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OMAGH

CO. TYRONE · IE

Omagh
An Ómaigh, Co. Tyrone

The Sperrins & Strabane District
STOP 09 / 09

An Ómaigh · Co. Tyrone

Three rivers meet here, and the town has been carrying a weight since 1998 that no town should have to carry.

Omagh sits in a bowl of drumlin country where the Drumragh and Camowen rivers come together to form the Strule. The town climbs uphill from that confluence - the High Street, the Georgian courthouse, the Sacred Heart Church with its twin Gothic spires that have dominated the skyline since construction began in 1892. It replaced Dungannon as county town of Tyrone in 1768, and for most of its history it was the kind of place that administered a county without drawing much attention to itself.

That changed on 15 August 1998. A Real IRA car bomb detonated on Market Street at 3.10 in the afternoon, a Saturday, the town full of back-to-school shoppers. Twenty-nine people died - from Omagh, from Buncrana, from the Republic, from Spain, including a woman pregnant with twins. It was the single deadliest atrocity of the Troubles. Three weeks later a thirtieth victim, Seán McGrath, died of his injuries. The bombing came fourteen weeks after the Good Friday Agreement was signed, which is part of what made it so brutal to absorb.

The town didn't collapse. The memorial in the Garden of Light on Drumragh Avenue, unveiled on the tenth anniversary in 2008, is quiet and considered - a reflecting pool, silver birch trees, a heliostat mirror that tracks the sun. The glass obelisk on Market Street marks the exact spot. The town has rebuilt itself around the memory rather than under it. It still has the feel of a working county town - a market, a courthouse, a GAA stadium, pubs that fill on a Saturday night.

The Ulster American Folk Park is five kilometres north on the Castletown Road and is genuinely worth a morning. It tells the story of emigration from Ulster to America through full-scale reconstructed buildings - a pre-Famine cottage, a dockside streetscape, a ship's hold. The Sperrins start a few kilometres east. Gortin Glen Forest Park is twenty minutes up the road.

Population

~20,353 (NISRA 2021)

Walk score

Riverside walk along the Strule, flat and easy

Founded

Franciscan friary 1464; chartered 1610

Coords

54.5983° N, 7.3014° W

01 / 09

At a glance.

Three things every local will eventually mention. Read these and you've already understood more than most day-trippers do.

01 The rivers

Drumragh and Camowen join here to make the Strule.

The confluence is the reason the town exists - a fording point for three river valleys at once. The Abbey Bridge over the Strule dates from 1900. Walk down from the High Street and you can see all three rivers within ten minutes.

Walks & outings → 02 The bombing

15 August 1998. The deadliest day of the Troubles.

A Real IRA car bomb on Market Street killed 29 people - including a woman pregnant with twins. More than 200 were injured. The glass obelisk on Market Street stands where the car was parked. The Garden of Light is on Drumragh Avenue.

Stories & lore → 03 Healy Park

Tyrone GAA's home ground. Four Sam Maguires.

Healy Park on the Gortin Road holds around 17,600 and was the first GAA stadium in Ulster with floodlights (2006). Tyrone won the All-Ireland in 2003, 2005, 2008 and 2021. On big match days the town stops.

Stories & lore →

02 / 09

The pubs.

None of these are themed Irish pubs, because they don't need to be. A few that earn the trip:

Broderick's Bar

Old Omagh, warm, no fuss

Traditional bar, George's Street

Jack Broderick bought the pub in October 1937 - the family's been running it for three generations since. Oldest family-run bar in town. Named Tyrone Pub of the Year at the Irish Restaurant Awards. The kind of place where the stools are worn smooth. Go for a pint before the football.

Sallys of Omagh

Lively, award-winning, two floors

Gastro pub, bar and nightclub

Trading as Sallys for over 40 years. Has won Tyrone Gastro Pub of the Year and NI Pub & Club of the Year among others. Food served and live music on at weekends - two floors, DJs Saturday nights. Not the quietest pint in town but one of the most consistent.

McCann's Bar

Music, local, unpretentious

Traditional bar, John Street

On John Street, in the centre. Live music weekly - trad, jazz, rock and acoustic acts rotate through. A dependable local with a proper bar-counter feel.

