By 
THE Department for Communities is currently exploring options on how to celebrate Tyrone native, John Dunlap as part of USA’s 250 Anniversary of Independence in Northern Ireland.
Confirmation on this was received by West Tyrone SDLP MLA Daniel McCrossan, who recently wrote to Communities Minister Gordon Lyons.
In a letter to Mr McCrossan, Minister Lyons said, “My officials are exploring several options to commemorate the key role played by John Dunlap in the founding of the United States.”
John Dunlap (August 21 1746 –November 27 1812) was an early American printer who emigrated from Strabane and who printed the first copies of the United States Declaration of Independence. He is regarded was one of the most successful Irish/American printers of his era and he also served in the Continental Army under George Washington during the American Revolutionary War.
“I welcome the Minister’s positive response,” Daniel McCrossan said. “John Dunlap was born in Strabane in August 1746, and worked in Gray’s Printing Shop in Strabane. He became an apprentice for his uncle William at his printing and bookshop business in Philadelphia.
“During the American Revolutionary War, and became an officer in the First Troop Philadelphia City Cavalry, and saw action with George Washington at the battles of Trenton and Princeton.”
“People in Strabane are proud that one of their own made such a mark in the USA, producing the first printed version of the Declaration of Independence. It is important his life is celebrated as part of our celebration of the USA’s 250th anniversary of independence.”
Gordon Lyons explained that his officials are separately developing a programme of ‘engagement and activities’ organised by a number of cultural institutions including the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland and the Ulster Scots Agency with collaboration from the National Archives and Records Administration and the Smithsonian Institute in the US.
