Ardboe Cross

Rising from the shores of Lough Neagh in the east, to the Sperrin Mountains in the west, County Tyrone is Northern Ireland’s largest, and Omagh is the county town.

Just outside Omagh is the Ulster American Folk Park, which is one of Northern Ireland’s most successful visitor attractions. The site is divided into Irish and American areas, linked by a reconstruction of one of the ships in which Irish emigrants journeyed to the New World. Costumed guides work as their ancestors would have worked, and are always ready to explain and to answer questions. The park came into being thanks to the generosity of the Mellon family of the United States, whose ancestor Thomas emigrated from the Omagh area with his family in 1818 when he was just five years old. Like many Irish emigrants he prospered, becoming a judge; his son Andrew founded Pittsburgh’s steel industry. The park’s large collection of original buildings has been assembled from locations all over Northern Ireland and also from America. The Centre for Migration Studies at the park has a specialist reference library available to any member of the public wishing to research any aspect of emigration and genealogy.