Newtownstewart, Co Tyrone

From the collection of

Launched in 2000, Northern Ireland Screen’s Digital Film Archive spans from 1897 to the present day and currently contains an ever-expanding catalogue of 13,000 items. It comprises material from a variety of depositors including feature films, sport, documentaries, animation, amateur footage, light entertainment, and a significant proportion of broadcast material from the UTV Archive.

Newtownstewart, Co Tyrone

Northern Ireland Screen's Digital Film Archive
Omagh
2007-09-11
Sound

Visit the area of Newtownstewart in County Tyrone and explore the history and people.

Joe Mahon is in Newtownstewart in county Tyrone, an ancient town at the heart of O'Neill territory (named as the 'new town for William Stuart'). John Bradley tells Joe about the raths and Neolithic monuments of the area and being a farmer's son in his youth. At the McColgan farm, Barney and his wife Mary show off their turf stack and Barney tells Joe of finding ancient wood and tools in the turf. Harry Avery's castle tells another story of the area.

Gordon Colhoun is a saddler who knows the history of his craft as he worked in the saddler's at the Ulster American Folk Park in Omagh. Joe also meets John Dunbar, who creates lovely sculptures from stone and metalwork. Fisherman Robbie McKinley takes Joe to the river Strule - or is it the River Mourne, or the Po?

Lesser Spotted Ulster is a long-running and popular programme that visits the places many of us have heard of but never been to. Presenter Joe Mahon gently explores what makes a place what it is.

Lesser Spotted Ulster

Exploring the townlands and hinterlands of Ulster through landscape, history and local traditions as a torch is shone upon the roads less travelled.

Joe Mahon is an engaging host as he catalogues his journeys around towns and villages rarely mentioned in the news but rich in their own stories, legends, and tales of past industries and events. Using local people as his guides, Joe delves into the heritage and customs from yesteryear, documenting many before they pass from human memory. Starting in 1995, Lesser Spotted Ulster chronicled the regional variances of life around the six counties of Northern Ireland which, together with Donegal, Cavan and Monaghan, make up the historic boundaries of Ulster. With gentle panoramas of beautiful Irish countryside, played out under a lilting soundtrack, the series was a staple of the Ulster Television schedules for nearly 20 years. This selection of programmes from the series serves as a testimony to the rural culture of Ulster and a resource for anyone with an interest in the past and disappearing traditions.

38 videos in this collection