Strabane (An Srath Bán in Irish) is a town in the north west of County Tyrone in Northern Ireland, on the border with County Donegal. It contains the headquarters of Strabane District Council.
Strabane has a population of nearly 20,000, with the wider district having a population of upwards to 40,000. Strabane stands exactly half-way between Omagh and Derry.
The river Mourne flows through the centre of the town, and meets with the river Finn to form the river Foyle. Strabane suffered huge economic damage in 1987 when much of the centre of the town was flooded.
Strabane was ravaged by the 'Troubles', beginning in the early 1970's with bombings common-place and Irish republican paramilitary groups regulary attacking British Army and R.U.C. bases in the town. In 1985, three local IRA volunteers, aged between 16 and 23, were assasinated by an SAS unit as they returned to an arms dump.
The National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty|National Trust owns the Strabane house in which John Dunlap learnt the printing trade. He went on to print the United States Declaration of Independence.
Nearby Strabane is Dergalt, the ancestral home of Woodrow Wilson, 28th President of the United States.
Strabane has seen a revival of Irish gaelic culture with an ever-expanding Gaelic football team, Strabane Sigersons, hundreds of children attending the local Irish language Gaelscoil and Irish language groups flourishing.
Recent years have seen Strabane, a predominantly nationalist town, become a hotbed of dissident republican paramilitarism with groups such as the Real IRA increasing in membership.
Strabane is also a sister city of Sioux Falls, South Dakota (USA).
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Last updated: 05-14-2005 16:50:46
Last updated: 05-13-2005 07:56:04
