10/09/2026
Why Tullysaran Needs Its Own Tapestry
With the arrival of the famous Bayeux Tapestry in the news, I have been reflecting on an obvious omission from European cultural history: Tullysaran has never had a tapestry of its own.
This is clearly an oversight.
The Bayeux Tapestry records the Norman Conquest of England in the eleventh century. The Tullysaran Tapestry, by contrast, records the considerably more important story of our own little corner of County Armagh.
And, frankly, we have plenty to put in it.
There is our beautiful church, our rolling drumlins, the Blackwater River, the old graveyards and chapel sites, Benburb Priory, O’Neill’s Castle and the Battle of Benburb. There are generations of schoolchildren, teachers who raised aspirations, emigrants who crossed the Atlantic, families who stayed, families who returned, and neighbours who quietly looked after one another.
There is Tullysaran O’Connell’s GAC, the volunteers who give their time, the young people who bring such life to the parish, and the remarkable contribution of women to the club’s leadership. There is the Liberator Cycle, raising money for the club and Air Ambulance Northern Ireland.
There is even the donkey that appeared at our house every Christmas.
The Bayeux Tapestry has kings, battles, ships and horses.
We have all that too, more or less.
What we lack in Norman cavalry we make up for in GAA jerseys. What we lack in medieval conquest we compensate for with apple trees, hawthorn blossom, robins, Armagh apple tart and whatever happens to be being poured in the Bottle in Benburb.
And so, as the Bayeux Tapestry arrives to remind us of the grand events of history, the Tullysaran Tapestry makes a slightly different argument: history isn’t only made by kings and armies. It is made by ordinary people, in ordinary places, over generations.
Perhaps that’s why I like our imaginary tapestry.
It tells the story of a place that isn’t famous, doesn’t seek to be famous, and yet has given generations of people a sense of belonging.
The Bayeux Tapestry tells us about a conquest.
The Tullysaran Tapestry tells us about a community.
And if ours isn’t quite as historically significant, at least our soundtrack will probably be better.
Tullysaran: small enough to know everyone, proud enough to have a tapestry.
