Pomeroy, County Tyrone
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Pomeroy is a small village in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, on the road between Cookstown and Omagh. In the 2001 Census it had a population of 604 people. Pomeroy holds the mantle as the highest village in County Tyrone. A predominate site in the surrounding countryside, with several church spires standing out. Form the Cookstown side of the road the town gradually climbs a gradient where the middle of the square, the diamond, holding the peak position. In the diamond the Altadesert Church of Ireland and the Central Bar on the opposite side of the road are situated. The diamond is a popular drinking area and Market Day is held their every Tuesday. There is a well documented story of the Central Bar once being haunted. A local priest exercised the spirit by persuading it to enter a bottle. Once the spirit did so, he put the cork on the bottle and placed the bottle into a wall at the rear of the bar. Pomeroy had at one time an interesting position in the Guinness Book of Records as been the place in Britain with having the most number of bars available per one thousand head of population. Any traveler on a rambling holiday to Pomeroy will have the advantage of several mountain ranges surrounding the town such as the Mountains of Pomeroy and the Sperrins. The area also features an impressive mixture of moorland and bog land. Stone age and Bronze age cairns are situated in many places around the surrounding country side. These can still be accessed even on farming property. The road leading to the village of Donaghmore from Pomeroy is known as the Royal Road for in 1689 King James II took this route to visit his troops in Derry (Londonderry) during the historical siege. This route brought him through Cappagh and Altmore and is where just outside Cappagh is King James’s Well located by the road side.
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[edit] Places of interest
- There is a modern forestry school on the estate of the Rev. James Lowry, the 18th century planner of the village.
- Mountains of Pomeroy
[edit] History
[edit] The Troubles
For more information see The Troubles in Pomeroy (Tyrone), which includes a list of incidents in Pomeroy during the Troubles resulting in two or more fatalities.
[edit] People
- The grandfather of James Irwin, the Apollo 15 astronaut who was the first man to drive a lunar rover on the Moon in 1971, was born in Pomeroy. Irwin's still live in the house.
- James Shields, one of Abraham Lincoln's generals in the American Civil War, was born in 1810 in Altmore, near Cappagh, south of Pomeroy.
Patsy Quinn: A man of many talents
Born Patrick Eamonn Quinn on the 12th August 1945, he began his life at 47 Shanmaghery Road to a mother called Margaret and a father Patrick. He was the fourth eldest in the Quinn family which was made up of 6 brothers and 4 sisters. He is now an infamous farmer who lives in Shanmaghery, a district just south of Pomery. He is notorious for his many phobias : work, water and soap. It is generally accepted that Patsy Quinn is the jewel in Pomeroy's crown of thorns
[edit] Education
- Queen Elizabeth II Primary School
- St. Mary's Primary School
[edit] 2001 Census
Pomeroy is classified as a small village or hamlet by the NI Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) (ie with population between 500 and 1,000 people). On Census day (29 April 2001) there were 604 people living in Pomeroy. Of these:
- 29.6% were aged under 16 years and 15.5% were aged 60 and over
- 47.2% of the population were male and 52.8% were female
- 92.7% were from a Catholic background and 6.6% were from a Protestant background
- 8.0% of people aged 16-74 were unemployed
For more details see: NI Neighbourhood Information Service