Seán Óg's

Trad, thatched, atmospheric

Thatched pub, Market Street complex

Part of the Main Street Omagh complex - a thatched exterior on a town-centre pub, which is either incongruous or charming depending on your outlook. Irish pub feel inside, live music on at weekends.

03 / 09

Where to eat.

Place	Type	€	Local note
Rue	Restaurant, Market Street	££	Contemporary Mediterranean-style dining, part of the Main Street Omagh complex at the top of the town. Modern room, broad menu. The in-town option when you want something more considered than a bar meal.
Marco's	Italian-inspired gastro pub	££	Cocktail bar and pub with an Italian-influenced food menu in the town centre. Worth knowing about - good for a longer evening if Rue is full.
Culmore Diner	Family diner, Omagh Leisure Complex	£	In the same building as the Omniplex cinema. Does a proper cooked breakfast at a price that won't hurt. Family-friendly, no fuss, useful before or after the Ulster American Folk Park.

04 / 09

Where to sleep.

Place	Type	Local note
Silverbirch Hotel	3-star hotel, Dublin Road	Family-run hotel, 64 bedrooms, spa, sauna, ten meeting rooms - the main hotel in town for over 40 years. On the Dublin Road, about a fifteen-minute walk from the High Street. Restaurant, bar, free parking. The reliable choice if you're here for a night or two.
Rooms at Rue	4-star rooms, Market Street	The accommodation arm of the Main Street Omagh hospitality complex. Described as 4-star. Central location - walk to everything. Useful if you want to be in the middle of town rather than on the edge of it.

05 / 09

Stories & lore.

The reason to come back. The things every local will eventually tell you about, usually after the second pint.

15 August 1998

The bombing

It was a Saturday afternoon in August, the town busy with back-to-school shopping, fourteen weeks after the Good Friday Agreement. A 500-pound bomb concealed in a car on Market Street - planted by the Real IRA, a splinter group opposed to the peace process - detonated at 3.10pm. Twenty-nine people died at the scene or shortly after. Among them were children, shoppers from Buncrana on a day trip, Spanish students, a woman pregnant with twins. More than 200 were injured. A thirtieth victim, Seán McGrath, died three weeks later. The Real IRA claimed responsibility three days afterwards and said they hadn't intended to kill civilians - a statement that convinced nobody. The bombing was the single deadliest act of the Troubles. It also effectively ended the Real IRA's popular support. A civil case brought by the victims' families resulted in substantial damages in 2009.

Garden of Light, Drumragh Avenue

The memorial

The Omagh District Council set up a memorial working group in 1999. The result - unveiled on 15 August 2008, the tenth anniversary - is split across two sites. The Garden of Light on Drumragh Avenue has a reflecting pool, silver birch trees, wild flowers, and a heliostat mirror that tracks the sun to direct light onto 31 smaller mirrors arranged around a heart-shaped sculpture. On Market Street, at the exact spot where the car was parked, a 4.5-metre glass obelisk contains a floating cut-glass heart. The design is by Desmond Fitzgerald and Sean Hillen. Some victims' families have had ongoing disputes with local authorities over memorial wording - the wound has not fully healed for everyone, and it shouldn't have to.

Four Sam Maguires and Healy Park

Tyrone football

Healy Park on the Gortin Road is the county ground - around 17,600 capacity, the first GAA stadium in Ulster to install floodlights (April 2006). In the Troubles era Tyrone football was one of the county's consistent reasons for collective feeling. Under Mickey Harte, Tyrone won the All-Ireland in 2003 (beating Armagh), 2005 (a ten-match marathon to Sam Maguire), and 2008 (defeating Kerry 1-15 to 0-14). The fourth came in 2021 under Brian Dooher and Feargal Logan, beating Mayo 2-14 to 0-15 in a final played in Croke Park. On All-Ireland final day the town empties north. Come back to it later - the pubs are worth being in when they win.

Twin spires, 1892-1899

The Sacred Heart Church

The twin Gothic spires of the Sacred Heart Church dominate the upper part of the town and are visible from most approach roads. Construction began in 1892; the church opened in 1899, with the second spire completed later. The design drew from Notre-Dame de Paris - a late Victorian take on French Gothic, which explains the scale and the ambition. The Derry diocese marks its 125th anniversary as a significant building in the county. It's worth walking up to the top of the High Street just to understand what it looks like from close range.

