Tullyhogue Fort Tullyhogue Fort , also spelt Tullaghoge or Tullahoge ( from Middle Irish " Tulach Óc " meaning " hill of youth " or " mound of the young warriors " ) , is large mound on the outskirts of Tullyhogue village near Cookstown , County Tyrone , Northern Ireland . It has a depressed centre and is surrounded by trees . It is an ancient ceremonial site where chieftains of the O ' Neill dynasty of Tyrone were inaugurated . It is a State Care Historic Monument sited in the townland of Ballymully Glebe , in the Cookstown District Council area , at grid reference : H8250 7430 . The inauguration site is a Scheduled Historic Monument at grid ref : H8251 7428 . History . The date of the construction of Tullyhogue fort is not known , however it is believed to have held great significance from early times , possessing a form of ritual importance long before the O ' Neills became associated with the site . Tullyhogue rath was originally associated with the Uí Tuirtre of Airgialla , and then with the O ' Hagans between the 11th and 17th centuries . The O ' Hagans dwelt at the site and became its hereditary guardians , with their burial place at Donaghrisk situated at the bottom of the hill . In the later medieval period it became the inauguration site of the O ' Neill dynasty , where the title " the O ' Neill " , was bestowed upon each new lord . The inauguration was carried out by the heads of the O ' Cahan and O ' Hagan . O ' Cahan , the O ' Neill ' s principal sub - chief , would throw a golden sandal over the new lord ' s head to signify good fortune . O ' Hagan , being the hereditary guardian of Tullyhogue , would place the shoe on the O ' Neill ' s foot and present him with a rod of office . Hugh O ' Neill ' s inauguration in 1593 was the last such event for an O ' Neill to take place at Tullyhogue . The last coronation that is claimed to have taken place at Tullyhogue was that of Sir Phelim O ' Neill in 1641 , however it was later rejected . Leac na Rí . The inauguration stone was a large boulder known as the Leac na Rí which mean " the flagstone of the kings " . It stood outside Tullyhogue fort , where by the 16th century it had become incorporated into a ceremonial stone chair where three large slabs had been placed around it . In 1602 during the Nine Years War , Lord Mountjoy , in charge of the English forces at war with Hugh O ' Neill , smashed the inauguration stone to symbolically end the O ' Neill ' s sovereignty . The Leac na Rí is stated as being the Ulster counterpart to the Stone of Destiny , which is now used as part of the coronation chair in Westminster Abbey . The Leac na Rí is also stated as reputedly been blessed by St . Patrick . Features . The initial impression of Tullyhogue fort is that it resembled an early Christian bivallate rath which was an enclosed homestead surrounded by two banks and ditches . Tullyhogue matches this description in that it has an enclosure 105 ft in diameter that is encircled by two banks . Entry to it was by a causeway in the inner bank . What makes it clear that it was not an enclosed homestead is that the two ditches were built wide apart with a flat area in between , with no outer defensive ditch . The layout of the fort itself shows that it was not built or designed as a defensive structure , but as an area of ceremonial importance . Today . Cookstown District Council have initiated a tourism plan for visitors and Tullyhogue Fort has become part of its marketing agenda due to its history . During the summer it is a popular tourist destination . In 1998 , Don Carlos O ' Neill , a Spanish descendant of Hugh O ' Neill , started an annual event that takes place in August each year whereby he and his family commemorate the inauguration ceremony of the O ' Neills on the spot were his predecessors were crowned . In February 2007 Cookstown District Council confirmed that the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development ( DARD ) had agreed to sell the land required to develop Tullyhogue Fort to Council for £90 , 000 .