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Estimated
population, 10,000 in 1888.
Portadown is
pleasantly situated on the Bann, 87 and one quarter miles north by west
from Dublin, 25 miles south by west from Belfast, 10 and a half miles
north-east from Armagh, and 5 miles south-west from Lurgan.
It is an important junction in the system of the Great Northern
Railway, embracing the counties of Armagh, Antrim, Down, Monaghan and
Tyrone, and at the chief port on the canal between Newry and Lough Neagh.
The ground rises high enough at both sides of the river to afford
a great many beautiful sites for villas, and the wealthy residents, in
recent years, have taken advantage of them to such an extent, as to
greatly enrich the picturesque features of the outskirts.
From the
manufacturing point of view Portadown comes next to Lurgan.
In its weaving and hem-stitching factories, and spinning mils,
employment is given to over 3,000 people, and it is the centre of a
district in which there are upward of 2,500 cottage-weavers.
As a market for general produce it ranks with the foremost towns
in the North of Ireland. The
great market is held every Saturday, and although several inclosed
places are specially provided for conducting transactions incident to
sale and purchase, there is an overflow of odds-and-ends that has a
fascination for the country people, the effect of which is quite
amusing. A prominent figure
in the overflow is the vendor of second-hand clothing.
In style, manner and get-up he is intensely dramatic, and with
every article offered, goes through a form sustained by speech and
gesture to a most artistic climax.
Travelling shooting-galleries, shows on wheels, dancing maidens,
and venerable acrobats, in a modest way, second the efforts of the
clothing artist. The
warehouse windows, and the side-walks in front, on such occasions are
dressed in bright colours. Indeed,
nothing seems to be left undone in order to make the day one of genuine
pleasure as well as of business.
The residents of
Portadown have considerable taste.
This fact soon becomes manifest to the stranger in going through
the streets. Most of the
building are well constructed and sightly, and the places of worship, in
architectural outlines and internal decoration, are very much above the
average. Societies for
mental and physical culture exist in proportion to the requirements of
the population, and there is a public park, purchased and laid out by
subscription, in which the people are familiarized with the beauties of
nature.
In every
direction from Portadown the formation of the country is favourable to
agriculturaloperation. The land is generally good.
Potatoes, oats and flax are the principal crops.
Dairying is not carried on as largely as it was ten years ago,
but it still receives attention. A great many of the farmers find fruit-growing a valuable aid
to income. Apple-orchards
are abundant, especially toward the west, facing Loughgall.
In the season it is not uncommon to find 200 loads of apples on
one Saturday in Portadown.
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BEFORE
AND SINCE
THE ENGLISH
CONNECTION.
Before the power
of England became supreme in the County Armagh, the district of
Portadown was in possession of the McCanns.
They were subordinate to the O’Neills and had a stronghold
which commanded the passage of the Bann, and gave name to the place,
Port-ne-dun, port of the dun or fortress. In those days the wealth of chieftains was measured by the
number of cattle in their herds. Payments
of consequence, such as tribute to the kings, ransomes, etc., were made
in cattle. Cattle were also
used as a means of barter. The
country of the M’Canns was well adapted for grazing purposes, and no
doubt was largely used in this way.
At the time of the Plantation of Ulster, 1609, James 1, granted
an extensive “portion” of land here to William Powell.
In 1625 this was confirmed to Prudence Obins and John Obins.
They formed a settlement with 14 English families, and built a
fine mansion in the Elizabethan style, with turreted corners.
It was called a castle and its chief approach was by way of the
thoroughfare now known as Castle Street.
The People’s Park was a part of the demesne, and the nursery of
Messrs. Samuel McGredy & Son, Woodside, was the site of at least a
portion of the mansion. A
few years ago, during the progress of an excavation in the grounds
devoted to rose cultivation, a vaulted passage was discovered. It runs into the People’s Park, and is 6 feet high and 4
feet wide. A few green oaks
mark the parts known as the Castle Gardens.
One at the gate entering the Park, a short distance below the
nursery, is in a wonderful state of preservation, and really worth
seeing, especially by those interested in arboriculture.
The Yeomanry Barrack stood at the opposite side of the road from
the nursery, now the residence of Mr.Seth Robb.
During the war of
1641, directed by the Confederate Parliament at Kilkenny, terrible
scenes were enacted at Portadown Bridge.
