Dromore, United Kingdom

The town and cathedral were wholly destroyed during the Irish Rebellion of 1641, and the present cathedral was built by Bishop Jeremy Taylor in 1661, who is buried there. Also buried in the cathedral is Thomas Percy, another famous bishop of the diocese, who laid out the fine grounds of the palace. A monument to Thomas Percy stands in the Town Park.

The population at the time of the 1841 census was 2,110 inhabitants.

Jacobites under command of Richard Hamilton, and rival Williamites fought a battle here on 14 March 1689. The battle took place about a mile out of the town on the Milebush Road and was known as the Break of Dromore. The Jacobites routed the Williamites and they fled in disorder, leaving 400 dead. After this Break of Dromore the Jacobites did not meet any resistance while advancing northwards and occupying Belfast.

Dromore had its own railway station from 1863 to 1956. The Banbridge, Lisburn and Belfast Junction Railway (BLB) through Dromore opened in 1863. Its line was a branch that joined the Ulster Railway main line Knockmore Junction, giving Dromore a direct link to Lisburn and Belfast Great Victoria Street. In 1876 the Ulster Railway became part of the new Great Northern Railway, which took over the BLB company in 1877. In 1953 the railway was nationalised as the GNR Board, which closed the line through Dromore on 29 April 1956.

On 23 July 1920, sectarian motivated riots occurred in Dromore. An estimated crowd of 500 attacked Catholic homes, businesses and the Catholic parochial house. During the rioting, one member of the Orange Order was shot dead, it was determined that the bullet had been fired by the police.

7 April 1976 – William Herron (64), Elizabeth Herron (58) and their daughter, Noleen Herron (26), all Protestant civilians, were killed during a Provisional Irish Republican Army incendiary bomb attack on their drapery shop on Market Square, Dromore. They lived in the flat above the shop.

6 July 1988 – Terence Delaney (31), a Catholic civilian, was shot dead by the Ulster Freedom Fighters, a cover name used by the Ulster Defence Association, while waiting for a lift to work.

The Dromore Town Centre Development Plan, published in July 2003, outlined that of the 190 units within Dromore Town Centre, over one quarter were vacant. This is in spite of recent population growth in the town; a result of the proximity to the A1 road and resultant commuting access to Greater Belfast.

The green-field development in recent years has mostly been around the edges of the town, and the doughnut effect has led to these houses being disconnected from the town centre. The population of Dromore tends to travel to nearby Banbridge or Sprucefield to shop, which has caused the high levels of obvious dereliction however more local shops are opening thus the number of people travelling beyond the town to shop is decreasing.

The plan highlights the under use of the River Lagan as a resource in the town, as well as the poorly used public space around Dromore Town Hall in the Market Square. The square's 18th Century layout is protected, however it is identified as a traffic problem, which is exacerbated by poor parking provision and enforcement of parking restrictions. In 2008, some of the buildings in the Market Square were cleared to facilitate the construction of leisure space.