Cookstown is a town in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is the fourth-largest town in the county and had a population of 12,546 in the 2021 census. It, along with Magherafelt and Dungannon, is one of the main towns in the Mid-Ulster council area. It was founded around 1620 when the townlands in the area were leased by an English ecclesiastical lawyer, Dr. Alan Cooke, from the Archbishop of Armagh, who had been granted the lands after the Flight of the Earls during the Plantation of Ulster. It was one of the main centres of the linen industry west of the River Bann, and until 1956 the flax-related processes of spinning, weaving, bleaching and beetling were carried out in the town.

History

In 1609 land was leased to an English ecclesiastical lawyer, Dr Cooke, who fulfilled the covenants entered in the lease by building houses on the land. In 1628, King Charles I granted Letters Patent to Cooke permitting the holding of a twice-weekly market for livestock and flaxen goods. In 1641, the native Irish revolted against the Planters in a bloody rebellion and the town was destroyed. The rebellion had a devastating effect on the town and development ceased for nearly a century. Over the succeeding years, the lands around Cookstown were progressively bought up by William Stewart of Killymoon until in 1671 all of Dr Cooke's lands were in the hands of the Stewart family. William Stewart and later his son James set out plans for the town soon after this. Inspired by the Wide Streets Commission's work in Dublin, they planned a new town to be built along a tree lined boulevard which was to be 135 feet wide. In 1802, Colonel William Stewart (James Stewart's unmarried son) approached the London architect, John Nash, and requested that he visit the area to rebuild Killymoon Castle. Nash also designed the Rectory at Lissan for the Rev John Molesworth Staples in 1807. With the establishment of Gunning's Linen Weaving Mill, with over 300 looms, Cookstown developed in the 19th century as the local centre of the linen trade. Two railways established terminus railway stations at Cookstown - the Belfast and Northern Counties Railway (1856-1955) and the Great Northern Railway (1879-1959). Prominent developments in the second half of the 19th century included J.J. McCarthy's Church of the Holy Trinity on Chapel Street. On 17 June 1920, during the Irish War of Independence, the Irish Republican Army (IRA) raided the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) barracks in Cookstown, with help from four sympathetic RIC officers. In a brief firefight, IRA member Patrick Loughran was killed. He was the first IRA man killed on active service in what became Northern Ireland. Cookstown Town Hall was designed by the town surveyor, Charles Geoffrey Birtwell, and built on the Burn Road by James Corrigan of Pomeroy: it was officially opened on 27 May 1953. During the Troubles, Cookstown suffered from several bomb attacks: on 2 November 1990 an off duty soldier from the Ulster Defence Regiment was killed by a car bomb. Cookstown Town Hall was demolished in 1998 and the Burnavon Arts and Cultural Centre opened on the site in 2000.

Places of interest

Climate

Politics

In elections for the Westminster Parliament and the Northern Ireland Assembly it is part of the Mid Ulster constituency. The local authority, Cookstown District Council, was established in 1973, and included part of County Londonderry, notably the villages of Moneymore, The Loup and Ballyronan. As part of the Local Government Reform (NI) Cookstown District Council merged with Dungannon and South Tyrone Borough Council and Magherafelt District Council to form a larger Mid-Ulster District Council in 2015.

Townlands

The following is a list of townlands within Cookstown's urban area, alongside their likely etymologies:

Cookstown townland

Cookstown townland itself is situated in the historic barony of Dungannon Upper and the civil parish of Derryloran and covers an area of 217 acres. The population of the townland increased overall during the 19th century:

Sport

Motorcycling

The town plays host to the Cookstown 100 Road Races, the longest running motorcycle road race in Ireland. Held in April of each year the races are seen as the curtain raiser to the Irish National Road Racing Championship.

Gaelic Football

Cookstown Fr. Rock's, the local Gaelic Athletic Association club, won the All-Ireland Intermediate Club Football Championship in 2013.

Association Football

Local association football clubs include Cookstown Olympic F.C. (an intermediate-level football club), Mid-Ulster Ladies F.C. (a women's football club), Killymoon Rangers F.C., Coagh United F.C. and Sofia Farmer F.C. (clubs in the Cookstown District that play in the Ballymena & Provincial Intermediate League).

Hockey

Cookstown Hockey Club is the town's field hockey team.

Demography

19th century population

The population of the town increased during the 19th century: Cookstown is classified as a medium town (i.e. with population between 10,000 and 18,000 people) by the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA).

2021 Census

On census day in 2021 there were 12,546 people living in Cookstown. Of these:

2011 Census

On census day (27 March 2011) there were 11,599 people living in Cookstown. Of these:

2001 Census

On census day (29 April 2001) there were 10,646 people living in Cookstown. Of these:

Education

Secondary schools serving the area include Cookstown High School and Holy Trinity College, Cookstown. At third level, the Loughry Campus of the College of Agriculture, Food and Rural Enterprise is 2 mi south of Cookstown. South West College (a technical college) is also in the area.

Healthcare

The first community hub for primary care in the province is to be established in the town, backed by four local GP practices and the health board. It is to incorporate scanning facilities, a minor surgery suite, a pharmacy, out-of-hours consultations and community healthcare partnerships, with the possibility of developing supported living accommodation for older people.

Notable people

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