Belleeks

Belleeks
Irish: *Béal Leice*
Belleeks Irish: Béal Leice;
	Belleeks Post Office
	Belleeks Location within Northern Ireland
Population	375 (2011)
Irish grid reference	H987272
District	Newry, Mourne and Down;
County	County Armagh;
Country	Northern Ireland
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	NEWRY
Postcode district	BT35
Dialling code	028
UK Parliament	Newry & Armagh;
NI Assembly	Newry & Armagh;
	List of places UK Northern Ireland Armagh 54°10′00″N 6°29′00″W / 54.1667°N 6.483333°W

Belleeks (from

2011 Census it had a reported population of 375.^[2] It lies within the Newry, Mourne and Down District Council area and the historic barony

of Upper Fews.

Location

Belleeks lies between the villages of

A25 between the Newtownhamilton and Newry. The nearest large town is Newry, approximately 7 miles to the east and Whitecross is the nearest settlement approximately 2 miles to the north. Belleeks lies in the townland

of Belleeks Lower.

Demography

At the time of the 2001 census, returns for the Belleeks-Blackrock-Tullyah electoral area,[3] reported that:

26.0% were under 16 years old and 12.6% were aged 60 and above;
The average age of a resident of the village was 30.8 years old;
46.3% of the population were male and 53.7% were female;
95.5% were from a
Catholic
Community Background;
4.5% were from a
Protestant
or 'Other Christian' community background;
13.7% had
degree
level or higher qualifications
56.5% were economically active, 43.5% were economically inactive;
6.7% were
unemployed
, of these 42.9% were long-term unemployed;
68.3 stated reported their health was 'good';
3.22 was the average family size;
81.8% of households reported they had access to a private motor vehicle;
75.9% of homes were owner occupied and 25.5% of all homes were owned outright.^[4]

Features and economy

Saint Laurence O'Toole's

local authority

housing developments since the 1970s.

Most residents work away from the village. The largest local industry remaining is agriculture. Belleeks is served by the number 44 Ulsterbus service from Newry to Newtownhamilton a number of times daily as well as the number 40 service between Newry and Whitecross.

Education

There are two primary schools in or near the village; St. Brigid's Primary School and St. Laurence O'Toole's Primary School. Secondary schooling of residents takes place primarily at St. Paul's High School in Bessbrook, or else in Newtownhamilton or Newry.

Sport

Belleeks has a Gaelic Athletic Club, Laurence O'Toole's (Cumann Lorcáin Uí Thuathail), which competes in underage and senior men's and ladies' football as well Scor and other Armagh GAA competitions. The clubhouse is in Shaughan in the townland of Belleeks Upper.

History

Early history

The area in which Belleeks is situated has been populated for many thousands of years but contains less in terms of easily discernible pre-historic remains than is widely evident in other parts of south County Armagh. What was to become the village of Belleeks was once the site of a

Irish Land Acts, the Earls of Gosford retained a large Deerpark on the outskirts of the village, whose impressive 18th century walls still bound the settlement to the east.^[5]

Pre-20th Century

By the early 19th century, a hamlet had developed at Belleeks along the Newtownhamilton-Newry road which branches off to Whitecross at Belleeks, Indeed, in February 1767 Sir Archibald Acheson was granted a patent to hold fairs in the village on the 3rd days of February, May, August and November every year, all bar which the February fair survived up until 1852.^[6]

Census returns for the period between 1841 and 1851, during which the Famine occurred show a decrease in population of the village and surrounding area greater than one quarter of population in the ten-year period due to death and emigration.^[7] During the 19th century, however, the settlement acted as the commercial centre for the surrounding region, with residents of outlying districts and nearby villages bringing butter, cheese, and other produce to Belleeks for sales and export to Belfast, and beyond.

The Troubles 1969-1998

For more information on

The Troubles in Belleeks (Armagh)

, which includes a list of incidents in Belleeks during the Troubles resulting in two or more fatalities.

References

^ Placenames NI Archived May 26, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
^ See Census 2011 - Headcount and Household Estimates for Settlements published by the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency, available at http://www.nisra.gov.uk/census/2011/results/settlements.html
^ Output Area 95VV060002
^ "Census Returns for Belleeks-Blackrock-Tullyah". Northern Ireland Neighbourhood Information Service. Retrieved 8 August 2008.
^ Mulligan, K. The Buildings of Ireland: South Ulster Yale University Press, 2005, p. 191
^ Crawford, W.H., Evolution of Towns in County Armagh, in Hughes, A.J. & Nolan, W. (2001): Armagh - History & Society Geography Publications, Dublin, p. 861
^ Grant, J., Some Aspects of the Great Famine in County Armagh, in Hughes, A.J. & Nolan, W. (2001): Armagh - History & Society Geography Publications, Dublin, p.840