Cullybackey at the heart of new heritage trail linking Northern Ireland with the ancestral homes of US presidents

Arthur Cottage

Cullybackey is set to take its place on an international heritage trail linking the ancestral homes of American presidents, as Tourism NI unveils a major programme of new visitor experiences designed to attract more overseas visitors to Northern Ireland.

The village is one of four key locations on the new ‘Presidents, Heritage & Homecomings: The Ancestral Cottage Trail’ – a premium two-day guided experience that will connect the homesteads and heritage of US presidents through immersive storytelling, traditional music, local food and drink, living history and authentic community encounters.

Delivered jointly by Mid Ulster District Council and Mid and East Antrim Borough Council, the trail brings together Cullybackey and Carrickfergus with Omagh and Dungannon, celebrating the remarkable stories that connect Northern Ireland with the United States and placing County Antrim firmly on the map for heritage tourism.

The experience forms part of Tourism NI’s new America250 Experience Development Programme, launched this week to coincide with the 250th anniversary of the signing of the United States Declaration of Independence. With American visitors making 186,000 trips to Northern Ireland last year and contributing £54 million to the economy, the initiative aims to strengthen one of the region’s most valuable international tourism markets.

Cullybackey’s place in an international story

The Ancestral Cottage Trail explores the family roots and legacies of US presidents including Chester Arthur, Andrew Jackson and Ulysses S. Grant, inviting visitors to journey through the places where their ancestral stories began before crossing the Atlantic.

Rather than offering a traditional sightseeing tour, the experience has been designed as an immersive journey through Northern Ireland’s shared history with America. Along the way, guests will enjoy heritage sites, local storytelling, traditional music, food and drink experiences and living history, bringing centuries of migration, culture and identity vividly to life.

For Mid and East Antrim, the trail offers a unique opportunity to showcase the area’s internationally significant heritage while encouraging visitors to spend more time discovering the people, places and stories that continue to shape the borough’s identity today.

A nationwide programme celebrating shared heritage

The Ancestral Cottage Trail is one of 14 new visitor experiences created through Tourism NI’s America250 Experience Development Programme, funded by the Department for Communities through its USA-NI250 Scheme.

Earlier this year, Tourism NI challenged the tourism industry to develop authentic, place-based experiences reflecting the historic links between Northern Ireland and America. Successful projects were required to combine historical authenticity, community engagement and creative storytelling while exploring the contributions of Ulster-Scots, Scotch-Irish and Irish people to American history during the late 18th century.

The result is a diverse collection of experiences stretching across Greater Belfast, the North West, Counties Antrim and Down, and Mid Ulster, each offering visitors a different perspective on the people and events that helped shape the United States.

Visitors can research their own family history with genealogy experts, discover the story behind the first printed copies of the Declaration of Independence, enjoy evenings celebrating Irish whiskey, music and dance, learn traditional jewellery-making inspired by Scots-Irish heritage, follow guided heritage walks through landscapes shaped by emigration, revive centuries-old knitting techniques, explore rare farming traditions, and experience the stories of influential figures whose journeys from Ulster helped define a new nation.

Experiences across Northern Ireland

(L-R) Julie Andrews, from Linen Hall Library, John Kelly, from McConnell’s Distillery, Ruth McEwan-Lyon, from NI Silver, Ian Snowden, Permanent Secretary at the Department for the Economy, David Huddleston, Director and Deputy Keeper at the Public Record Office for Northern Ireland (Department for Communities), Liz Steele, Culture and Heritage Tourism Manager at Tourism NI, and Keith Wright, from Foyle Family History Centre, pictured at the launch of Tourism NI’s new America250 visitor experiences

Greater Belfast’s programme includes heritage jewellery-making with NI Silver, genealogy experiences from Foyle Family History Centre, an evening of Irish whiskey and dance at McConnell’s Distillery, the Linen Hall Library’s exploration of the ideas behind American independence, and a Benjamin Franklin-inspired heritage experience centred on The Northern Whig.

