Newtownstewart is a

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

and

townland A townland (; Ulster-Scots: ''toonlann'') is a traditional small land division used in Ireland and in the Western Isles of Scotland, typically covering . The townland system is of medieval Gaelic origin, predating the Norman invasion, and mo ...

of in

County Tyrone County Tyrone (; ) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the thirty-two traditional counties of Ireland. Its county town is Omagh. Adjoined to the south-west shore of Lough Neagh, the cou ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

. It is overlooked by hills called

Bessy Bell and Mary Gray Bessy Bell and Mary Gray (Roud 237, Child 201) is an English-language folk song. The two titular characters sought refuge from the plague in 1645 in a remote spot away from habitation. The story has been much embellished in a poem and ballad that ...

and lies on the River Strule below the confluence with its tributary the Owenkillew. It is situated in the historic

barony Barony may refer to: * Barony, the peerage, office of, or territory held by a baron * Barony, the title and land held in fealty by a feudal baron * Barony (county division), a type of administrative or geographical division in parts of the British ...

Strabane Lower Strabane Lower (named after Strabane) is a barony in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is bordered by five other baronies in Northern Ireland: North West Liberties of Londonderry to the north; Tirkeeran to the north-east; Strabane Upper to t ...

and the

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

Ardstraw Ardstraw (from (hill or height of the holm or strath)) is a small village, townland and civil parish in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, three miles northwest of Newtownstewart. In the 2001 census, it had a population of 222 people (in 81 hous ...

. In the 2011 Census it had a population of 1,551 people. This article contains quotations from this source, which is available under th
Open Government Licence v3.0
. © Crown copyright. It lies within the

Derry City and Strabane District Council Derry City and Strabane District Council (; Ulster-Scots: ''Derry Cittie & Stràbane Destrìck Cooncil'') is the local authority for Derry and Strabane district in Northern Ireland. It was created as part of the 2014 Northern Ireland local go ...

area.

History

The townland of Newtownstewart was historically called ''Lislas''. Newtownstewart Castle was built by

Sir Robert Newcomen ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as part o ...

in 1615 as part of the

Plantation of Ulster The Plantation of Ulster (; Ulster Scots dialects, Ulster Scots: ) was the organised Settler colonialism, colonisation (''Plantation (settlement or colony), plantation'') of Ulstera Provinces of Ireland, province of Irelandby people from Great ...

. The castle was acquired by Sir William Stewart when he married Newcomen's second daughter in 1629. The castle and town were renamed Newtownstewart by Sir William Stewart after his birthplace. The former Northern Bank building on the corner was the scene of an infamous murder in 1871 when bank cashier William Glass was robbed of £1,600 and killed. Assistant District Inspector Thomas Hartley Montgomery, of the

Royal Irish Constabulary The Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC, ; simply called the Irish Constabulary 1836–67) was the police force in Ireland from 1822 until 1922, when all of the island was part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom. A sep ...

, who was in charge of the investigation, was subsequently tried, convicted, and hanged at Omagh Gaol. Newtownstewart Town Hall, which was the venue for petty session hearings, was completed in 1880.

Royal Visit

The

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of Royal family, royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobi ...

and

Duchess of York Duchess of York is the principal courtesy title held by the wife of the Duke of York. Three of the eleven Dukes of York either did not marry or had already assumed the throne prior to marriage, while two of the Dukes married twice; therefore, th ...

visited the 3rd Duke of Abercorn, then

Governor of Northern Ireland The governor of Northern Ireland was the principal officer and representative in Northern Ireland of the British monarch. The office was established on 9 December 1922 and abolished on 18 July 1973. Overview The office of Governor of Northern I ...

, at Baronscourt as part of their Royal Visit to Northern Ireland in 1924.

Sport

Naomh Eoghan club is the local

Gaelic Athletic Association The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA; ; CLG) is an Irish international amateur sports, amateur sporting and cultural organisation, focused primarily on promoting indigenous Gaelic games and pastimes, which include the traditional Irish sports o ...

club. Ardstraw Football Club is the local football club. The club participates in the

Irish Cup The Irish Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly referred to as the Irish Cup (currently known as the Clearer Water Irish Cup for sponsorship purposes) is the primary Association football, football single elimination, knockout cup compet ...

