Did your Irish ancestors leave Ulster for a new life in the United States?
If so, you may be interested in visiting one of Northern Ireland's most popular historical attractions.
The Ulster American Folk Park in County Tyrone explores the historical link between Ulster and America, focusing in particular on the lifestyle and experiences of those who sailed from Ulster to America in the 18th and 19th centuries.
It is run by National Museums NI, which also oversees the Ulster Museum located in the Botanic Gardens in Belfast; the Ulster Folk Museum in Holywood, County Down; and the Ulster Transport Museum outside Belfast.
This spring, from May 24th to the 25th, why not pop into the park to enjoy Bluegrass Omagh, the largest bluegrass and old-time music gathering on the island of Ireland and one of the largest bluegrass events outside of the United States.
The musical event pays homage to the heritage and legacy of the Ulster emigrants who settled in Appalachia during the 18th and 19th century, traveling with instruments, songs, stories and memories of their homeland.
That music took root in communities across the United States, including in an area that stretched from the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia to the Great Smoky Mountains of North Carolina.
The line-up includes Donegal-born Bluegrass sensation Muireann Bradley, Nashville-based Kristy Cox, the Bow Brothers, and much more.
Ulster and Emigration to America
Ulster is one of the provinces on the island of Ireland.
It includes the counties of Antrim, Armagh, Cavan, Derry (also known as Londonderry), Donegal, Down, Fermanagh, Monaghan, and Tyrone.
However, Counties Cavan, Donegal and Monaghan are both a part of the Republic of Ireland.
The other six make up Northern Ireland.
The area, like much of Ireland, was greatly affected by emigration.
From 1710 through 1775, over 200,000 people emigrated from the area to America’s original 13 colonies, with most of them going to Pennsylvania, although some also ended up in Virginia, the Carolinas, and farther west.
Another half a million emigrated to America between 1815 and 1845 and around 900,000 arrived in the U.S. from 1851 to 1899.
Most of the emigrants from Ulster were Presbyterians.
The open-air museum includes 30 different exhibit buildings.
They include the following exhibitions:
Bad Bridget
This exhibition tells the stories of thousands of women who left Ireland for North America between 1838 and 1918, many of them finding themselves resorting to crime and struggling to survive in tenements.
Through an eclectic mix of sights, sounds, smells and objects, the exhibition charts their experience of migration, much of it done alone, starting with their lives in Ireland and the hardships that led them to migrate.
Bad Bridget provides an insight into life at sea and the dangers and difficulties these women faced.
Many of the restored, original buildings in the park have connections to local families, including the Mellon House, which was the birthplace of Thomas Mellon, the Irish American banker and lawyer, as well as the founding father of the Mellon financial company.
The exhibition will be on display through early 2026.
Rural Ulster
Explore the park's authentic exhibition buildings that form the Rural Ulster exhibition.
Some of the buildings were relocated to the Ulster American Folk Park stone by stone and rebuilt, while others are in their original locations from the 19th century.
Step inside the blacksmith's forge, built in the 1800s; sit in a pew in the Mountjoy Meeting House; visit the Campbell House (where Robert Campbell, the frontiersman and fur trader was born); see a replica of the Mountjoy Presbyterian Church built in the 1700s, and then take a peek into the Vestry, where the minister studied.
These are just some of the exhibit buildings that recount the lives of the people of in this part of Ulster.
The Journey
This exhibition of buildings documents the familiar sights and sounds of rural Ulster as emigrants made their journey across the Atlantic.
Collect your ticket and board the Brig Union, a replica of an emigrant sailing ship.
You'll learn what life was like on board the ship, including the challenges and difficulties encountered during the 12-week journey. Then, step on to American soil and explore their new life away from home.
Visit the Mountjoy Post Office, Hills Chemist, RJ Blair Printers, J Reilly Publican/Grocer, and much more.
America
Discover what it was like to arrive in America after the 12-week voyage and learn how the Ulster emigrants created new lives in a new land.
Many of them went on to create prosperous new lives, while others faced hardships and often had trouble with the law. Their stories are recounted in this exhibition of buildings, along with the Ulster traditions that they carried with them and integrated into their new lives in America.
Among the buildings you'll visit is the Samuel Fulton Stone House, where Donegal native Samuel Fulton lived. He emigrated from Ulster in 1724, bringing Irish building methods with him.
The house was constructed from field stones that he found on his land, a practice he learned in Ireland. It was located in Donegal Springs, Pa., where Fulton settled, about 100 km/62 miles west of Philadelphia.
Booking.com
If you are planning to visit the park, you must book your tickets in advance.
Admission to the park is £13 for adults, £10.45 for seniors and students, and £7.95 for children under 18. Children under 5 are admitted free. Family tickets range from £25.95 to £37.45.