COOKSTOWN

Irish An Chorr Chrochach town, seat, and district (established 1973; formerly astride Counties Londonderry and Tyrone) west of Lough (lake) Neagh, Northern Ireland. The town, a 17th-century Plantation of Ulster (English colonial) settlement, was named after its founder, Alan Cook. It is the dairying centre of the district, and its main industries produce millinery, corsetry, and motor vehicle components. Districts bordering Cookstown are Magherafelt to the north, Omagh to the west, and Dungannon to the south. The outer limits of the Sperrin Mountains, constituting most of northwestern Cookstown district, slope gradually eastward to the Ballinderry River valley and the flat shores of Lough Neagh. There is extensive dairy farming, and cattle, poultry, and pigs are raised. To the northeast of Cookstown is Springhill, a well-preserved Plantation of Ulster manor. Also nearby is the rath (ring-fort) of Tullaghoge, which before its destruction in 1602 was the inauguration site for the chiefs of the O'Neill clan of Ulster. Area 241 square miles (623 square km). Pop. (1991) town, 9,842; district, 30,808.