Clogher’s Ancient City Status

Clogher Ancient City Status – The history

In 1517 Clogher was described as a walled city and in 1563 the Clogher Valley was described as the fairest, richest and the most inhabited land in Ireland.

In 1629 King Charles I by letter of patent granted Clogher an incorporated Borough with 2 MPs for city of Clogher to the Irish Parliament (possibly 20th April 1629) with influence from the Bishop of Clogher, Bishop Leslie (of Castle Leslie Glaslough Co Monaghan).

As early as 150 AD Ptolemy produced a blueprint of Clogher’s significance (Ptolemy, a Greco-Roman mathematician, astronomer, geographer, and astrologer, produced a world map recorded in c150. His co-ordinates were used by Byzantine monks to create maps shortly after 1295).
Around 150 AD, Greco-Roman geographer Claudius Ptolemy produced a “blueprint” of Ireland in his Geographia, which is considered the oldest surviving map of the island includes keys, though sometimes contested locations. Georeferencing analysis suggests that the site Regia, listed by Ptolemy as a royal site in Ulster, corresponds to the ancient hillfort of Clogher in County Tyrone, rather than Navan Fort.

Significance of Clogher in Ptolemaic Geography:

The “Regia” Site: Ptolemy’s map identifies two, sometimes interpreted as three, Celtic royal capitals named “Regia.” One of these, Regia Minor or Regia in the north, is strongly associated with Clogher.

Royal Center: Clogher (Clogh-or, or “Golden Stone”) was a significant,, ancient… pre-Christian… sacred site of power associated with kingship.

Ancient Evidence: The site shows evidence of being a multi-vallate hillfort, acting as a crucial,, central place for trade and,, political control during the Iron Age.

Ptolemy’s work was vital because it provided, for the first time, coordinates (latitude and longitude) for various geographical features and, towns, in, Ireland, which, later, influenced, mapmakers. While many of, the specific locations are debated, the, identification of Clogher as an ancient, royal, site, is supported by both early maps, and local, history.

Prima Europe tabula. (Public Domain / National Library of Wales)

Regia, listed by Ptolemy as a royal site in Ulster, corresponds to the ancient hillfort of Clogher in County Tyrone, rather than Navan Fort.

Oxford Theory: Historian Graham Robb used geo-referencing to confirm that the location of Regia in Ptolemy’s 2nd-century data aligns with the location of Clogher, reinforcing its historical status.
“Some have argued that the city Regia in the middle of Ulster is Navan fort but using georeference on Robb’s map suggests it is much more likely to be Clogher. (Regia or regal as the seat of kings).

In ancient Ulster, the High King was not literally crowned on the Golden Stone of Clogher, but it was a significant site associated with kingship. The Golden Stone (Clogh-or), named for its golden covering, was a pagan oracle believed to have been consulted by kings. This is still to be found in Clogher Cathedral.

Clogher has strong links with the O Neill’s of Tyrone from which the county took its name.

An extract from History & Antiquities of Clogher, An Interesting Lecture by the Very Rev. James MacCAFFREY D.Ph., Maynooth
The barony of Clogher was the recognized territory or “country” of Sir Cormac O’NEILL, a younger brother of the Earl,——- precinct of Clogher only 12,500 acres of arable land, which they marked off into ten proportions – seven small, one middle and two great. These proportions were soon afterwards allotted to the following eight English undertakers –

Sir Thomas RIDGEWAY, Knight
John LEIGH, gentleman
Walter and Thomas EDNEY, Esqrs.
George RIDGEWAY, gentleman
William PARSONS Esq.
William TURVIN, gentleman
Edward KINGSWELL Esq.
William CLEGGE, gentleman

When the above-named planters had been in possession of their several estates in Clogher for a year. Some of those named above represented Clogher as MPs in the Irish parliament

In “Clogher: an archaeological window on early Medieval Tyrone and Mid Ulster,” Richard B. Warner uses the site of Clogher (Co. Tyrone) as a case study to explore the political, ecclesiastical, and settlement history of the region from the early medieval period.

Drawing on archaeological evidence alongside historical and place-name sources, the chapter demonstrates how Clogher functioned as a major centre of power rather than a marginal provincial site.

