Cookstown is a town inCounty Tyrone,Northern Ireland. It is the fourth-largest town in the county and had a population of 12,546 in the2021 census.[3] It, along withMagherafelt andDungannon, is one of the main towns in theMid-Ulster council area. It was founded around 1620 when the townlands in the area were leased by anEnglish ecclesiastical lawyer, Dr. Alan Cooke, from theArchbishop of Armagh, who had been granted the lands after theFlight of the Earls during thePlantation of Ulster. It was one of the main centres of thelinen industry west of theRiver Bann, and until 1956 the flax-related processes of spinning, weaving, bleaching andbeetling were carried out in the town.
The main street, looking north. Slieve Gallion is in the background.
In 1609 land was leased to an English ecclesiastical lawyer, Dr Cooke, who fulfilled the covenants entered in the lease by building houses on the land. In 1628, KingCharles I granted Letters Patent to Cooke permitting the holding of a twice-weekly market for livestock and flaxen goods.[4]
In 1641, the native Irish revolted against the Planters in a bloody rebellion and the town was destroyed.[4] The rebellion had a devastating effect on the town and development ceased for nearly a century. Over the succeeding years, the lands around Cookstown were progressively bought up by William Stewart of Killymoon until in 1671 all of Dr Cooke's lands were in the hands of the Stewart family. William Stewart and later his son James set out plans for the town soon after this. Inspired by theWide Streets Commission's work inDublin, they planned a new town to be built along a tree linedboulevard which was to be 135 feet (41 m) wide.[4]
In 1802, Colonel William Stewart (James Stewart's unmarried son) approached the London architect,John Nash, and requested that he visit the area to rebuildKillymoon Castle.[5] Nash also designed theRectory atLissan for the Rev John Molesworth Staples in 1807.[6]
Prominent developments in the second half of the 19th century included J.J. McCarthy's Church of the Holy Trinity on Chapel Street.[8]
On 17 June 1920, during theIrish War of Independence, theIrish Republican Army (IRA) raided theRoyal Irish Constabulary (RIC) barracks in Cookstown,[9] with help from four sympathetic RIC officers. In a brief firefight, IRA member Patrick Loughran was killed. He was the first IRA man killed on active service in what became Northern Ireland.[10][11]
Cookstown Town Hall was designed by the town surveyor, Charles Geoffrey Birtwell, and built on the Burn Road by James Corrigan of Pomeroy: it was officially opened on 27 May 1953.[12]
Duringthe Troubles, Cookstown suffered from several bomb attacks: on 2 November 1990 an off duty soldier from theUlster Defence Regiment was killed by a car bomb.[13]
Cookstown Town Hall was demolished in 1998[14] and the Burnavon Arts and Cultural Centre opened on the site in 2000.[15]
On 17 March 2019, three teenagers were killed in a crowd crush outside the Greenvale Hotel in Cookstown during aSt Patrick's Day disco.[16]
Ardboe High Cross and Abbey (Seanchrois Ard Bó agus Ministir Naomh Colmán), one of the best examples of a 9th/10th centuryHigh cross in Ireland, is 10 mi (16 km) from Cookstown. It forms the only remaining part of an early monastery on the site.[17]
The Donaghrisk walled cemetery to the southwest of (and clearly visible from) the fort is the resting place of the O'Hagans, the chief justices of Tyrone (and as such, they presided over the inauguration ceremonies of the O'Neills).[20]
Lissan House lies on the outskirts of Cookstown. It is a large structure which was the home of the Staples family for 350 years.[21]
Killymoon Castle is about 1 mi (1.6 km) south east of Cookstown. This structure is regarded as one of Cookstown's finest pieces of architectural heritage.[citation needed] It was built in just over a year at a cost of £80,000 and wasNash's first Irish commission.[22]
Gortalowry House
Drum Manor, approximately 5 mi (8 km) from the town. Alexander Richardson, a burgess from Edinburgh, Scotland, bought the estate of Craigbalk in 1617 and built Drum Manor, originally known Manor Richardson.[23] Alexander's son Sir William Richardson left it to his second son, Alexander, from which the Richardsons of Drum descend.[23] Sir William's third son, William, who inherited lands nearAugher, obtained a lease for lands in the townland of Tullyreavy on the Drum Manor estate, where he built a house by the lake known as Oaklands.[23]
Derryloran Old Cemetery[25] is a historic site of interest, located on the Sandholes Road on the outskirts of the town, which features an old graveyard and churchyard dating back to the 17th Century.
Wellbrook Beetling Mill, located 4 mi (6.4 km) southwest of Cookstown, is the last working water-powered beetling mill in Northern Ireland.[26]
The town plays host to the Cookstown 100 Road Races, the longest running motorcycle road race in Ireland.[35] Held in April of each year the races are seen as the curtain raiser to the Irish National Road Racing Championship.[36]
56.21% (7,053) were from aCatholic background, and 34.34% (4,308) were from aProtestant or other Christian background, 1.12% were from other religious backgrounds and 8.33% (1,045) hadno religious background.[50]
31.68% indicated they had aBritish national identity,[45] 31.29% had anIrish national identity,[46] and 28.58% had aNorthern Irish national identity.[47] (respondents could select more than one national identity).
On census day (27 March 2011) there were 11,599 people living in Cookstown.[53] Of these:
98% were from the white ethnic group
56% were from a Catholic background, and 39% were from a Protestant or other Christian background
40% indicated that they had a British national identity, 30% had a Northern Irish national identity, and 28% had an Irish national identity (respondents could choose more than one)
The first community hub for primary care in the province is to be established in the town, backed by four local GP practices and the health board. It is to incorporate scanning facilities, a minor surgery suite, a pharmacy, out-of-hours consultations and community healthcare partnerships, with the possibility of developing supported living accommodation for older people.[59]
This article contains quotations from this source, which is available under theOpen Government Licence v3.0. © Crown copyright.
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