In the North West, visitors can experience Moyletra Moileds’ exploration of farming traditions and Atlantic migration, Derrie Danders’ journey following Ulster emigrants to America, the National Trust’s restored Gray’s Printing Press in Strabane, where the remarkable story of Declaration of Independence printer John Dunlap is brought to life, and Knitfield Ireland’s revival of traditional knitting techniques rooted in shared ancestry.

County Down’s new experiences include Montalto Estate’s exploration of the American Revolution and the Rawdon family’s story, alongside Sustainable Journeys Ireland and The Cuan’s immersive Ulster-Scots Heritage Trail beginning in Donaghadee.

Alongside the Ancestral Cottage Trail, Mid Ulster also features Walsh’s Hotel’s experience celebrating Charles Thomson—the Maghera-born Founding Father of America and Secretary to the Continental Congress—and The Migrant’s Walk, a guided heritage walk across the Carntogher landscape exploring his remarkable journey from Ulster to the heart of American history.

A growing opportunity for tourism

The United States remains one of Northern Ireland’s most important overseas tourism markets.

In 2025, US visitors made 186,000 trips to Northern Ireland, spent 638,000 nights in the region and contributed £54 million to the local economy, highlighting the continued value of experiences that celebrate the deep historical ties between the two places.

Economy Minister Dr Caoimhe Archibald said the new programme would help build on those connections.

She said:

“The connections on this island with America run deep. There are centuries of shared history, from the Ulster influence on the Declaration of Independence, to the migration of Ulster-Scots and Irish communities, whose legacy continues to shape America today.

“These connections continue to be a powerful driver for tourism. In 2025, visitors from the US made almost 200,000 trips here contributing £54 million to our economy. This clearly demonstrates both the strength of this market and the opportunity for future growth.”

Communities Minister Gordon Lyons said the initiative would allow both local and international audiences to better understand the longstanding relationship between Northern Ireland and the United States.

He said:

“America250 is a historic milestone, and it is right that both local and international audiences can now find out more about those close links and our common history that continues to bind us together.”

Looking beyond America250

Tourism NI’s Culture and Heritage Tourism Manager, Liz Steele, said the experiences had been developed to encourage visitors to engage more deeply with Northern Ireland’s heritage through authentic and immersive experiences that would remain attractive well beyond the anniversary year.

For Cullybackey, inclusion in the Ancestral Cottage Trail represents more than a new visitor attraction. It places the village at the heart of an international story linking County Antrim with the White House, while creating fresh opportunities to celebrate local heritage, attract overseas visitors and share a remarkable chapter of Northern Ireland’s history with a global audience.

America250 Visitor Experiences

Greater Belfast

• NI Silver – Scots Irish Heritage Jewellery Making

This immersive cultural experience combines heritage, storytelling, craftsmanship and hospitality. As guests create their own piece of jewellery, they discover the powerful Scots-Irish story and the enduring connections between Ulster and America that continue to resonate 250 years later.

• Foyle Family History Centre – Find Your Irish Roots: An Introduction to Genealogy and Family History

Combining storytelling, heritage and discovery, this experience invites visitors to research their family history through hands-on access to professional ancestry tools, migration records and local heritage stories.

• McConnell’s Distillery – Evening of Irish Whiskey and Dance

Celebrating the cultural ties between Ireland and early America, guests enjoy traditional music and dance while discovering the story of McConnell’s Irish Whisky, founded in Belfast in 1776, before raising a glass to the enduring spirit of Irish whiskey-making.

• Linen Hall Library – Founding Freedom: The Linen Hall & the Story Behind America’s Independence

Visitors step inside one of Ireland’s oldest libraries to uncover the fascinating connections between Ulster-Scots heritage, the Enlightenment and the founding of the United States.

• The Northern Whig – Raise a Glass to Revolution: Belfast’s Benjamin Franklin Experience

Guests begin by exploring the Benjamin Franklin Tavern before joining the USA250 Historic Entries Walking Tour, uncovering Belfast’s remarkable connections with Benjamin Franklin and the birth of the United States.

