Appeal for help in creating Pomeroy history gallery

If so, Cavanakeeran Community Centre wants to hear from you.

A new £750,000 community hub has been built for the people of Pomeroy and it will include a special gallery telling the history of the area.

Anyone with a connection is now being asked to check attics or under beds for photographs which could help tell the story of times gone by.

Pomeroy, perched more than 500ft up in the Sperrins, is Ulster’s highest village as well as its exact geographical centre and has always been traditional boundary between east and west Tyrone.

Its central location made it an obvious point for a train station - once the highest in Ireland - which for decades welcomed people and products on a busy arterial route linking Belfast, Derry and Donegal.

The sights and sounds of the railroad may now be just a memory, but the gallery aims to remember all the stories of daily life in this rural community.

Whether it’s making hay in the fields or gathering turf in the bogs, life on the railroad, forgotten faces from dances or family scenes at home, the hope is to preserve the memories of previous generations in a dedicated display.

Spokesman Denis Devlin said the appeal is going out to families within the parish but also anyone with a connection to Pomeroy across Ireland and around the world.

“The centre will be a much-needed focal point for parishioners young an old, providing space to connect through sporting and cultural activities as well as modern facilities for community groups and businesses,” he said.

“It has been built by the people of Pomeroy for the people of Pomeroy and we want to enhance that connection through a special history gallery. We have already gathered lots of images of people and places from times gone by but we know there are many more out there and we want help finding them.

“If you have anything at all that will help tell the story of Pomeroy down the years, please get in touch. All original photos will treated with the utmost care and returned.”

The initiative follows a successful appeal to help meet the cost of the new community centre through a ‘Buy a Brick’ scheme.

To contact Cavanakeeran Community Centre or find out more about the history gallery or pathway home see @CavanakeeranCC on Facebook or ring 07867 904229 or 07525 130618.

--

Thank you for reading this article. We're more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by Coronavirus impacts our advertisers.

Please consider purchasing a copy of the paper. You can also support trusted, fact-checked journalism by taking out a digital subscription of the News Letter.