Notable Inhabitants
- Tyrone GAA Eoin Mulligan who won three All Irelands with Tyrone in 2003, 2005 and 2008 is from the town.
- Fulham F.C. and Northern Ireland central defender and captain Aaron Hughes.
- Birthplace of Ulster Vanguard founder William Craig.
- Birthplace of Republican political activist Bernadette Devlin, who was raised in a small housing estate called Rathbeg (meaning small fort in Gaelic), one of the leaders of 1960s civil rights movement and the youngest woman ever to be elected to the British parliament (aged 21).
- Birthplace of Major-General Sir Richard Havelock Charles, 1st Baronet (1858–1934), doctor, and Serjeant Surgeon to King George V.
- Home to comedians Owen O'Neill and Jimmy Cricket.
- Oliver Sheppard, sculptor was born in Cookstown in 1865. His The "Death of Cuchalain" piece was chosen by De Valera as the national memorial to participants of the 1916 Rising and now resides in Dublin General Post Office.
- Jonathan Swift stayed at Loughry Manor as a guest of the Lindsay family while writing Gulliver's Travels (published in 1726).
- Birthplace of Mary Mallon, aka Typhoid Mary.
- Nick Laird, poet and novelist.
- The Cookstown Drama Group won the confined section of the All Ireland One Act Drama Finals in Clonakilty, County Cork on 2 December 2007 with their production of Ruby of Elsinore by Bruce Kane. It was directed by Nigel O'Neill and starred Lorraine Creighton, Linda Heenan, Mairead Eastwood, Gerry Eastwood, Sean Hurson and Charlie Eastwood. This is the first group from Northern Ireland to win the Finals.
Read more about this topic: Cookstown
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