Are you trying to discover the best things to do with kids in County Tyrone? Gray’s Printing Press is a delightfully preserved 18th-century print shop located right in the heart of Strabane. It falls into the historic museum and heritage activity category, offering families a rare window into the history of visual printing and global communication where John Dunlap, printer of the American Declaration of Independence, once learned his trade.

Prices start from £0.00 for National Trust members, while standard non-member adult tickets cost £6.50, child tickets cost £3.25, and standard family admissions start from £16.25. These entry prices grant full access to the operational print floor exhibitions and expert-led guided experiences.

If you are looking for the best place for a day out with family and kids that blends local engineering history with international connections, this regional print museum is a fantastic option. It provides school-aged children with an immersive, tactile educational day out that highlights how old-school technology shaped the modern world.

Key Features

• Educational Day Out: Children can learn about the complex process of old-fashioned typesetting and explore how the printing industry connected Ireland directly to American history.
• Interactive Exhibits: The property hosts regular print demonstrations where expert guides display the mechanical movements of multi-ton vintage machines.
• Sensory Play Elements: Hearing the metallic clank of heavy levers, smelling the deep oil and ink variants, and touching the heavy lead letters provides a wonderfully unique sensory experience.

Detailed Highlights

• The John Dunlap Exhibition Area: A dedicated historical display exploring the life of the Strabane apprentice who printed America's Declaration of Independence. Kids will love uncovering how a boy from their local area helped change global history with ink and paper.
• The Columbian Press: A massive, highly ornate 19th-century cast-iron printing machine decorated with a metallic eagle counterweight. Children will be fascinated by its animal designs and the immense physical force required to swing its arms.
• The Albion Press: Another brilliant example of a heavy mechanical iron press inside the operational shop area. Young mechanics can see how levers and springs worked together to print newspapers before electricity existed.
• The Traditional Typesetting Trays: Large wooden drawers filled with thousands of tiny, backwards-facing lead type letters arranged by font style. Kids can try to figure out how hard it was to spell words out backwards one letter at a time.
• The Historic Shopfront: An authentic, original 18th-century commercial facade facing the main street of Strabane. It gives families a direct impression of what going to a local town marketplace felt like hundreds of years ago.

Detailed Inventory & Beyond the Main Attraction

• The 19th-Century Cast-Iron Columbian Press
• The Traditional Counterweighted Albion Press
• The Original 18th-Century Main Street Timber Shopfront
• The Lead Alloy Typesetting Blocks and Trays
• The Dunlap Heritage Document Display
• The Vintage Ink Rollers and Blending Stones
• The Historical Strabane Printing Record Ledgers