County Tyrone, Ireland Genealogy

Guide to County Tyrone ancestry, family history and genealogy: birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, parish registers, and military records.

History
Tyrone is the largest county in northern Ireland. It is one of four counties in Northern Ireland which currently has a majority of the population from a Catholic community background. In the 12th century the kingdom of Ailech split into two sovereign territories and Cenél nEógain became Tír Eoghain, the land of Eoghan, Anglicised as Tyrone. It was later ruled ruled under their kinsmen the Ó Néill clan. The other part of Ailech, was Anglicised as Tyrconnell.

Following the Norman invasion of Ulster in 1177, Tyrone had become the predominant power in the north of Ireland, a position it regained upon the collapse of the Norman Earldom of Ulster in the 14th century. During the reign of the monarch Elizabeth I it would become an earldom within the kingdom of Ireland, eventually curtailed, it was shired into the counties of Armagh and Tyrone, and subdivided into baronies. During the reign of Stuart monarch James I, Tyrone would be reduced further with the barony of Loughinsholin in its north-east being transferred to the new county of Londonderry. The Ó Néill's rebelled several times with attempts to reassert sovereignty but failed each time. The last attempt of substance was under Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone, who fled in 1607 with many of his allies fleeing Ireland with him.

The population of County Tyrone is roughly 177,986 people.

General County Research Information
County Tyrone (Irish: Contae Tír Eoghain) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland. It lies within the province of Ulster. The county town is Omagh. Further information about County Tyrone is available at the GenUKI site.

Civil Jurisdiction and Parish Research Information

 * List of County Tyrone Civil Parishes
 * List of County Tyrone Catholic Parishes

Societies

 * The West Tyrone Historical Society Website
 * Strabane History Society

Civil Registration

 * 1845-1913 - at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1845-1958 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Land and Property

 * 1831 - 1856 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Maps

 * 1885 County Map: Courtesy of London Ancestor

Websites
County Tyrone has a growing number of online resources for researching ancestry. Here are a few which provide significant data-rich entries for family history researchers:


 * CountyTyroneGenealogy - totally free website established in 2001 by a group of dedicated Volunteers
 * RootsIreland - currently holds over 750,000 entries from various records--including church registers, census, Griffiths Valuations, etc.
 * Cemetery/church graveyards - for the county, in the Ulster Historical Foundation website
 * FHLFavorites.info
 * RootsChat Tyrone Resources and Help pages. (Free).
 * County Tyrone Northern Ireland GenWeb Project: Additional resources and links

Links to articles, subcategories and images under the Category County Tyrone

 * Category:County Tyrone, Northern Ireland