Newry

Encyclopedia : N : NE : NEW : Newry

For other uses, see Newry (disambiguation)}}}.

Marcus Square, Newry

Catholic Cathedral of St. Patrick and St. Colman, Newry

Saint Patrick's Anglican Church, Newry

A view over Newry, from near the city centre

Newry (Irish: Iúr Chinn Trá or An tIúr, ie the yew tree) is the fourth largest city in Northern Ireland, and ninth in all-Ireland. Half of it is situated in County Armagh and the other half in County Down. It is about 60 km (37 miles) from Belfast and 108 km (67 miles) from Dublin. It had a population of 27,433 people in the 2001 Census, (currently estimated at [27,849]). It was founded in 1144 alongside a Cistercian monastery and is one of Northern Ireland’s oldest towns. It sits at the entry to the Gap of the North, close to the border with the Republic of Ireland. It grew as a market town and a garrison and became a port in 1742 when it was linked to Lough Neagh by the first summit-level canal in the British Isles. In March 2002, as part of Queen Elizabeth's Golden Jubilee celebrations, Newry was granted city status alongside Lisburn ([BBC report]). However, despite being the fourth largest city in Northern Ireland, it is not the largest settlement, as some towns are larger.

Notable buildings in the city include Newry Catholic Cathedral of St. Patrick and St. Colman and Newry Town Hall. The town hall is notable as it is built over the River Clanrye that is the boundary between the counties of Down and Armagh. The building of a city hall is also planned as part of the celebrations of the granting of city status. The city also boasts a museum and an arts centre. Newry has a reputation as one of the best provincial shopping towns in Ireland and also has two of the oldest churches in Ireland. One of these is St. Patrick's (Anglican, 1578), Ireland's first Protestant church. This is now thought to be Ireland's second protestant church because it was rebuilt at a later date.

Contents

1 Administration
2 History
3 People
4 Geography
5 Sport
6 Transport
7 2001 Census
8 Education
9
10 References
11 External links
12 See also

Administration

The headquarters of Newry and Mourne District Council are in Newry. The area has a majority nationalist population, leading to a council dominated by Sinn Féin and the Social Democratic and Labour Party, but there are some Ulster Unionist and DUP councillors and one councillor from the Green Party.

History

The name of the city comes from the original Irish Iúr Chinn Trá (in older spelling, Iubhar Chinn Trábha), which translates as "the yew at the head of the strand", which relates to an apocryphal story that Saint Patrick planted a yew tree there in the 5th century. In modern Irish the full name of the town is rarely used; instead it is abbreviated to An tIúr.

The town was established in 1144 with the building of a monastry, although there is strong evidence of continual human habitation in the area for several millenia. The monastry only lasted until 1162, when it was burned to the gound, and later replaced by a cistercian monastry. This monastry itself was later converted to a collegiate church in 1543, before being surrended to the crown in 1548.

Sir Nicholas Bagenal, Marshal of the Army in Ireland, took over the site around 1550, later building a castle there. The remains of the original cistercian monastry were still standing when Bagenal acquired the land and may well have housed the college. The site was said to consist of a 'church, steeple, and cemetery, chapter- house, dormitory and hall, two orchards and one garden, containing one acre, within the precincts of the college'. The remains of Bagenal's Castle can be found today on Castle Street, near to the LIDL store, on what was once the site of McCann's Bakery.

A rental roll dated 1575, provides a unique insight into life in the town at the time. It listed the names of the tenants in 'The High Street', 'Tenements within the Fort' and The Irish Street without the Fort'. These 3 distinct areas also appear in a map of the same time, along with a drawing of the castle.

During the Williamite War, the forces of King James II set fire to the town in 1689, while retreating from William. It is said that only six houses and the castle survived the inferno.

The town was rebuilt shortly afterwards, and its fortunes changed dramatically. Within decades it had the busiest port in Ulster and in 1742, had the first summit level canal in the British Isles. This led to a further period of economic prosperity, evidence of which can be seen in the many fine buildings and public places that can still be seen today.

People

John Mitchel, a 19th century Irish patriot who inspired the Young Ireland Movement, is buried in the Old Meeting House cemetery in the town.

Pat Jennings, a former goalkeeper and most capped player for Northern Ireland, was born in the town.

Actor John and his actress sister Susan Lynch, were both born in Newry.

Gaelic footballer, Seán O'Neill, regarded as one of the outstanding forwards in the game, was born in Newry.

John Dunlop, prominent Presbyterian churchman, was born in Newry in 1939.

Actor Gerard Murphy lived in Newry, and was a prominent member of the Newpoint Players theatre group.

Geography

Newry lies in the most south-eastern part of both Ulster and Northern Ireland. Approximately half of the city lies in County Down and the other half in County Armagh.

The city sits in a valley, nestled between the Mourne Mountains to the east, and the ring of gullion to the south-west, both of which are designated Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The clanrye river runs through the centre of town, parallel to the canal, forming part of the border between County Down and County Armagh. The city also lies at the extreme northernmost end of Carlingford Lough, where the canal enters the sea.

Sport

Newry is home to Newry City F.C., who play in the Irish Premier League at their showgrounds stadium.

Down GAA club play their home games at Páirc Esler in the city.

Transport

The Newry Canal opened in 1742, and was the first major commercial canal in Britain and Ireland. It ran for 18 miles to Lough Neagh. In 1777 Newry was ranked the 4th largest port in Ireland. Some surviving 18th and 19th century warehouses still line the canal, and now many houses, shops and restaurants.

MacNeill's Egyptian Arch is a railway bridge located near Newry. It was selected for the design of the British One Pound coin to represent Northern Ireland for 2006.

Newry is served by an Ulsterbus bus station, located in the city centre, that offers local, regional and cross-border services.

A Northern Ireland Railways station, just off the camlough road, offers cross border services on the Dublin-Belfast line. Planning permission for the construction of a new station, to the east of the current station, was granted in May 2006.

2001 Census

Newry city is classified as a Large Town by the [NI Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA)] (ie with population between 18,000 and 75,000 people). On Census day (29 April 2001) there were 27,433 people living in Newry. Of these:

26.2% were aged under 16 years and 16.0% were aged 60 and over
48.5% of the population were male and 51.6% were female;
89.6% were from a Catholic background and 9.4% were from a Protestant background
5.5% of people aged 16-74 were unemployed.

For more details see: [NI Neighbourhood Information Service]

Education

22 August 1972 - Oliver Rowntree (22), Noel Madden (18) and Patrick Hughes (35) Catholic members of the Provisional Irish Republican Army and Francis Quinn (28), Patrick Murphy (45), Michael Gilleece (32), Joseph Fegan (28) and John McCann (60), Catholic civilians and Craig Lawrence (33) Protestant civilian, were killed in a premature bomb explosion at the Customs Office, Newry.