History And Heritage

Lurgan

(An Lorgain, meaning "the long low ridge of land" in Irish), is a town in County Armagh, Northern Ireland with a population of approximately 42,000. Lurgan is situated in the Craigavon Borough Council area, to the south of Lough Neagh in the centre of Northern Ireland. The town is approximately 19 miles (30km) southwest of Belfast and is linked by both the M1 motorway and a railway line to Belfast.

The town has a large wooded park and lake, which is overlooked by Brownlow House, Lurgan's most noted architectural feature. The park is home to annual summer events such as the Lurgan Agricultural Show, a car rally and a stage in the Circuit of Ireland Rally.

Earlier names of Lurgan include "Lorgain Chlann Bhreasail" (Lurgan of Clanbrassil), "Lorgain Bhaile Mhic Cana" (Long low ridge of McCann's townland - Lurgan Bally McCann) and Lurgivallivacket (the long hill of the McCann's place). The McCann sept (clan) were Lords of Clanbrassil, prior to the Plantation of Ulster period in the early 17th century. The McCann’s were septs of the O'Neills.

It became established as a market town in the 17th Century following the arrival of the Brownlow family whose descendants still maintain links with the area. It was, however, linen which gave the impetus to the town's economic development and expansion in the 17th and 18th centuries. As long ago as 1682 it was said that in and around Lurgan there was carried on the "greatest linen manufacture in Ireland".

While linen is still woven in the town and surrounding area the linen industry declined in the mid 19th century. This led to the creation of jobs in other sectors and in other branches of the textile industry.

The urban form of the present towns owes much to development during the 18th Century when its linear main street was laid out along an undulating ridge and flanked with long narrow plots, with the buildings fronting the street. The present character of the town centre, running northwest to south-east form William Street to Queen Street, is provided by the buildings on Market Street and High Street, whose facades define a central space, with visual stops provided at either end of the route by Christ Church at the northern end and the Methodist Church to the south.

The fabric of this central spine presents a coherent visual narrative. Buildings are generally traditional in style, being Victorian or earlier in date and usually of two or three storeys. The majority of the upper storeys retain their traditional pattern. A distinctive element of the town centre's character is the presence of courtyards, located off Market Street and High Street, accessed by gateways, through the main facade, at frequent intervals. Some of the buildings are listed whilst some of the unlisted buildings have local significance. However all combine to provide a satisfying sense of place and focus for the town.

John and William Brownlow

Any survey of Lurgan must surely be dominated by two important factors - the arrival of John and William Brownlow and the rise of the linen industry.

It was in the early years of the 17th century that John Brownlow of Nottingham volunteered to become an undertaker in Ulster and he and William Brownlow were granted 1,500 and 1,000 acres respectively in the Barony of O'Neilland which they were bound to defend and settle.

By 1622 William Brownlow had built a three storey stone castle and bawn, together with a village comprising forty houses. The destruction of the original village during the unrest of the 17th means that its precise location and form are not known. Some relationship to the present area of Brownlow House and the town centre may however be assumed and it is likely to have been sited in the area between modern North Street and Windsor Avenue.

To the Brownlow family - raised to the dignity of an Earldom in 1839 for service to the Whig Party - is owed Lurgan's most outstanding piece of architecture - Brownlow House.

The imposing pile was erected in 1839 and had its architect, W.H. Playfair (born in 1783). His other best remaining works are the splendid buildings which adorn Edinburgh.

Brownlow House, which replaced an earlier structure, was occupied by the Brownlow family up to about 100 years ago when it was acquired by the Imperial Grand Black Chapter of the British Commonwealth as a Headquarters.

The Right Honourable William Brownlow represented County Armagh in Parliament from 1753 to 1794 and other members of the family were prominent in the life of the town and county over several generations. Perhaps the one best remembered was the second earl who bought from Dungarvan in County Waterford a greyhound which achieved undying fame by winning the Waterloo Cup in 1868, 1870 and 1871, and by being paraded before Queen Victoria.

A popular ballad, Master Mc Grath, telling the epic story of this magnificent racing dog, is still sung.

Lord Lurgan presented the Borough Council with a very fine piece of jewellery in the Mayoral Chain and gave permission for the Mayors of Craigavon to wear this chain for official duties.

The Linen Industry

If the Brownlow family were the family who set Lurgan on its onward course in the 17th century, it was linen which was the fabric to give the town its next important boost in economic development and expansion. As long ago as 1682 it was said that in and about Lurgan there was carried on the greatest linen manufacture in Ireland. This owed much to the skill of its craftsmen, the enterprise of its bleachers and linen-drapers (the most prominent of whom were Quakers - John and Thomas Turner, Henry and John Greer, Robert and John Hoope, and James Bradshaw) and the support of the Brownlow family.

Linen was sold in the open market before the building of the Linen Hall (a structure which was demolished in 1865, having outlived its usefulness) and it is still woven in the town and surrounding area, though on a much reduced scale. But the vacuum this has caused has been more than filled by the creation of other jobs in other branches of the textile industry and in other forms of output.

Following Local Government reorganisation in 1973 Lurgan, together with the neighbouring town of Portadown, was incorporated into the New Town Borough of Craigavon. Due to a general economic decline in the UK in the mid 1970s, and to a reduction in financial assistance from local Government, the New Town concept did not achieve the success envisaged.