⸻

North West

• Moyletra Moileds – From the Bann Valley: Land, Cattle and Story – Rare Cattle, Shared Traditions and the Atlantic Crossing

This experience explores the landscapes, traditions and people that shaped generations of Ulster families before they crossed the Atlantic in search of a new life. Visitors journey among a herd of rare Irish Moiled cattle while discovering local folklore, farming traditions and the remarkable story of Rev James McGregor and the families who emigrated from nearby Aghadowey.

• Foyle Family History Centre – Find Your Irish Roots: An Introduction to Genealogy and Family History

Visitors are invited to trace their own family history using professional genealogy resources, migration records and local heritage stories through an engaging blend of storytelling and hands-on research.

• Derrie Danders – We The People… The Journey from Derry to America

Beginning in Derry/Londonderry, this guided experience follows the footsteps of Ulster emigrants who departed through the ports of Derry and the wider north-west region, including the Foyle, Roe, Bann and Laggan valleys, revealing their profound influence on the creation and development of the United States.

• National Trust – Gray’s Printing Press – Ink & Independence

Visitors step inside one of Strabane’s hidden heritage gems to uncover the remarkable Ulster-American story behind the printing of the United States Declaration of Independence. This intimate small-group experience explores the beautifully restored Gray’s Printing Press, believed to have links with Strabane-born printer John Dunlap, who produced the first copies of the Declaration in Philadelphia.

• Knitfield Ireland – Rig and Fur: The Lost Stitch Revival

Led by renowned artisan knitting expert Edel MacBride, this experience explores the story of wool, knitting and migration from Ulster to America. Visitors learn traditional knitting techniques that revive long-forgotten stitches and celebrate a shared ancestral heritage.

⸻

County Down

• Montalto Estate – The Rebel and the Redcoat: Montalto Estate’s Scotch-Irish Revolution Journey

Through guided walks, live interpretation and engaging storytelling, visitors discover the links between Ulster emigration, the American Revolution and the Rawdon family of Montalto, whose story intertwines with the birth of the United States.

• Sustainable Journeys Ireland & The Cuan – Ulster-Scots Heritage Trail: The Scots-Irish Story of County Down

Beginning in Donaghadee, this immersive experience takes visitors into the heart of the Scots-Irish story, combining authentic cultural interpretation, spectacular scenery and local cuisine.

⸻

County Antrim & Mid Ulster

• Mid and East Antrim Borough Council & Mid Ulster District Council – Presidents, Heritage & Homecomings: The Ancestral Cottage Trail

This premium two-day guided experience explores the stories that helped shape America through an unforgettable journey across Northern Ireland’s ancestral landscapes. The trail includes visits to Cullybackey and Carrickfergus in County Antrim, together with Dungannon and Omagh in Mid Ulster.

Visitors discover the homesteads and heritage of US presidents including Chester Arthur, Andrew Jackson and Ulysses S. Grant, brought to life through immersive storytelling, traditional music, food and drink experiences, living history and authentic local encounters.

⸻

Mid Ulster

• Walsh’s Hotel – From Upperlands to the New World: Charles Thomson’s Table

This heritage dining experience traces the life of Charles Thomson, the Maghera-born Founding Father of America and Secretary to the Continental Congress, following his journey from Upperlands to Philadelphia.

The experience includes an introduction to the Mid Ulster landscape, Thomson’s family story, the wider history of Ulster-Scots and Irish emigration to America, together with a centrepiece dinner and storytelling.

• The Migrant’s Walk – From Carntogher to Congress

Led by expert guide Cathy O’Neill, visitors take part in a guided heritage walk through the spectacular landscape of Carntogher Mountain in the heart of the Sperrin Mountains.

Along the route, walkers uncover the remarkable story of Charles Thomson, whose journey from Maghera to America saw him become one of the key figures in the American Revolution and the founding of the United States.