‘End of an era’ as historic Strabane home is demolished

A Strabane house that was built over 100 years ago was demolished on Saturday, marking the end of an era for one Strabane family.

The large home on Railway Road, which was owned by the Gillespie family since 1964, became a well-known landmark, particularly during the tenure of famous Strabane son, the late Paddy Gillespie.

During the family’s ownership of the residence, the outbuilding was used to house owner Paddy’s large collection of historical knick-knacks and artefacts.

Paddy’s collection grew so large that he later turned the outbuilding into a small museum that people came from throughout Ireland to visit.

Previously dubbed ‘The King of Strabane’, Paddy Gillespie passed away in 2019 at the age of 102.

Speaking of the memories associated with the house Paddy’s son, Joe, told the Chronicle that, although the house was now gone, the family had fantastic memories of a busy and warm home.

Joe said, “My parents moved into the house in 1964, and did a tremendous amount of work to it. The house had lay without a person living in it for quite a while.

“My father, who was a mechanic by trade, did all the work by himself.

“It took a long time to get the place looking the way he and my mother (Eileen) wanted.

“It was a great house to be in; there was always plenty of people about, and my father, who was a great builder of things, was always busy fixing or working on something. It was also great when the table tennis matches were on, that there could be over 40 people in the outbuilding watching a match, and my mother would make tea for everybody.”

Joe added, “Although our family are sad to see the house be knocked down, and we would’ve preferred a family to move onto the home and for it not to be demolished, we still have great memories of the place. It was a great and busy family home that I loved living in and visiting.”