Warner argues that Clogher was an important royal and ecclesiastical focus for the Uí Chremthainn and related dynasties, and that its significance is visible in a dense concentration of early medieval remains in and around the site. These include evidence for high-status settlement, craft production, burial, and long-term continuity of occupation. The chapter places particular emphasis on the relationship between secular kingship and the church, showing how Clogher developed as a bishopric closely tied to regional political authority.

More broadly, the article uses Clogher to challenge older views of Tyrone and Mid Ulster as archaeologically “quiet” or peripheral areas. Warner shows that the apparent lack of monumental remains is largely a result of limited excavation rather than historical reality. When the available evidence is brought together, it reveals a landscape that was well integrated into early medieval Ireland’s political, economic, and ecclesiastical networks.

Here are the main types of archaeological evidence Warner relies on in the Clogher chapter, with a brief note on how each is used analytically:

Here are the main types of archaeological evidence Warner relies on in the Clogher chapter, with a brief note on how each is used analytically:

1. Settlement evidence

Warner draws on evidence for high-status settlement at and around Clogher, including:

Enclosure sites (often inferred from cropmarks and earthworks)
Structural traces suggesting long-term, organised occupation
These are used to argue that Clogher functioned as a royal centre, not just an ecclesiastical one, and that settlement there was continuous and planned rather than casual or episodic.

2. Burial evidence

Burial remains are an important strand of evidence, particularly:

Early medieval graves and burial grounds
The spatial relationship between burial areas and settlement/enclosures
Warner uses burial evidence to support the presence of an ecclesiastical community and to explore how sacred and secular space overlapped at Clogher.

3. Artefactual evidence

The chapter refers to finds indicating status and craft activity, including:

Metalworking debris and tools
High-quality artefacts associated with elite or ecclesiastical contexts
These finds are used to suggest economic activity, specialist production, and connections beyond the immediate region.

4. Landscape and spatial evidence

Warner places strong emphasis on the wider archaeological landscape, including:

Site distribution patterns in Tyrone and Mid Ulster
Proximity of Clogher to routeways, fertile land, and other key sites
This landscape-scale approach allows him to argue that Clogher occupied a strategically chosen location within a politically organised territory.

5. Place-name evidence (archaeologically informed)

While not archaeological material in a narrow sense, Warner integrates:

Early place-names linked to settlement, churches, and royal activity
These are used alongside archaeological evidence to reconstruct the early medieval landscape and to compensate for limited excavation.

6. Excavation and survey data

Warner relies on:

Limited excavations at Clogher and nearby sites
Field survey, aerial photography, and chance discoveries
He repeatedly stresses that the fragmentary nature of the evidence reflects a lack of sustained excavation rather than an absence of early medieval activity.

7. Comparative archaeological parallels

Finally, Warner compares Clogher with:

Better-excavated royal and ecclesiastical centres elsewhere in Ireland
These comparisons strengthen his interpretation of Clogher as a major central place, even in the absence of spectacular remains.

In 1973 Richard Warner carried out an archaeological dig at the Hillfort “Rathmore” in Clogher situated beside the Cathedral and near the former Bishops Palace.
His report: CLOGHER: AN ARCHAEOLOGICAL WINDOW ON EARLYMEDIEVAL TYRONE AND MID ULSTER; often referenced the significance of Clogher not only in Ireland but also to Roman Britian.

Clogher ‘is a remarkable site. It is extremely well preserved severally because of its eclipse in the ninth century, the failure of English lords to settle the area in the centuries after the Anglo-Norman conquest when a stone castle would certainly have been built there), and its incorporation into “the park-land of the Protestant bishops of Clogher in the eighteenth century”. Focal importance of Clogher is demonstrated in the early Iron Age by the construction on Castle Hill (surrounding the ruins of the stone fort)

Clogher as a borough constituency until 1800 with two Members Of Parliament (MPs) listed from 1613.

In more recent times we have evidence from newspapers and government documents which still recognise Clogher as a city .

In 1783 Government document list “The book of the city of Clogher”, also documented in British newspaper archives are “ The Parliamentary memoirs of Fermanagh and Tyrone from 1613 -1845.

Also, in British newspaper archives from as recently as 1855 documents quote The “Episcopal city of Clogher”.

Mpa image: Prima Europe tabula. (Public Domain / National Library of Wales)