All Our Yesterdays – February 22, 2024

1999
End of an era for Royal Arms
THIS weekend marks the end of an era for one of Omagh’s landmarks with the closure of the town’s Royal Arms Hotel.
The historic building – which has been a feature of Market Street for almost 200 years – will shut its doors for the last time.
But the hotel’s ballroom will again reverberate the sound of the swinging showband era – when the legendary Plattermen reform for a special closing dance.
The demise of the Royal Arms, however, will make way for an impressive £7m Victorian-style covered shopping mall which will include a total of 14 retail units.
The hotel’s existing frontage will be incorporated into the new development, thus maintaining a lasting link with Omagh’s past.
General manager, Peter Waterson – whose parents took over the running of the business 40 years ago – said it was with mixed feelings the family had decided to call it a day.
“We will naturally be sorry to go and the decision was arrived at with mixed emotions.
“But we hope to be back in business in a smaller form in the near future, in order to meet the expectations of customers and hopefully recreate some of the character of the Royal Arms Hotel as it stands.”
The hotel building itself dates back to 1878 and was originally under the ownership of generations of the Porter family.
In 1959, the present proprietors, Dai and Elaine Waterson took over running the business from previous owner, Dr Sam Millar.

1974
Third bomb in Omagh Centre
THERE has been another attack on the business life of Omagh. A 200lb bomb exploded in a hijacked Post Office mail van in Market Street and caused widespread damage, wrecking eight business premises and extensively damaging over 20 others. The explosion came a week to the day after an incendiary attack in the town which caused fires which gutted four shops, and a bomb which damaged offices and dwellings, two days after another bomb in a post office van exploded in Dungannon devastating the town centre. The alarm was raised by the Post Office driver just after he had abandoned his van outside the new shopping block of Messrs Paul Fashions, less than 100 yards from the security check-point at the Dublin Road – Market Street junction, through which only limited traffic is admitted to the sealed off town centre. The van was allowed through on the driver producing his Post Office security pass. The van had been hijacked earlier on Saturday near Mountfield by a number of masked and armed men. They made the driver go to a spot where the explosives were loaded from another hijacked van. He was then told to drive to Omagh and, it is understood, warned that he would be followed and that the bomb could be detonated by remote control if he warned the police on duty at the check-point. Omagh was crowded with afternoon shoppers when the alarm was raised just after 2pm and the entire area had to be evacuated. No one was injured when the bomb exploded just over 30 minutes later.

1949
Larcenies of timber
EDWARD Doran, of Rathkelly, Newtownstewart, was charged at Newtownstewart Court, before Mr W Miller RM, with the larceny of a quantity of timber, value £2, the property of the Ministry of Agriculture. He was also charged with receiving.
Laura O’Goan, of the same townland, was charged with the larceny of timber, value 5s, the property of the Ministry.
Doran pleaded not guilty. Joseph Davis, Forestry Inspector, said when he visited Doran’s property, he found a ton of timber in a shed. It was similar in variety to that being cut in a near-by plantation. Answering Mr JJ Roche, defending, witness said a foreman, at the plantation Jameson, was allowed timber for his own firing but he was not entitled to sell it.
In the case against O’Goan, Davis said when he visited her he found timber near the house. Sgt Moffat said the defendant did not make a statement but told him she had brought down a barrowful of branches and thought it was no harm. In evidence, defendant said she only took branches and one piece of timber (the piece produced in Court), which she found on the roadside. There were other people in the plantation taking the timber at the time, and were still at it.
Doran was fined £3 and bound to the peace for 12 months on his own bail of £5 on the larceny charge. O’Goan was bound over in person bail of £5 for twelve months, to come up for conviction and sentence if required.

1924
Neglected Omagh children
AT Omagh Petty Sessions, Capt. Gosselin RM, presiding, John Gilkinson, asylum attendant, of Fountain Lane, was charged by Head-Constable Lattimer with allowing his two children, aged respectively seven and five years, to beg.
The head-constable stated that the children were found begging on Sunday, January 3, were very badly clad and had no boots.
It was not a case, he said, where the children were compelled to beg, as the father was fairly well off, earning £11 or £12 a month. Several complaints had been made about the parents’ neglect of the children, and when the house was visited by police it was found there was very little fire or food for the children.
Evidence in support of the statement having been given the defendant, in reply to the Chairman, said that the children go out to other children after breakfast and he could not be always looking after them. The Chairman intimated to the defendant that he was liable to a fine of £25 and three months imprisonment straight away. The defendant said that sometimes their money was stopped by the Asylum Board or was not paid regularly. Adjourning the case for four weeks, the Chairman warned the defendant that if matters did not improve he would be sent to jail at the expiration of that time. It was not that they had any sympathy for him, but they had some for his wife and children, and for that reason they refrained from sending him to jail and would give him a chance.