Museum celebrating heritage of Sion Mills as a historic linen village. Seminar room & museum tel. 078 9453 4553
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Sion Stables is a sensitively restored 19th-century stable block, sensitively converted into a museum with an education suite and home to the Hidden Pearl Restaurant and Guides Choice Angling Shop.
Don't forget 🔔 the Museum and Heritage Education Centre at Sion Stables is open again today from 2-5pm.
Pop along to take a look around the museum and find out more about the historic buildings in our village and how they have been used over the decades.
You'll be able to see old photographs of the mill, workers and community across the decades - as well as artefacts from mill and the Herdman family.
Free of charge and everyone welcome!
Don't forget to join us today for our Heritage Open Day 🎉
Pop down to the Stables today between 10am-5pm to take a look around the Museum and Heritage Education Centre.
📍Meet at the Stables at 11am or 2pm today only for a guided walk of the Village Heritage Trail.
Free of charge and everyone is welcome - join us to find out more about Sion Mills and to celebrate our heritage.
➡️Have you visited the Museum at the Stables before?
⛪️Would you like visit historical buildings in our village & find out more about them?
This weekend (Saturday 14th and Sunday 15th) we are inviting you to visit the Museum and Heritage Education Centre and take part in the village heritage trails.
🗓Pop along to the Stables on Saturday between 10am-5pm or Sunday between 2-5pm.
🚶🏼♀️The Village Heritage Trails will be running on Saturday ONLY at 11am and 2pm.
Free of charge and everyone is welcome - join us to find out more about Sion Mills and to celebrate our heritage.
Spread the word 📢 Joe Mills Sion Mills Integrated Primary School Sion Mills Presbyterian Church Sion Mills Community Association
It's with great sadness that we say farewell to Sika By Niall as Niall and his team move on to a bigger premises in Omagh at The Copper Tap Omagh and get ready to open TONIGHT!
Niall brought a new level of elegant dining to Sion Mills and very much became part of the community. We're very grateful to the people of Sion Mills (and wider) for welcoming and supporting him during his time at the Stables.
We hope you'll join us to wish the entire Sika team every success in Omagh. For all enquiries about dining at the new Sika, please following Sika By Niall or contact 02881440353.
In the meantime, we look forward to sharing more details about the new Stables new tenant very soon!
"Sion Mills represents an impressive, if not unparalleled concentration of culture, heritage and history, in a relatively small geographical area, and the village stands as a living and object lesson in community relations" - Jonathan Hamill
Preserving our heritage continues to be the priority of the Sion Mills Buildings Preservation Trust.
As our series of talk exploring our heritage come to a close, we would like to extend our thanks to all of the guest speakers who so generously shared their insight and knowledge with us: George Irwin, Ruth Buchanan + Frank Galligan, Robin McCallan, Maureen Boyle, Andy Patton, Sebastian Graham, Oonagh McNelis and Dr Kieran Kennedy.
And of course, thank you to all of the community who have attended and supported these events.
For any cricket fans - straight from our archives, take a look at the 1947 cricket report in full pictured here 🏏
It is with great sadness and reflection that we commemorate this day - 20 May 2004 marked the end of an era and also the end of an industry as the Mill closed. After several years of running Sion Mills at a loss, Herdmans announced the plans to cease spinning in February 2004. Whilst this devastating turn of events shocked and affected so many in our community, it is promising to see our model village continue to develop 20 years later, with the same unfaltering community spirit.
As we well & truly enter Cricket season 🏏 here's a fabulous clipping from our archives of the NW Senior League winning Sion Mills Cricket Club in 1927.
Don't forget to join us tomorrow for the next in our series of talks celebrating our heritage. Sion Mills resident and former CEO of O’Neills, Dr Kieran Kennedy will be reflecting upon the vital role of sport in building a strong, inclusive and harmonious community on Wednesday 15th May at 7.30 pm.
During the worst days of the Troubles in this province it was often observed that things could have been so much worse if it had not been for the efforts to bring people together through sport and music. A shared love of engagement in sporting activities, in particular, has played a vital role in building bonds of friendship and mutual respect across all kinds of barriers and has contributed hugely to the creation of cohesion in the community.
Thankfully, this insight into community life was clearly grasped and resolutely acted upon from the very beginning in the history of Sion Mills. The Herdman brothers who arrived here to establish a Flax Spinning Mill in the 1830’s also had a vision of a village community that would be inclusive and wholesome. They appreciated the benefits of a healthy and active lifestyle and in order to promote this, and also to strengthen community cohesion, they made sure that residents of the village and workers at the Mill had access to a broad range of sporting activities.
Sion Mills Cricket Club was founded as early as 1864, and its success and popularity inspired the creation of cricket clubs throughout the north west region of Ulster. Thanks to the high standard of the facilities provided and the active encouragement of the Herdmans and others, it is small wonder that Sion Mills produced a disproportionate number of accomplished sports stars down through the years. In cricket Andrew Brendan Donaghy, Ossie Colhoun, Aubrey Finlay, Andy McFarlane, Raymond Moan and Thomas Harper played for Ireland. In football the brothers Alan and Victor Hunter won 50 caps between them for Northern Ireland.
