Omagh - Definition

This article is about the town of Omagh. For the film of same name see: Omagh (movie).

Omagh (An Ómaigh in Irish) is the county town of County Tyrone in Northern Ireland, situated where the rivers Drumragh and Camowen meet to form the Strule.

It received international attention with the Omagh bombing of 1998, which killed 29 people — 13 women (one pregnant), 9 children and 6 men.

The Ulster-American Folk Park in Omagh includes the cottage where Thomas Mellon was born in 1813, before emigrating to Pennsylvania, in the United States when he was five. His son Andrew W. Mellon became secretary to the US Treasury.

The town is also the home of Irish League club Omagh Town FC.

It contains the headquarters of Omagh District Council. In both the Westminster Parliament and the Northern Ireland Assembly, Omagh is completely contained within the West Tyrone constituency.

Omagh is the birthplace of internationally renowned song writer Jimmy Kennedy, who wrote Red Sails in the Sunset, the Hokey Cokey and The Teddy Bears' Picnic. Also born in Omagh is Sam Neill, star of Jurassic Park.

See also: List of towns in Northern Ireland