Captives taken by Sir Phelim O’Neill were brought from various
parts of the country, and drowned in the river, those escaping the water
being killed as they reached the shore.
After Col. Owen Roe O’Neill had assumed command of the
“Catholic Army of the North,” he took prompt measures to put a stop
to the horrors which had been sanctioned by his predecessor.
Imprisoned families were released, and the strife conducted more
in accordance with ideas of chivalry.
At the trial of Sir Phelim in Dublin, 1652, a supernatural
element was introduced. One
of the witnesses, wife of Captain Price, testified that she was present
at Portadown Bridge, when the form of a woman rose out of the water, and
cried, “Revenge, revenge, revenge”.
Col. Owen Roe O’Neill was also here, and by his directions a
Catholic priest questioned the apparation in English and Latin without
eliciting a reply. A
Protestant clergyman from the English army, specially sent for,
addressed it on another occasion, and the words, “Revenge, revenge,
revenge”, were repeated. It was said that for some time the heads and forms of men and
women were frequently seen at the same place.
The trial ended ing the conviction of Sir Phelim O’Neill, and
he was put to death.
Portadown is
owned by the Duke of Manchester. From
the time of the Obins settlement progress was slow until the
introduction of the linen industry at the beginning of the century.
In 1819 the population numbered 900.
In 1831 it had increased to 1,591 and in 1881 to 7,850
At present it cannot be far from 10,000.
Portadown is a district parish, and was confined to the barony of
O’Neilland West, on the western side of the Bann, until 1840.
Its boundary was
then extended to the parish of Seagoe.
The principal thoroughfare of the town is united to Edenderry by
a fine stone bridge. A few
of the factories, the gas works, railway station, and many of the
handsome private residences are on the same side.
Soon after the passing of the Act to provide for the lighting,
cleansing, and watching of town, 1829, Portadown took advantage of it.
The inhabitants lost no time in petitioning the Lord Lieutenant
to be brought within the scope of the Towns Improvement Act of 1854.
On the 8th January, 1885, the Commissioners elected
under it held their first meeting.
They were : John Obins Woodhouse, chairman, Thomas Averell
Shillington, William Langtry, William Paul, Thomas Harden Carlton, John
Wilson, David Thornton, David Wilson Irwin, John Watson, John James
Marley, James O’Hanlon, William Montgomery, David Ferguson, and
William John Dawson. Of the
entire number three only survive ;
Messrs. James O’Hanlon, David Thornton, and William Montgomery.
No change has been made in the town boundary since 1840.
It includes the whole townland of Tavanagh, Corcrain, from
Tavanagh and Clounagh to Pound Lane, thence to a point next to Corcrain
Bridge, to the Dungannon Road,
the Ballybay River, to the drain passing under Castle Island Bridge,
continuing by the drain across the Bann, taking in Edenderry to the
Lurgan Road, “and by the ditch outside Mr. Carlton’s garden to the
bogs, and from the end of said ditch, in a straight line, to the River
Bann, at the point where the mearing between Edenderry and Levaghery
meets at the river.” This
year, 1888 the Local Government Board has been asked to sanction a
further extension of the boundary from “Lurgan Road to Seagoe Turns,
and from Quarry’s Turns to end of Quarry’s property on Killicomain
Road, and from Annagh Bridge, on Tandragee Road, to south end of James
Totten’s property on same road”.
This would bring in that portion of the townland of Edenderry not
included in the boundary of 1840, and the whole townland of Annagh.
The object is to get jurisdiction over a district in which new
villas and other dwellings have been erected, so that the occupiers, by
contributing to the taxes levied by the Commissioners, may share in the
benefits of public lighting, cleansing and sewerage.
The town was brought under the provisions of the Sanitary Act of
1874, and continued under the Amended Act of 1878.
In 1857 the valuation of property within the boundary was £5,210.10s.
and the rate for general purposes 1s. in the £.
In 1862 the valuation was £7,066.5s. and the general purposes
rate 1s. The progress
of the town between 1862 and 1870 is marked by an increase in the
valuation to £14,163.15s., more than double, while the rate for general
purposes continued the same.
In 1876 the valuation was £15,162.5s., and the rate for general
purposes that year was only 11d. in the £.
The valuation in 1886 was £17,510.15s., and the rate for general
purposes 1s. In 1887 the
valuation was £17,679.10s., and the rate for general purposes is 1s.
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