At 10:30 a.m. on Sunday, March 9, with a Celtic cross above their altar, local Presbyterians will open Tyrone’s second Irish Heritage Week with a morning worship service that will include a message and music by Reverend Norman Huff, a soprano solo by Deborah Huff Estright, a Saint Patrick’s anthem by the church choir, and a humorous Irish keyboard voluntary by church organist Richard Merryman.
The members of the First Presbyterian Church consider it an honor to help the citizens of Tyrone celebrate their Irish heritage. As they assist in this community heritage event, local Presbyterians recall the commentary of blind Tyrone teacher and preacher Ralph Wolfgang, who offered this insight about Tyrone’s Irish heritage in his 1950 History of the Town: “Tyrone is the fourth name by which this place was known. First, Tyrone was called Eagleville, no doubt because of the creek. Second, it was named Shorbsville, because its land belonged to the Lyon and Shorb Iron Company. Third, the town adopted the name of Tyrone City in 1853, when the population numbered about 500 folks. In 1857, citizens sent a name petition to court and requested that their growing village be called Tyrone.”
Actually, Tyrone derives from a county in Northern Ireland called Land of Owen. Eventually, Tyrowen evolved to become Tyrone. Why not join Presbyterians on March 9 to celebrate this blessed heritage?
