Murray's Shop , Moy, Co Tyrone
/Collections/Buildings/uafp_commerce_and_trading_original-shopfronts_murr)
In 1880, William Murray was listed in a trades directory as a woollen draper and grocer in Moy. By the time of the 1901 Census, he was living in Killyman Street with his wife Louisa and their children. The substantial house was able to accommodate William, Louisa, their eight children, a Methodist minister lodger and a servant.
The ground floor rooms to the left of the house were converted into a drapery and grocery shop. Around 1931, daughters Emily and Florrie took over the business. Florrie married Frank Graham and ran the shop until at least 1979.
In 1985 the original shopfront was carefully dismantled and restored before being rebuilt at the Ulster American Folk Park. The original side door and upstairs windows were saved and restored before being employed in the museum’s Ulster Street exhibition. Careful attention to original detail includes the laying of a chequered caledonia tile floor, and red paintwork.
Research into the history of the shop, with help from the current owners of the former Murray’s premises on Killyman Street, and local residents of Moy, will faithfully recreate the atmosphere of Murray’s drapery and grocery shop at the start of the 1920s.
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