Demographics

On Census Day 27 March 2011, in Newtownstewart Settlement, considering the resident population: *99.74% were from the white (including Irish Traveller) ethnic group; *52.87% belong to or were brought up in the Catholic religion and 45.84% belong to or were brought up in a 'Protestant and Other Christian (including Christian related)' religion; and *43.58% indicated that they had a British national identity, 25.53% had an Irish national identity and 33.33% had a Northern Irish national identity*. *Respondents could indicate more than one national identity Considering the population aged 3 years old and over: *11.82% had some knowledge of Irish; *7.59% had some knowledge of Ulster-Scots; and *1.68% did not have English as their first language.

People

Thomas Burnside Thomas Burnside (July 28, 1782March 25, 1851) was an American politician and judge who served as a Democratic-Republican member of the United States House of Representatives for Pennsylvania's 9th congressional district from 1815 to 1816 and as ...

(1782–1851), member of the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

from

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

and associate justice of the

Supreme Court of Pennsylvania The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania is the highest court in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's Judiciary of Pennsylvania, Unified Judicial System. It began in 1684 as the Provincial Court, and casual references to it as ...

, born near Newtownstewart. *

Thomas Maclear Thomas Maclear (17 March 1794 – 14 July 1879) was an Ireland, Irish-born Cape Colony astronomer who became Her Majesty's astronomer at the Cape of Good Hope. Early life Born on 17 March 1794, in Newtownstewart, the eldest son of Rev. James ...

(1794–1879), Astronomer Royal at the Cape of Good Hope, was born in Newtownstewart. *

Dukes of Abercorn The title Duke of Abercorn () is a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1868 and bestowed upon James Hamilton, 2nd Marquess of Abercorn. Although the Dukedom is in the Peerage of Ireland, it refers to Abercorn, West Lothian, and th ...

, reside at Baronscourt, near Newtownstewart * Johnny Loughrey, singer born in Newtownstewart in 1945, died in 2005. * Jude Gallagher, amateur boxer, won multiple Irish Titles, World Youth Bronze and Commonwealth Games Featherweight Champion, 2022 * Jacob Stockdale, Ulster and Ireland rugby player, was born in Newtownstewart.

Transport

Construction of the

Irish gauge Railways with a track gauge of fall within the category of broad-gauge railways. , they were extant in Australia, Brazil and on the island of Ireland. History ;600 BC :The Diolkos (Δίολκος) across the Isthmus of Corinth in Greece ...

(Irish Standard Gauge),

Londonderry and Enniskillen Railway The Londonderry and Enniskillen Railway (L&ER) was an Irish gauge () railway in Ireland. Construction and opening The Londonderry and Enniskillen Railway was incorporated by the ( 8 & 9 Vict. c. xcviii). Construction began at Derry and fo ...

(L&ER) began in 1845 and reached

Strabane Strabane (; ) is a town in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. Strabane had a population of 13,507 at the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census. This article contains quotations from this source, which is available under th Open Government Li ...

in 1847. By 1852 it had extended to Newtownstewart and

Omagh Omagh (; from , meaning 'the virgin plain') is the county town of County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is situated where the rivers River Drumragh, Drumragh and Camowen River, Camowen meet to form the River Strule, Strule. Northern Ireland's c ...

and its terminus in

Enniskillen Enniskillen ( , from , ' Ceithlenn's island') is the largest town in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. It is in the middle of the county, between the Upper and Lower sections of Lough Erne. It had a population of 14,086 at the 2011 censu ...

was reached in 1854. The company was absorbed into the

Great Northern Railway (Ireland) The Great Northern Railway (Ireland) (GNR(I), GNRI or simply GNR) was an Irish gauge () railway company in Ireland. It was formed in 1876 by a merger of the Irish North Western Railway (INW), Northern Railway of Ireland, and Ulster Railway. Th ...

in 1883. Newtownstewart railway station opened on 9 May 1852 and finally closed on 15 February 1965.

Notes

References

External links

Bronze Age burial cist - NewtownstewartStewart Castle
{{authority control Villages in County Tyrone Civil parish of Ardstraw