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• ULSTER AMERICAN
  FOLK PARK

CASTLETOWN, OMAGH, COUNTY TYRONE BT78 5QY, NORTHERN IRELAND, TEL +44 (0)28 8224 3292

• ABOUT US
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• COLLECTIONS
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      • A Scarlet Volunteer Tunic Of The 1780s
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      • Western Pennsylvania Log House
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    • Home Life
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      • Oil Lamps
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    • Military
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      • Civil War New York Militia Kepie
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• TOURS
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    (Tour)
• INTERACTIVE MAP
• CORPORATE & COMMERCIAL
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• FRIENDS
• RESIDENTIAL
• CENTRE FOR MIGRATION STUDIES
• CHILDREN'S CORNER
  • Childrens Art
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  • Emigrant Stories
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    • Robert Campbell
      (Emigrant Stories)
    • Thomas Parke
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    • Bernardo OHiggins
      (Emigrant Stories)
    • Maureen OHara
      (Emigrant Stories)
    • William Mulvany
      (Emigrant Stories)
    • John Mullanphy
      (Emigrant Stories)
    • John King
      (Emigrant Stories)
    • Samuel Fulton
      (Emigrant Stories)
    • Henry Ford
      (Emigrant Stories)
    • John Field
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    • John Dunlap
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    • Davy Crockett
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    • Nellie Cashman
      (Emigrant Stories)
    • Margaret Cousins
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    • John Askin
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    • Anne Bonney
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    • Ernest Shackleton
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    • Robert Campbell's Home
      (Tour)
  • Colour & Do
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  • Robert Campbell's Home
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• CONTACT US
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• ULSTER AMERICAN FOLK PARK HOME
• NATIONAL MUSEUMS HOME

Oil Lamps

Whaling was a major source of income in the North Eastern America from the late 1700’s to the 1860’s, and whale oil lamps were widely produced from the early 1800’s. Whale oil was usually obtained from the blubber of the Greenland right whale. The more expensive sperm oil, used mostly in public halls and on naval vessels, was extracted from the head of the sperm whale. Petroleum, oil occurring in sedimentary rocks, was discovered in large quantities in Pennsylvania in the late 1850’s. Separated from crude oil by distillation, paraffin, also known as kerosene, became the favoured fuel for lighting.

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