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7 GORTIN

GREENCASTLE

8 CROCKATANTY MOUNTFIELD

DRUMQUIN 1 CARRICKMORE POMEROY OMAGH

'THE CAPITAL OF THIS IMMENSE REGION' 4 SIXMILECROSS BERAGH 5

DROMORE 3 FINTONA SESKINORE Gortin enjoys some of the most scenic surroundings of any village in Ulster. The village that IRVINESTOWN 2 we see today seems to have developed in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth TRILLICK BALLYGAWLEY centuries. In 1802 John McEvoy wrote: ‘The village of Gortin may be considered the capital CLOGHER of this immense region.’ However, Gortin’s history goes much deeper into the past. FIVEMILETOWN For over three centuries Gortin and the townlands around it were owned by the Hamiltons Illustrations from top to bottom (later the Cole-Hamiltons) of Beltrim. The founder of this family was Sir Claud Hamilton of The ‘Scot’s Church’ datestone The Place of Paisley, Scotland - ancestral home of the Hamiltons Shawfield, a younger son of Lord Claud Hamilton of Paisley in Scotland, who was a The disused church building at Crockatanty beneficiary of the scheme for the Ulster Plantation in the early 1600s. He died in 1614 and his lands passed to his eldest son, Sir William. In 1629 Sir William received a new patent for his estate which was henceforth to be called Manor Eliston after the name of his mother’s home in Scotland. By this time the settlement of Scottish families in this area had begun. Sir William also completed the castle which in 1622 had consisted of a bawn (fortified CROCKATANTY PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH enclosure) of lime and stone 42 ft square and 7 ft high with the foundations of a castle, the In the mid 19th century the United Presbyterian walls of which had reached 5 ft high. Portions of this structure are still standing beside the Church of Scotland held occasional services at present Beltrim Castle which was constructed around 1800. Beltrim is now owned by the Crockatanty. By 1872 a meeting house had been Blakiston-Houston family. built on the farm of John Browne and the congregation came under the care of the Mission The village of Gortin is dominated by its wide main street. Part of the way along the main Board of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland. Scottish street is the Presbyterian Church. The congregation was formed in the early 1840s and the shepherds from the nearby Doraville estate were meeting house has a plaque inscribed ‘SCOTS CHURCH 1843’. In contemporary marriage among those who attended this church. In 1883 announcements the meeting house was also referred to as the ‘Scots Church’ in a very the congregation was united with Gortin. Dwindling clear reference to the Scottish roots of Irish Presbyterianism. numbers eventually resulted in its closure in 1969.

Get the full App experience Why not also discover Local tourist information Download it to your iPhone Ulster American Folk Park Strule Arts Centre or Android smartphone The Story of Irish and Ulster-Scots Townhall Square and discover how the migration to the American Frontier Omagh, BT78 1BL Ulster-Scots helped shape Marshall Country Trail the landscape and culture A driving trail around the area where T: +44 28 8224 7831 of this region poet and writer WF Marshall lived www.omagh.gov.uk