Ardress House and Dan Winter's farmhouse.

• Omniplex Cinema is on Oaks Retail Park, north side of town off A45 Oaks Rd.
• Dungannon Leisure Centre on Circular Rd has a pool.
• Dungannon Swifts play soccer in the NIFL or Danske Bank Premiership, Northern Ireland's top tier. Their home ground is Stangmore Park (capacity 5000) a mile southeast of the centre along A29 Moy Rd.
• Golf: Dungannon GC is a parkland course a mile north of town off B43. White tees 6151 yards, par 71.

• Oaks Retail Park is the main area, north of the centre. Sainsbury's is open M-Sa 8AM-9PM, Su 1-6PM and has an ATM and filling station.

• 54.5038-6.76591 Viscounts Restaurant, 10 Northland Row BT71 6AP, ☏ +44 28 8775 3800. Th-Sa 3-8PM, Su noon-8PM. Restaurant in an old church, it's mostly steak, but with fish, veggie and oriental options. (updated Aug 2025)
• 54.5033-6.76742 The Gasworks, 11 Perry St BT71 6AW, ☏ +44 28 8775 4988. F-Su noon-midnight. Lively bar and grill. (updated Aug 2025)
• Viegas Grill is at 8 Scotch St, open M-Th 5-9PM, F 3-9:30PM, Sa noon-9:30 PM.
• Troppicana is a Portuguese restaurant on Scotch St.
• The Millwheel is at 3 Thomas St, open M-Th 9AM-4PM, F Sa 9AM-5PM.
• 54.5058-6.76983 Cano's, Feeny's Lane BT70 1TX, ☏ +44 28 8772 2334. W-Su 5-10PM. Good selection of pizza and pasta. (updated Aug 2025)
• Basilico is at 68 Irish St, open Th-Tu noon-9PM.
• Deli on the Green is at 19 Beechvalley Way opposite the bus station, open Tu-Th 9AM-4PM, F Sa 9AM-6PM, Su 10AM-3PM.
• Brewer's House, 73 Castlecaulfield Rd, Donaghmore BT70 3HB (opposite the High Cross), ☏ +44 28 8776 1932. W-F 5-8PM, Sa Su 3-8PM. Well-regarded gastropub, though vegetarians don't have much choice. The Lower House bar has a good selection of whiskey and gin, and they have self-catering apartments. (updated Aug 2025)

• McAleer's Bar, Donaghmore Rd BT71 1EZ, ☏ +44 28 8772 5485. Daily noon-11PM. More club than pub, with Ivory Club, St Tropez Bar, Crystal Cocktail Bar, Zanzibar and Sports Bar. (updated Aug 2025)
• Quinn's Bar at 68 Scotch St is open M-F noon-11PM, Sa Su noon-midnight.
• The Blackthorn is at 39 Irish St, open daily 11:30AM-1AM.
• Donaghy's is at 26 William St, open daily noon-11PM.
• Distillery: Woodlab (aka Symphonia Spirits) makes gin in Moy, five miles south on A29. Tours available.

Dungannon's limited accommodation folded during Covid. Try the village of Moy 6 miles southeast.

• 54.4465-6.69131 Charlemont House, 4 The Square, Moy BT71 7SH, ☏ +44 7516 093040. Pleasant guesthouse in a building of 1860. Double (room only) £110. (updated Aug 2025)
• Ryandale Inn, 17 The Square, Moy BT71 7SG (next to Charlemont House), ☏ +44 28 8778 4629. Friendly efficient guesthouse. B&B double £120. (updated Aug 2025)

As of Aug 2025, Dungannon and its approach roads have 4G from EE, Three and Vodafone, and 5G from O2.

• Cookstown is where the O'Neill kings were inaugurated, by waving a shoe over their head. There are several prehistoric sites nearby.
• Omagh's Ulster American Folk Park is an outdoor museum depicting emigrant life.
• Armagh has long been the ecclesiastic capital of Ireland, with two cathedrals and a prehistoric "fort" that was clearly religious not defensive.