Days Out NI
Country Estate Strabane

Gray's Printing Press

The man who printed America's Declaration of Independence learned his trade in this room.

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Seasonal — checkLimited and seasonal, with very few open…
NT members freeTo get in
StrabaneCountry estate
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45 minutesHow long
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To exploreGrounds & tours
Street/townParking
NT members freeTo get in

Gray's Printing Press — The man who printed America's Declaration of Independence learned his trade in this room.

  • What you’ll see: Not a house — a single first-floor print room above the historic shopfront, shown by volunteer-led tour.
  • Getting in: By guided tour. National Trust members free; non-members pay a small admission on the day — check the current price when you book.
  • Opening: Limited and seasonal, with very few open days. Phone or check the National Trust page before travelling, as days vary year to year.
  • Food: Gray's Tea Rooms sits at the front of the same building on Main Street for tea, coffee and a bite.
  • Dogs: Assistance dogs only.
  • Accessibility: The print room is on the first floor, reached by a stairway, with steps and uneven terrain. Not suitable for wheelchair users or those who cannot manage stairs.
Plan your visit

Watch a print pulled by hand

The machines here are not behind glass. A volunteer inks the bed, sets the paper and pulls the bar on the Columbian press, and you watch a printed sheet come off the way every page came off for two hundred years. You see the type cases too, thousands of metal letters sorted by hand, and the logic of why a printer keeps the common letters close. Many visitors leave with a sheet they watched being printed. For anyone who has only ever known a screen, the weight and noise of real printing lands hard.

Working 19th-century print room Columbian hand press Hand-set type cases John Dunlap's trade Volunteer-led tour Free for NT members
Good to know before you go:

Gray's marks the days that matter to its story, with American Independence Day a natural fixture given the Dunlap connection, alongside heritage open days and printing demonstrations through the open season. Dates and programmes change year to year, so check before you go.

Before you set off

What to bring

  • 👟Comfy walking shoesThere are grounds, gardens or a working mill to explore on foot.
  • 🧥A layer for the weatherMuch of the day is outdoors, and old rooms can be cool.
  • 💷Money for entry or the caféFor admission where it’s charged, and tea and a treat afterwards.
  • 📸A cameraThe houses, gardens and machinery all photograph beautifully.
Good to know

Everything before you go

Getting in
By guided tour. National Trust members free; non-members pay a small admission on the day — check the current price when you book.
Opening hours
Limited and seasonal, with very few open days. Phone or check the National Trust page before travelling, as days vary year to year.
The house
Not a house — a single first-floor print room above the historic shopfront, shown by volunteer-led tour.
Food
Gray's Tea Rooms sits at the front of the same building on Main Street for tea, coffee and a bite.
Dogs
Assistance dogs only.
Parking
No dedicated car park. Use Strabane town-centre parking on and around Main Street.
Accessibility
The print room is on the first floor, reached by a stairway, with steps and uneven terrain. Not suitable for wheelchair users or those who cannot manage stairs.
How long to allow
Around 45 minutes to an hour for the tour, plus the tea rooms.
Address
49 Main Street, Strabane, County Tyrone, BT82 8AU
Questions

Before you go

How do I get in and how much is it?
By guided tour. National Trust members free; non-members pay a small admission on the day — check the current price when you book.
When is it open?
Limited and seasonal, with very few open days. Phone or check the National Trust page before travelling, as days vary year to year.
Is there anywhere to eat?
Gray's Tea Rooms sits at the front of the same building on Main Street for tea, coffee and a bite.
Are dogs allowed?
Assistance dogs only.
Is it accessible?
The print room is on the first floor, reached by a stairway, with steps and uneven terrain. Not suitable for wheelchair users or those who cannot manage stairs.
Getting there

Gray's Printing Press is at 49 Main Street, Strabane, County Tyrone, BT82 8AU. No dedicated car park. Use Strabane town-centre parking on and around Main Street. Tap below for directions.

Directions on Google MapsOfficial website See it on our map
Nearby

Make more of the day

More days out around StrabaneSee what else is close by More estates, gardens & big houses across NIHistoric homes, grounds and walled gardens
The story

The story of Gray's Printing Press

By the middle of the 18th century Strabane was the printing town of Ulster, with as many as twelve presses working at once. Gray's was one of them, a family business run from behind a shopfront on Main Street, competing with printers across Ireland and Britain. The trade drew apprentices from the town, and one of them changed the course of another country's history.

John Dunlap learned his craft in Strabane before emigrating to Philadelphia to join his uncle William, an established printer. When William left the trade for the ministry in 1766, he handed the business to his trained nephew. Dunlap built it into a powerhouse: he launched the Pennsylvania Packet in 1771, won a Continental Congress printing contract in 1773, and later founded America's first daily newspaper.

On 4 July 1776 the work that made his name came through his shop. Dunlap printed roughly two hundred broadside copies of the Declaration of Independence from Jefferson's manuscript, sent out overnight to the thirteen colonial assemblies. He went on to print the US Constitution and served as printer to Congress until 1789, dying in 1812 a wealthy man with vast landholdings.

The press itself opened to the public as a National Trust property in 1966, preserving the shop and its machines as a record of Strabane's printing past and its unlikely link to the founding of the United States. Today local volunteers keep the presses turning and the story alive for visitors.