Bygone Pomeroy in the spotlight

A Fair Day is planned for Saturday, August 24 featuring many fun filled activities for all the family. Children will play games from the bygone era, food will be prepared and cooked in the old fashioned way, and there will be music and other family activities.

Pomeroy has secured Peace III funding from Cookstown District Council through the EU’s Programme for Peace and Reconciliation (PEACE III) which is managed by the Special EU Programmes Body, to provide a number of projects as part of a shared history programme in the village.

A multi-media project will run over the next few months to capture stories of the Pomeroy of the past, and a DVD will be launched. In particular the project seeks to capture stories about rural life and farming, such as ploughing, making hay, cutting turf and market day.

The local historical society will be holding an exhibition of old pictures over the Fair Day weekend which will depict how life has changed over the years.

Donnas Kelly from the Historical Society said they want to collect copies of as many old pictures of Pomeroy, particularly pictures depicting rural life and the many forgotten work methods used in farming.

“We will frame and display the best pictures for the exhibition. We also intend to publish a small booklet of the pictures and the tales and stories behind them. It is in all our interests to gather up as many of these old photos and archive them before they are lost forever,” added Donnas.

Una McCrystal from the Rowan Tree Centre, who is managing the overall programme said they are asking people to bring any old pictures or video footage of the Pomeroy area or farming practices that they may have lying around to the Rowan Tree Centre during office hours (Mon to Fri 9.30-2pm) or Tuesday, May 21 or Thursday, May 23 from 6.30pm to 8.30pm. The pictures will be scanned to create a digital archive and original photos will be returned.

These pictures may be used in the exhibition or future publications. People can also bring in modern pictures of old farm utensils and machinery. We will also provide a high quality, free copy of these pictures to the people as a thank you for their trouble,” she said.

Organisers would like to thank Cookstown District Council and the South West Cluster Peace III Partnership for their support and funding provided to allow them to run this important project to help preserve the history of the area.

Please contact: Una at the Rowan Tree Centre on 028 8775 7834 [email protected] or Donnas at Pomeroy Historical Society - [email protected] for more information.