We hope you will join us at this this free event - refreshments will be served and the Heritage Museum display of sporting memorabilia will be available for viewing.
An incredible photo of Sion Mills from the air unearthed from our archives. Can you guess the year?
Since sharing this photo back in 2021, we've been able to identify more of the people pictured from the Drying Room in 1936.
Back row (L-R): Tesh Finlay, Leslie McConnell, Lizzie McKaine, Joe Love, Dan Donaghoe, Maggie Henderson, Flex Gorman, Tom Foster, Sarah Patterson (Spence), Minnie Hamilton.
Front row (L-R): Robbie Stevenson, Hully Horne, Dan Mccallion, Carrie Moore, Lizzie Hamilton.
The Sion Mills Buildings Preservation Trust will be holding it Annual General Meeting on Wednesday 22nd May at 7.30pm in the HEC at Sion Stables. If you wish to attend to attend please send us a message.
Thanks to the high standard of the facilities provided and the active encouragement of the Herdmans and others, it is small wonder that Sion Mills produced a disproportionate number of accomplished sports stars down through the years. In cricket Andrew Brendan Donaghy, Ossie Colhoun, Aubrey Finlay, Andy McFarlane, Raymond Moan and Thomas Harper played for Ireland. In football the brothers Alan and Victor Hunter won 50 caps between them for Northern Ireland.
In order to reflect upon the vital role of sport in building a strong, inclusive and harmonious community, Sion Mills resident and former CEO of O’Neills, Dr Kieran Kennedy will be guest speaker at our next Heritage talk on Wednesday 15th May at 7.30 pm.
Everyone is welcome to join this free event - refreshments will be served and the Heritage Museum display of sporting memorabilia will be available for viewing. Spread the word 📣
An evening match at the bowling green taken from our archives - can you remember when the bowling green and tennis courts were in pristine condition and well loved by the community?
For anyone who has ever walked the old railway line and wondered what it would have looked like before it was decommissioned, here's a fabulous aerial shot from out archives showing the mill, the railway station and a glimpse of the village, captured back in 1956.
Anyone who worked in the mill fully understood the process of preparing the raw flax into linen. For anyone not so familiar - here's a great flow from our archives explaining the process.
Great to see Sion Mills Heritage featured in the local press recently ⬇️
https://www.facebook.com/yeswearetyrone/posts/pfbid02RTKaAAWAPgU6D8TKWcbgCS9efdUX89jvXeUZM6b9HS8sgDHZH1MKe8NpAKu7XMeml
By Emily Gervais The story of Sion Mills and the Herdman family is indeed remarkable. The quaint little village is probably most renowned for its legacy as an Irish linen dynasty and the 200-year-old Herdmans Mill that once employed over 1,000 people. But many people may not be aware of just how muc...
CELEBRATING THE IMPACT OF INTEGRATED EDUCATION IN SION MILLS
Sion Mills Integrated Primary School has been granted official status as an integrated school, which seems ironic in view of the fact that the village has never known anything other than an integrated system of education! Indeed, the story of integration in education for Sion Mills goes right back to the very beginning of the formation of the village in the years following the arrival of the Herdman brothers who set up a flax spinning mill in the area in 1835. The story began with the establishment of a Sunday School by James Herdman in 1836. Not only was this the first experience of formal, structured education for most of the children in the area but also the forum in which many of them learned to read and write.
The original Sunday School building was replaced by a schoolhouse in 1848 and shortly afterwards a full-time teacher was appointed. This school was established for the education of the children of those working in the Mill, and its enrolment expanded rapidly, reflecting the growth of the Mill and of the housing stock in the village. It was founded on the principles of integrated education and every pupil was encouraged to express his or her chosen faith regardless of denomination. Such was the success of Sion Mills that the existing school had to be extended on two occasions prior to the opening of the new schoolhouse in 1879.
Another interesting fact about this building (now the Presbyterian Church Hall) is that prior to the er****on of other facilities, it played host to a wide variety of groups and societies and was the place where all the villagers socialised in the evenings and at weekends. It really was at the very heart of the community.
Not only did this integrated system of education serve the village well but it had the wholehearted support of the whole community right down through the years, as is reflected in the out come of a local survey in the mid 1970’s showing 94% of parents in favour of the system. Unsurprisingly, Sion Mills was often referenced as an example of good practice.
To celebrate all this, we invite you to join us at a special talk with Mrs Oonagh McNelis at the HEC Building tomorrow, Wednesday 17th April at 7.30 pm.
Free to attend and everyone is welcome!
In 1989, a newer purpose-built mill was constructed to the south of the old Mill - many of you might remember it being built! Pictured here from the air in 2003 you can see the River Mourne, the Swinging Bridge, the line of the old railway, the weir and the mill stream leading to the turbine house at the mill.
