Coalisland

Coalisland has had a long proud histroy of community involvement in the arts and especially in drama and music. There are several accounts about the social life of Coalisland in the late 19th century when it could be argued Coalisland was at the height of it's industrial prosperity. Below is an extract from a publication, which helps to illustrate this fact.

In his book "Coalisland in the Industrial Revolution 1800-1901" Austin Stewart describes the "social life" of the town cira 1880's and 1890's.

"In addition to religion there were other ways of passing the time in Coalisland. Temperance cafes and "self-improving" public meetings in modern community halls were encouraged. The widely accepted educative principle of a sound mind in a sound body saw a crusade to embrace all forms of outdoor pursuits like cycling, swimming, football playing and spectating. Yet despite all these new leisure ways it appeared that the public house was central to the social life of the population. Coalisland was no different. In it's own way it mirrored the activites that were central to a more urban population. A coffee house was established in 1885. An amateur concert was held in the Protestant hall in the town to raise funds for its maintenance. In order that the hall would be more user-friendly and help cultivate other pursuits local marchant, John Stevenson, wainscoted, painted, setaed, lighted and improved the hall at his own expense. In 1890's the Catholic community saw the need to erect an extra storey on St. Patrick'shall in order to facilitate a reading room and accommodate a billiard table. A drama club was set up in 1894.

Touring drama groups like the Warwick Buckland Company were no strangers to the area. The Mexican circus, when it visited, was a huge draw not least becuase Johnny Patterson, the famous Irish clown, was travelling with it. Reading pursuits were encouraged through the good auspicies of the Tyrone Courier newspaper. It had a circulating library and often had surplus novels for sale. These included the works of renowned authors such as George Meredith, Walter Scott, R.L. Stevenson, Anthony Trollope, Mark Twain, Charlotte Young and others. Music, particularly band music was very popular. There were bands everywhere; the Coalisland Brass band, the Coalisland Flute band, Ballinderry Brass and Mahon Flute bands. The band received first class tuition from local and amateur musicians."