Portadown

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Portadown
Scots: Portadoun
Irish: Port an Dúnáin
Portadown (Northern Ireland)
Portadown

Portadown shown within Northern Ireland
Population 30,000 (est)
Irish grid reference J008537
 - Belfast 22 miles
District Craigavon Borough
County County Armagh
Constituent country Northern Ireland
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town CRAIGAVON
Postcode district BT62, BT63
Dialling code 028
Police Northern Ireland
Fire Northern Ireland
Ambulance Northern Ireland
European Parliament Northern Ireland
UK Parliament Upper Bann
Website: www.portadowntown.com
List of places: UK • Northern Ireland • Armagh

Coordinates: 54°25′16″N 6°27′30″W / 54.421027, -6.458244

Portadown (from the Irish: Port an Dúnáin meaning "port of the fortress") is a town in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. It has an estimated population around 30,000 which is roughly three quarters unionist and one quarter nationalist. Portadown is situated on the River Bann, in the north of County Armagh. It is part of the Craigavon Borough Council area.

Portadown has a manufacturing sector that has grown beyond its roots in linen production to include carpet-weaving, baking and engineering. These industries all thrive against a backdrop of the traditional rural economy. For decades it has been the home of the Portadown Festival, which brings in thousands of participants in amateur dance, theatre, music and song.

Although the town can trace its origins to at least the 17th century it was not until the Victorian era, and the arrival of the railway that it became a major town. Portadown is known as "The Hub of the North", the origin of this phrase coming from its central position in Northern Ireland and being a major railway junction in the past, where the Great Northern Railway's line diverged for Belfast, Dublin, Armagh and Derry.

Contents

[edit] History

Portadown was associated with the ancient and powerful local family of McCann who were among the area's earliest settlers. The town was the scene of an infamous massacre during the Irish Rebellion of 1641, when the Catholic insurgents killed around seventy of the Protestant townspeople on the bridge over the River Bann. The construction of the Newry Canal in 1740 and the later development of the railway lines to Belfast and Dublin, put Portadown at the hub of transport routes in Northern Ireland.

There are many companies that have been a part Portadown's history, one being W.D. Irwin & Sons Ltd Irwin's Bakery. Irwin's was established in 1912 by the grandfather (William David Irwin) of the existing joint managing directors, as a grocery retailer. W.D. Irwin's wife and sister-in-law were talented home-bakers, who began to bake cakes and bakery items for the shop. Soon additional bakers were employed to cope with the increasing trade, expanding the bakery out behind the shop. It moved to larger premises at Carn in 1994. The High Street Mall shopping centre currently stands in the place of the old bakery. Today Irwin's bakery is the largest independent bakery in Northern Ireland. Its bakery products are supplied to supermarket chains such as Sainsbury’s, Asda and Tesco, and other grocery chains, right down to small corner shops.

Portadown also boasts a large selection of academia. There are many primary and secondary schools in the area, and the town is home to one of the top Grammar Schools in Northern Ireland, Portadown College, which was opened in 1924.

[edit] The Troubles

  • For more information see The Troubles in Portadown, which includes a list of incidents in Portadown during the Troubles resulting in two or more fatalities.

[edit] Places of interest

With the establishment of the Millennium Court Arts Centre in 2002, the town has become improved since pre-Troubles times.

"Country Comes to Town" is the Flagship festival which takes place in the third week in September since 1998. The future of the festival is uncertain due to funding difficulties. [1]

[edit] People

[edit] Education

[edit] Transport

[edit] Sport

[edit] References

  1. ^ Portadown Times; 18 January 2008 - http://www.portadowntimes.co.uk/news/Groups-join-forces-in-attempt.3685236.jp
  2. ^ Portadown. Railscot - Irish Railways. Retrieved on 2007-08-28.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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Major towns in Northern Ireland
Towns