Holiday Cottages In Mid Ulster

Mid Ulster has a small set of self-catering cottages on selfcatering.co.uk, just seven at the moment, spread across the countryside between the Sperrin Mountains and the western shore of Lough Neagh. This is a quiet, rural inland area of forest parks, ancient stone circles and big skies, and all seven cottages take dogs while one has a hot tub.

Best areas and towns in Mid Ulster

Mid Ulster is a large inland district covering parts of counties Tyrone and Londonderry, built around the towns of Cookstown, Dungannon and Magherafelt. Its handful of cottages sit out in the countryside rather than in the towns, towards the Sperrins in the north and Lough Neagh in the east.

• Caledon: a neat estate village in south Tyrone near the border, with a fine old demesne
• Ballyronan: a village on the north-western shore of Lough Neagh, with a marina and a lakeside park
• Beaghmore: a spot on the edge of the Sperrins famous for its Bronze Age stone circles, north-west of Cookstown
• Broughderg: open moorland country high in the Sperrins, near the source of the River Owenkillew
• Desertmartin: a small village near Magherafelt, below the eastern Sperrin foothills
• Grange: a rural townland in the farmland between the towns

Cookstown, Dungannon and Magherafelt are the market towns to stock up in, while the real appeal here is the open country of the Sperrins and the quiet shore of Lough Neagh.

The Sperrins and Lough Neagh shore

Mid Ulster is inland but far from featureless. To the north rise the Sperrin Mountains, a broad sweep of rounded heather hills and deep glens that form one of the largest upland areas in Northern Ireland, crossed by quiet roads and dotted with prehistoric sites. The most striking of these is Beaghmore Stone Circles, a complex of Bronze Age circles, rows and cairns laid out on the moor. To the east the land falls to Lough Neagh, the largest freshwater lake in the British Isles, whose western shore at Ballyronan has a marina and lakeside walks. In between lie a string of forest parks and demesnes, from Drum Manor Forest Park to the wooded grounds of the National Trust's Springhill, an old plantation house near Magherafelt.

Things to do in Mid Ulster

The outdoors leads the way. Walk among the Beaghmore Stone Circles on the edge of the Sperrins, wander the woodland trails of Drum Manor Forest Park near Cookstown, or take in the boglands and walkways of Peatlands Park near Dungannon. The National Trust looks after the seventeenth-century house at Springhill and the working Wellbrook Beetling Mill on its river near Cookstown, a reminder of the old linen trade. The hilltop Tullyhogue Fort, once the crowning place of the O'Neill chiefs, looks out over the country near Cookstown, and the Hill of The O'Neill and Ranfurly House in Dungannon tells the story of the same Gaelic lordship. By the lake, Ballyronan has a marina for a day on Lough Neagh.

When to visit Mid Ulster

Late spring to early autumn is the best time for the Sperrins and the lough, with the longest days for walking the hills and the forest parks at their greenest. Summer is mild and quiet here, well away from the coastal crowds, and autumn brings colour to the woods at Drum Manor and Springhill. Winter is cold and often windswept on the high moor, though the forest parks and lakeside paths stay walkable. Cottage rates tend to ease outside the summer months.

Dog-friendly and hot-tub cottages in Mid Ulster

Seven of the cottages in Mid Ulster take dogs, and one has a hot tub.

Getting to Mid Ulster

Mid Ulster sits in the middle of Northern Ireland, about an hour west of Belfast on the M2 and A29 towards Cookstown and Dungannon, and within easy reach of the M1 to the south. The towns of Cookstown, Dungannon and Magherafelt are the main road junctions for the area. There is no passenger rail line through the district, so a car is the practical way to get about. Belfast International Airport is the nearest, around forty-five minutes to the east.

Useful links

• Discover Northern Ireland
• Mid Ulster District Council
• Springhill (National Trust)
• Tourism Northern Ireland

Mid Ulster is a district in the centre of Northern Ireland, taking in much of County Tyrone and the south of County Londonderry, and reaching from the heather uplands of the Sperrin Mountains in the north to the wide waters of Lough Neagh in the east. It is a large, mostly rural area of farmland, forest and moor, built around the market towns of Cookstown, Dungannon and Magherafelt.

The land rises and falls between two great natural features. In the north the Sperrins spread across the district in a broad run of rounded summits and quiet glens, one of the largest and least-visited upland areas in Ireland, threaded by rivers such as the Ballinderry and the Owenkillew. In the east the ground drops to the shore of Lough Neagh, the biggest freshwater lake in the British Isles, whose flat, reed-fringed margins draw wintering birds and a long tradition of eel fishing. Between hills and lough lie gentle farmland, raised bogs preserved at Peatlands Park, and the wooded demesnes of old estates.

This was the heartland of the O'Neills, the Gaelic lords of Tyrone, who were inaugurated at the hilltop fort of Tullyhogue near Cookstown. The moors hold far older marks too, among them the Bronze Age stone circles and alignments at Beaghmore, uncovered from the peat in the twentieth century. The linen industry once thrived on the district's rivers, leaving mills such as Wellbrook behind. Today Mid Ulster lives on farming, manufacturing and a quiet trade in visitors drawn to its hills, lakeshore and ancient sites.