About
Gray's Printing Press, behind a Georgian shopfront on the Main Street of Strabane in County Tyrone, preserves an eighteenth-century print shop that connects this small Ulster town to one of the founding documents of the United States. In the 1700s Strabane was a thriving centre of printing and publishing, and it was here, the National Trust tells us, that John Dunlap learned the printing trade before emigrating to Philadelphia — where, on the night of 4 July 1776, he printed the first copies of the American Declaration of Independence, the famous 'Dunlap Broadside'. The little press in Strabane thus carries an extraordinary historical resonance far beyond its modest size.
The property, cared for by the National Trust, houses a collection of nineteenth-century printing presses and the tools of the printer's craft, displayed in an atmospheric old shop that evokes the world of hand printing. Visitors can see the great wooden and iron presses, the cases of metal type, and the equipment used to set, ink, and print pages by hand, and learn how books, newspapers, and broadsides were produced before the age of mechanisation. Demonstrations and interpretation bring the laborious, skilled process of letterpress printing vividly to life.
Gray's Printing Press also celebrates Strabane's remarkable links to America. As well as John Dunlap, the town's printing trade is associated with James Wilson — grandfather of Woodrow Wilson, the twenty-eighth President of the United States — who worked in the area before emigrating in the early nineteenth century. These connections place Strabane within the great story of Ulster–Scots emigration to North America and the outsized role that Ulster emigrants played in the making of the United States. Compact, characterful, and steeped in history, Gray's Printing Press offers a fascinating glimpse into both the craft of printing and the transatlantic ties that bind a quiet Tyrone town to the birth of a nation.
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Plan Your Visit
⏱️ Recommended Visit Duration
💡 Visitor Tips
- Opening is seasonal and often by guided visit, so always check the National Trust website and book ahead before travelling, especially to catch a printing demonstration.
- Try to visit on a demonstration day, when the historic presses are operated and you can see — and sometimes try — letterpress printing first-hand.
- As a historic building with stairs, access is limited for wheelchair users; contact the National Trust in advance if you have access needs.
- Strabane has no railway station, but Translink buses serve the town well from Derry, Omagh, and Belfast, and town-centre car parks are nearby.
- Don't miss the story of John Dunlap and the Declaration of Independence — the highlight that gives this modest press its international significance.
- National Trust members enter free; if touring Northern Ireland's Trust properties, membership is well worth considering.
- Combine your visit with the Ulster American Folk Park near Omagh, which explores the emigration story the museum touches on, for a fuller day.
- The Sperrin Mountains and the border city of Derry~Londonderry are both within easy reach for a wider day out in the north-west.
Highlights
John Dunlap and the Declaration of Independence
The property's greatest claim to fame is its connection to John Dunlap, born in Strabane in 1747, who according to tradition learned the printing trade in the town before emigrating to Philadelphia. There he became a leading printer and, on the night of 4 July 1776, printed the first copies of the American Declaration of Independence — the 'Dunlap Broadside' — the very documents read aloud and dispatched across the new nation.
The museum tells this remarkable story, linking a modest Strabane print shop to one of the most important documents in modern history and to the birth of the United States.
Historic Printing Presses
At the heart of the museum are its historic printing presses — great wooden and iron machines of the kind used to print books, newspapers, and broadsides by hand. Visitors can see the presses up close, understand how they worked, and on demonstration days watch them in action as a printed sheet is produced.
These presses bring to life the craft that Dunlap and generations of printers practised, and reveal the physical labour and skill involved in every printed page before the age of mechanisation.
The machines are the museum's tangible link to the world of the eighteenth- and nineteenth-century printer.
The Craft of Letterpress Printing
The museum is a place to discover the intricate craft of letterpress printing — the setting of individual pieces of metal type by hand, the inking of the forme, and the careful operation of the press.
Cases of type, composing sticks, and the printer's tools are displayed, and demonstrations show how a page of text was assembled letter by letter and printed. This was painstaking, highly skilled work, and the museum gives visitors a real appreciation of how the printed word was produced for centuries — a craft now almost vanished but fundamental to the spread of knowledge and ideas.
James Wilson and the Wilson Connection
Strabane's printing trade is also linked to James Wilson, grandfather of Woodrow Wilson, the twenty-eighth President of the United States. James Wilson was associated with printing in the Strabane area before emigrating to America in the early nineteenth century, founding a family line that would reach the White House a century later.
The museum explores this second remarkable American connection, deepening Strabane's claim to a special place in the story of Ulster's links with the United States, and reminding visitors that emigrants from this corner of Ireland helped shape the highest offices of the American republic.
Collections
Gray's Printing Press preserves an eighteenth-century print shop in Strabane, County Tyrone, cared for by the National Trust. The collection centres on historic printing presses — wooden and iron hand presses of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries — together with cases of metal type, composing equipment, and the tools of the letterpress printer's craft, displayed in an atmospheric old shop behind a Georgian shopfront.
Interpretation focuses on the property's connection to John Dunlap, printer of the American Declaration of Independence, and to James Wilson, grandfather of President Woodrow Wilson, setting Strabane's notable printing trade within the wider history of Ulster emigration to North America.
Printing demonstrations bring the craft to life.
The Dunlap Broadside: Printing Independence
John Dunlap, Strabane, and the printing of the American Declaration of Independence.
The Printer's Craft
Historic presses, type, and the process of letterpress printing.
Strabane and America
James Wilson, Ulster emigration, and the town's transatlantic ties.
Current Exhibitions
No current exhibitions. Please check the museum website for updates.