06 / 09

Things to do outside.

Wear waterproofs. Bring a sandwich. Tell someone where you're going if it's the mountain.

Omagh Riverside Walk Follows the Strule downstream from the Abbey Bridge - the stone bridge completed in 1900, a ten-minute walk down from the High Street. The path is flat and well-maintained. You get the back of the town from the riverbank, which looks nothing like the front of it. The confluence of the three rivers is visible where Drumragh and Camowen feed in. Good for clearing your head after the memorial.

3 km (one way)distance

45 minutes at a strolltime

Ulster American Folk Park Five kilometres north on the Castletown Road (A5). Open-air museum telling the story of Ulster emigration to America through full-scale reconstructed buildings - pre-Famine thatched cottages, a dockside streetscape, a full-scale emigrant ship, American frontier buildings. Genuinely engaging even if you think outdoor museums aren't your thing. Adult admission £9, children £5.50. Allow half a day.

Site of about 50 acresdistance

2-3 hourstime

Gortin Glen Forest Park Twenty minutes from Omagh on the B48 toward Gortin. Conifer forest trails through the western Sperrins, with a wildlife enclosure (Sika deer) and a series of marked loop walks. The longer trails climb enough to give you a sense of the upland country. Bring waterproofs - it can be wet even when Omagh is dry.

Multiple trails, 2-10 kmdistance

1-3 hours depending on routetime

07 / 09

When to go.

There is no bad time. There are different times.

Spring

Mar-May

Quiet, Sperrins routes open, the Folk Park has lower crowds. St Patrick's Day brings a parade through the town. Light is good from late March.

◉ Go

Summer

Jun-Aug

The anniversary of the bombing falls on 15 August - the town observes it quietly and with dignity, but be aware. Otherwise the Folk Park is at its busiest and the outdoor events season runs through the Sperrins.

◐ Mind yourself

Autumn

Sep-Oct

The best time for walking the Sperrins - ground firming up, colours coming in on the forestry, less foot traffic than summer. Ulster Championship football earlier in the season means Healy Park buzzes from April onward.

◉ Go

Winter

Nov-Feb

Cold and grey, the Sperrins get snow, short days. The pubs earn their keep - Broderick's and McCann's are worth the trip on their own in November. Not a sightseeing window but a perfectly good weekend if you want slow.

◐ Mind yourself

08 / 09

What to skip.

Honestly? Don't bother.

If a local was sitting beside you, this is the bit where they'd lean in.

Treating the Market Street obelisk as a photo stop

It marks where 29 people died. Stop, read the names on the memorial, give it the five minutes it deserves. Then move on.

Driving through without going up to the Sacred Heart

The A5 bypass takes you around the town altogether. The church and the old streetscape at the top of the High Street are what distinguish Omagh from a ring road. Worth the ten minutes.

Skipping the Folk Park because "outdoor museums are boring"

This one isn't. The emigrant ship interior and the pre-Famine cottage are the real thing scaled right. It makes the Ulster diaspora story tangible in a way a panel display can't.

Coming on 15 August without knowing what day it is

The town marks the bombing anniversary on 15 August each year. It's not a reason to avoid Omagh - far from it - but go knowing, not accidentally.

Getting there.

By car

Belfast to Omagh is about 1h 15m on the M1 then A4 and A5. Dublin is roughly 2h 15m via the A3 and A5 through Monaghan and Augher. Derry is 45 minutes on the A5 north. Donegal town is about an hour via Ballybofey.

By bus

Translink Goldline 273 runs Belfast to Omagh, roughly hourly, journey around 2 hours. Bus Éireann Expressway services link Omagh to Dublin and Sligo via the N15 corridor. Ulsterbus local services cover Strabane, Dungannon and Cookstown.

By train

No direct rail. The nearest station is Portadown (for Belfast via NI Railways); connect by Ulsterbus. The old Great Northern line through Omagh closed in 1965.

By air

City of Derry Airport (LDY) is around 45 minutes north - flights to Glasgow, Liverpool, Manchester, London. Belfast International (BFS) is around 1h 20m by car.