Owned and run by the fifth generation of the Herman family it was the last large flax-spinning mill in operation in Ireland, employing 600 workers until it closed in 2004.
There's a sadness around the ruins of Sion Mills co. Tyrone
All that energy enterprise & employment swept away
Left are broken glass & weeds
Time to repurpose this lovely old building
🏏
Who wouldn't want to stop off in Sion Mills to check out the swinging bridge, the old mill and Holm Field. Thanks for taking time to appreciate our village Timmy Mallett ❤️
Until the 1960s the Mill trained and employed people to cover all the the necessary trades needed to maintain and repair the village houses and surrounds as well as the Mill and its machinery, and the waterpower system.
In 1985 Production Director Ken Po***ck talked about the unique skill set that Sion Mills workers generated and passed on through generations: "Herdmans have been so successful down the years because they have drawn on the local skills which have ben handed down through generations. Some of the skills have been taken out of the process by the introduction of modern machinery but there is still a lot of skill involved."
The Mill's Mechanics Shop is pictured circa 1909.
The story of integration in education for Sion Mills goes right back to the very beginning of the formation of the village in the years following the arrival of the Herdman brothers who set up a flax spinning mill in the area in 1835. The story began with the establishment of a Sunday School by James Herdman in 1836. Not only was this the first experience of formal, structured education for most of the children in the area but also the forum in which many of them learned to read and write.
We are delighted to welcome back former principal of Sion Mills Integrated Primary School, Mrs Oonagh McNelis to join us on Wednesday 17th April at 7.30pm in the HEC Building for a special talk focusing on “Reflections on Integrated Education.”
There can be no doubt that the notion of integrated education championed by the Herdmans and perpetuated by talented and dedicated teachers and school governors and parents has played a vital part in producing in Sion Mills a well-integrated community with villagers living, working, learning and socialising together.
Everyone is welcome to join us at this free event celebrating our heritage - spread the word.
On 15 September 1877, the 152-foot-high mill chimney that still dominates the skyline over Sion Mills belched into life for the first time. Known as the Mill Lum, it was built by Thomas Greenaway at a cost of £600. This important historical structure has been standing for over 140 years and still proudly features in the Sion Mills skyline.
A photo straight from our archives - the old Sion fire engine pictured by the bungalows 🧯
A photo of the wonderful iconic Gate Lodge in all it's glory.
Twelve members of the Kidd family initially lived here until more roomy accommodation was located. William Kidd was the Head Gardener for the beautiful grounds around Sion House in the early 1900s.
We were delighted to host classes from Sion Mills Integrated Primary School at Sion Stables to talk about the historical heritage in our village and to explore some of the buildings still still here today.
The Mill owners were always immensely proud of everyone who worked at the mill - from the highly skilled spinners on the floor to the secretaries in the office.
Pictured in this photo from 1985 are:
Back row: D Barbour, K King, E McCrea, J Harpur, B O'Kane, N O'Kane, J Forsythe
Third row: O McNally, D Hegarty, J Scott, T Colhoun, J Coyle, R Kidd, A Hyndman, J Kennedy, T Gallagher, B Given, M Stewart
Second Row: R Freeborn, B McSorley, D Harpur, Mrs T Winters, Mrs B Bolton,Mrs C Reid, Mrs F Hamilton, J Hyndman, J Nicholl, B Flanaghan, R Logue, E Donnell, G Whyte
Front Row: H Friar, A McCausland, U Blair, N Orr, G Keery, JE Herdman, K Po***ck, D Jemphrey, R Patton, S Cole, W Laird.
Can you recognise anyone?
120A Melmount Road
Strabane
BT829ET
| Wednesday | 12pm - 5pm |
| Thursday | 12pm - 5pm |
| Friday | 12pm - 5pm |
| Saturday | 12pm - 5pm |
| Sunday | 12pm - 5pm |
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If you weren't able to attend in person - you can now catch up with our Celebrating our Heritage talk: 'A Power in the Land'. Reflections on the life and times of Ambrose St. Quintin Ricardo (1888 - 1923) by his great niece, Mrs. Celia Ferguson (nee Herdman) .
Celebrating our Heritage - the history of cricket in Sion Mills
The Railway through Sion Mills with Charles Friel, the Railway Preservation Society
Reflections on growing up in Sion Mils and building stronger communities with Sarah Friar MBE, CEO of Nextdoor
Reflections on Herdmans Linen Mill with Stephen Devine, former Transport Controller
Marks of Time Strabane – our buildings reveal our history With Manus Deery, Senior Conservation Architect with the Department of Communities
With Dr Liam Campbell, Built and Cultural Heritage Officer with Lough Neagh Landscape Partnership sharing "Lessons in Ecology and Belonging"
The literary and social contribution of Cecil Frances Alexander to Strabane and District with Mr Richard Doherty, local historian
With Dr William Roulston, Research Director from The Ulster Historical Foundation
The place of St Patrick in our culture and heritage
by Caroline Carr, Assistant Curator of Donegal County Museum
