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Wednesday 12pm - 5pm Thursday 12pm - 5pm Friday 12pm - 5pm Saturday 12pm - 5pm Sunday 12pm - 5pm

Sion Stables

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Sion Stables

Museum celebrating heritage of Sion Mills as a historic linen village. Seminar room & museum tel. 078 9453 4553

Sion Stables is a sensitively restored 19th-century stable block, sensitively converted into a museum with an education suite and home to the Hidden Pearl Restaurant and Guides Choice Angling Shop.

18/05/2026

Don't miss our talk this Thursday (21st May) at 7.30pm, led by Ms. Caroline Carr, Assistant Curator of Donegal County Museum.

Join us for a fascinating exploration of weather, not just as daily small talk, but as a powerful force that has shaped our environment, our history, our buildings, and our lives.

Living on a wind-swept island in the North Atlantic, we experience not so much a climate as a rapidly changing succession of weather. It dictates when we work, when we rest, and how we build. It has brought disaster - from the catastrophic "Big Wind" of 1839 to the brutal winter of 1947, when a country already exhausted by war was brought to a standstill by prolonged frost and snow. It has shaped our architecture, driven crop failures, and today sits at the heart of one of the most urgent conversations of our time: climate change.

Caroline will draw on her expertise as a museum curator to trace weather's profound impact across the centuries, on the landscape, on communities, on the buildings we seek to preserve, and on the wider world, from sub-Saharan harvests to the storms increasingly battering these islands.

Admission is free and refreshments will be provided. Everyone is welcome, spread the word!

📍 The Stables, Sion Mills | 🗓️ Thursday 21st May | ⏰ 7.30pm

08/05/2026

☔️☀️❄️🌧️

We talk about it every day, we make comments about it when we meet each other in the street, we watch and listen attentively to daily scientific assessments of it in broadcast on television and radio and other media – weather!

Why are we so obsessed with the subject of the weather? Perhaps because, living on a wind-swept island in the North Atlantic, we don’t so much have a climate as a rapidly changing and varied succession of weather. Accordingly, there are many tasks which are executed promptly or deferred depending on the state of the weather and/or the prospects described by forecasters from the Met. Office. Dark, dreary winters bring on seasonal affective disorder. Wet Summers prompt many families to chill out on sun-kissed islands in the Mediterranean.

On the upside, compared with areas with a less temperate climate, we do not suffer so much because of extreme events such as tornadoes, drought or destructive flooding. However, because of the high level of precipitation, we must design buildings in a certain way in order to prevent destruction caused by an ingress of dampness. And so, houses are predominantly constructed with sloping roofs to drain off excess water and offload heavy snowfalls in Winter.

Join us for the next in our series of heritage talks on Thursday 21st May at 7.30pm where Caroline Carr, Assistant Curator of Donegal County Museum will be our guest speaker discussing weather through the ages.

Admission is free and refreshments will be provided - please spread the word 📣

15/04/2026

Don't forget our talk tomorrow (Thursday 16th April) at 7.30pm will be led by Canon David Crooks.

Join us to hear a fascinating appreciation of Irish Church Architecture.

His book, Living Stones, published in 2001, is a beautifully illustrated and remarkably detailed account of Churches, covering external architecture, internal features — including furnishings, monuments, and stained-glass windows — and drawing on his fluency in the Irish language to explore the meaning of Parish names associated with each building.

Everyone is welcome to attend this free event, starting at 7.30pm at The Stables, Sion Mills.

07/04/2026

Sir Winston Churchill, in one of his incisive observations about the significance of buildings commented, “We shape our buildings and then our buildings shape us.” This comment highlights the huge impact which buildings make and have made down the years on our culture and heritage. This is especially noticeable when it comes to our many Church buildings. These structures are bound up with the sense of identity of the people who frequent them and care about their upkeep and preservation.

Church architecture is, of course, a huge subject both in terms of the sheer variety of architectural styles involved and the various ways in which buildings have been altered and enhanced down through the years – in some cases during more than a millennium.

One man who has a deep understanding and appreciation of this subject is Canon David Crooks who, in addition to meeting the demands placed upon a busy Parish Clergyman succeeded in completing a comprehensive historical survey of more than 120 Church buildings spread over the whole of County Donegal and large parts of Counties Tyrone and Londonderry. His book, “Living Stones” published in 2001 is a remarkably detailed and beautifully illustrated account of all these Churches. He includes a description of the external architecture of each building and the internal features including furnishings, monuments and stained - glass windows etc. and also applies his fluency in the Irish language to explain the meaning of the names of the Parishes associated with the Churches.

David will be giving a presentation based on his research at the next monthly meeting of the Sion Mills Buildings Preservation Trust on Thursday, 16th April at 7.30 p.m. at The Stables, Sion Mills.

16/03/2026

⏰ Just a few days to go!

Don't forget — this Thursday, 19th March at 7.30pm we're hosting A Musical Evening with an Irish Historical Theme at The Stables, Sion Mills.

Join us for a wonderful evening of Irish traditional song with special guest artiste Ríonach McGlinchey, who will perform and explore the stories behind some much-loved Ulster airs, including My Laggan Love and She Moved Through the Fair.

