UTV presenter Joe Mahon makes his way to Tyrone

WELL-travelled TV presenter, Joe Mahon, makes his way to Cookstown and Stewartstown for the latest episode of his popular show, ‘Mahon’s Way’, this weekend.

Joe first visited Killymoon Castle, outside Cookstown, several years ago and has been looking forward to revisiting the building.

He gets to see the remarkable transformation of the fabric and décor of this beautiful building carried out by the current owners, Godfrey and Dorothy Coulter.

Joe explains the history of the castle.

Where the Killymoon and Ballinderry rivers meet, James Stewart, a Presbyterian from Edinburgh, acquired lands in this area following the Plantation of Ulster and built the first castle on this site in the year 1671.

His version of Killymoon Castle was badly damaged by fire in 1801, at which point a descendant of his, also called James Stewart, hired the celebrated Regency London architect, John Nash, to design a beautiful new castle.

By the start of the 21st century both parts of the castle were seriously dilapidated, until the Coulters began their ambitious and painstaking restoration.

In the second part of the programme, Joe visits a relatively new building on the outskirts of Stewartstown.

Martin Armour built and furnished Rosehill House, and he cherishes every item of furniture, fittings and décor throughout its vast and quirky interior, because he went to extraordinary lengths, as you’ll hear, to get exactly what he thought the house needed.

The house is a mix of periods and styles – part humble dwelling, part grand manor house, part museum. The tools Martin found most useful in this multi-layered task, were his imagination, his memory and his dogged determination.

You can watch this episode on Sunday (September 11) at 7.30pm on UTV and on catch up on www.itv.com/utvprogrammes.