Refreshments from 7.30pm. Free admission. All welcome! 🎵🍀

📍 The Stables, Sion Mills
📅 Thursday 19th March · 7.30pm

06/03/2026

🎶We are delighted to invite you to a very special musical evening with an Irish historial theme.

Shortly following St Patrick's Day ☘️ on Thursday 19th March we are presenting a Musical Evening which will include some of the great Irish traditional songs, with a special focus on songs with an Ulster provenance.

The special guest artiste will be Ríonach McGlinchey who is not only a highly acclaimed musician but also someone with a deep interest in Ulster culture and heritage. As Events Manager at Donegal County Museum in Letterkenny she has plentiful experience of organising a wide variety of cultural / historical events.

Some of the songs to be discussed and then vocalized by Ríonach include My Laggan Love and She moved through the Fair. These are very tuneful and popular airs and in each case the story behind each song will be outlined and discussed.

Everyone is welcome, entry is free with refreshments at 7.30pm in the Stables. 📣 Spread the word

18/02/2026

Don't forget our talk tomorrow (Thursday 19th February) at 7.30pm will be led by Mr. Johnny Andrews of Comber.

Join us to hear the remarkable story of his family's contribution to Ulster's industrial and civic heritage.

The Andrews family, like our own Herdmans, arrived from Scotland in the 17th century and became synonymous with industrial enterprise, community service, and heritage preservation. While the Herdmans established their Flax Spinning Mill here at Sion Mills, the Andrews family developed similar operations in Comber, County Down.

Johnny will explore how the architecturally significant Comber Flax Spinning Mill was successfully converted into luxury apartments, offering valuable insights as we consider the future of Herdmans Mill.

He'll also share the fascinating history of this notable Ulster family, including his great-grandfather John Miller Andrews (Prime Minister 1940-1943), Thomas Andrews (Titanic's Managing Director who perished with the ship), and other distinguished family members who shaped Northern Ireland's civic, industrial, and cultural landscape.

Johnny himself managed the family business until 1997 and continues serving the community through the Comber Regeneration Group and Killinchy Preservation Group.

📣 Spread the word - everyone is welcome to attend this free event, starting at 7.30pm 📣

28/01/2026

We are delighted to recommence our series of Celebrating our Heritage talks in 2026 by welcoming Mr. Johnny Andrews of Comber to Sion Mills on Thursday 19th February 2026 at 7.30pm.

The Andrews family, like the Herdmans, came to Ireland from Scotland in the 17th century. Soon after the time when a Flax Spinning Mill was being established by the Herdman brothers on the banks of the Mourne here at Sion Mills the Andrews family were to develop something similar in the town of Comber in County Down.

Both families became household names for very similar reasons: community service; industrial enterprise and creation of employment opportunities and, not least, a passionate and abiding interest in preserving a local, shared heritage in their respective communities.

In his presentation, Johnny Andrews will not only reflect on the significant industrial enterprise that was Comber Flax Spinning Mill and how the architecturally precious building in which it was housed has found an alternative use, but he will also explore the history of one of the most notable and best known of Ulster families. As far as industrial buildings is concerned his reflections on how the Andrews Mill was successfully converted into luxury apartments is particularly relevant at time when there is much local interest in how the Herdmans Mill building may be redeveloped in the near future.

He is also very well qualified to tell the fascinating story of how the Andrews family played a key role in the civic, industrial, economic and cultural life of Ulster. Johnny happens to be the great grandson of John Miller Andrews (1871-1956) who was not only a founding member of the first Northern Ireland Government but also served as Prime Minister (1940-1943) during the Second World War. However, John Miller was not the only conspicuously successful member of that generation of the family. His brothers included : Thomas Andrews (1873-1912) who, as Managing Director of Harland and Wolff’S Shipyard, supervised the construction of the Titanic, and indeed lost his life when the Titanic sank in April, 1912; James Andrews (1877-1951) who became Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland and Willie Andrews (1886-1966) who in a glittering career as a cricketer turned out for Ulster on several occasions and also played for the Ireland cricket team.

Not only was Johnny Andrews involved in managing the family business until it closed in 1997, but still carries on an enterprise in the sale of natural fibre products at Clattering Ford. He also sacrifices much time and effort in the service of the community through his membership of the Comber Regeneration Group and the Killinchy Preservation Group.

We hope many of the community will join us for this fascinating insight next month.

📣 Spread the word - everyone is welcome to attend this free event 📣

06/12/2025

Today's the day 🎄 come along later today to join our Community Carol Singing at The Stables at 3.30 pm.

Refreshments will be served at 3.30 pm followed by singing in the Stables at 4.00 pm.

Everyone is welcome to join us to kick start the festive season!

02/12/2025

Don't forget our Advent Community Carol Singing at The Stables is this Saturday, 6th December at 3.30 pm.

Refreshments will be served at 3.30 pm in the Restaurant and then, at 4.00 pm, those attending will make their way to the Stables for the singing.

Everyone is welcome!

Address

120A Melmount Road
Strabane
BT829ET

Opening Hours

Wednesday	12pm - 5pm
Thursday	12pm - 5pm
Friday	12pm - 5pm
Saturday	12pm - 5pm
Sunday	12pm - 5pm

Website

http://sionstables.com/

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