Richhill is a large village and

townland A townland ( ga, baile fearainn; Ulster-Scots: ''toonlann'') is a small geographical division of land, historically and currently used in Ireland and in the Western Isles in Scotland, typically covering . The townland system is of Gaelic origi ...

County Armagh County Armagh (, named after its county town, Armagh) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. Adjoined to the southern shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of and ha ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

. It lies between

Armagh Armagh ( ; ga, Ard Mhacha, , "Macha's height") is the county town of County Armagh and a city in Northern Ireland, as well as a civil parish. It is the ecclesiastical capital of Ireland – the seat of the Archbishops of Armagh, the Pri ...

and Portadown. It had a population of 2,821 people in the 2011 Census. Originally named Legacorry, it takes its name from Edward Richardson, who built the manor house around which the village grew.

Origins

At the beginning of the 1600s, the area of Richhill had long been part of the

Irish Gaelic Irish (Standard Irish: ), also known as Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Insular Celtic branch of the Celtic language family, which is a part of the Indo-European language family. Irish is indigenous to the island of Ireland and was the ...

territory of

Oneilland Oneilland () is the name of a former barony in County Armagh, present-day Northern Ireland. It covers the northern area of the county bordering the south-eastern shoreline of Lough Neagh. At some stage the barony was divided into Oneilland East ...

. In 1610, as part of the

Plantation of Ulster The Plantation of Ulster ( gle, Plandáil Uladh; Ulster-Scots: ''Plantin o Ulstèr'') was the organised colonisation (''plantation'') of Ulstera province of Irelandby people from Great Britain during the reign of King James I. Most of the sett ...

, the land was granted to Englishman Francis Sacherevall. His granddaughter Ann married Edward Richardson, who was an English officer,

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for County Armagh from 1655 to 1696,Place Names NI
/ref> and High Sheriff of Armagh in 1665. Around 1660, Richardson built a manor house on the site that would become Richhill, and in 1664 it was reported that there were twenty houses there.T.G.F. Paterson & Emyr Estyn Evans. ''Harvest Home: A selection from the writings of T. G. F. Paterson relating to County Armagh''. Armagh County Museum, 1975. pp. 155-156 At this time, the village was named Legacorry,Art J. Hughes & William Nolan. ''Armagh: History & Society''. Geography Publications, 2001. p. 317 after the

in which it sprang up. Legacorry comes . In Thomas Molyneux's ''Journey to the North'' (1708), the townland appears as "Legacorry, a pretty village belonging to Mr Richardson". It gradually became known as Richardson's Hill and this was shortened to Rich Hill. The original gates to the manor house were wrought by two brothers named Thornberry from Falmouth, Cornwall and were erected in 1745. In 1936 they were moved to the entrance of

Hillsborough Castle Hillsborough Castle is an official government residence in Northern Ireland. It is the official residence of the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland,

Village regeneration

In 2012, it was announced that work would begin on a £1.5 million regeneration scheme, which will transform the village and involve the restoration of about 20 buildings. The Richhill Partnership began work in 2013 with the concealing of overhead wires and cables on streets within the conservation area, and building restoration work began in early March.

Transport

The Ulster Railway opened

Richhill railway station Richhill railway station was on the Ulster Railway in Northern Ireland. The Ulster Railway opened the station on 1 March 1848. It closed on 10 October 1957. Proposals As of 2014, there was some discussion about reopening the line between Por ...

on the line between Belfast and Armagh on 1 March 1848. It was part of the Great Northern Railway from 1876. The Government of Northern Ireland forced the GNR Board to close the line on 1 October 1957. Portadown is the nearest station run by Northern Ireland Railways with trains to Belfast Great Victoria Street and the

Enterprise Enterprise (or the archaic spelling Enterprize) may refer to: Business and economics Brands and enterprises * Enterprise GP Holdings, an energy holding company * Enterprise plc, a UK civil engineering and maintenance company * Enterprise ...

direct to Belfast Lanyon Place in the east and south to and Dublin Connolly. There are proposals to reopen railway lines in Northern Ireland, including the line to

Sport

* Broomhill F.C. * Richhill F.C. * Richhill Recreation Centre * Orchard Wheelers Cycling Club * Armagh and Richhill Beagles * Lodge Equine Stables and Pony Club Centre * Intouch Equestrian and Richhill Pony Club Centre * Richhill Raiders Volleyball Club

Churches

* St Matthew's

Church of Ireland The Church of Ireland ( ga, Eaglais na hÉireann, ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Kirk o Airlann, ) is a Christian church in Ireland and an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the second ...

* Richhill

Methodist Church Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related Christian denomination, denominations of Protestantism, Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John W ...

* Richhill

Presbyterian Church Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

Quakers Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belief in each human's abil ...

, The Society of Friends Richhill * Richhill

Elim Church Elim may refer to: Places * Elim Aboriginal Mission, Queensland, Australia Africa * Elim, Western Cape, a village on the Agulhas Plain in the Western Cape of South Africa * Elim (Bible), one of the places where the Israelites camped following the ...

* Richhill Evangelical Presbyterian Church * Grace Community Church

Education

*Hardy Memorial Primary School

Districts

* Annareagh * Ballyleny * Ballynahinch * Corcreevy * Crewcat * Drumard (Jones) * Liskyborough * Maynooth * Mullaletragh * Rich Hill Town * Rich Hill or Legacorry * Rockmacreeny * Shewis

Notable people

* Richard Best, judge * William Richardson, Member of Parliament *

Max Clendinning Max Clendinning (26 September 1924 in County Armagh, Northern Ireland – 4 June 2020) was an architect and interior designer. Clendinning is best known for his 1965 design of the "slot-together but sturdy looking" Maxima chair, inspired in par ...

, architect

Demographics

2011 Census

It had a population of 2,821 people (1,076 households) in the 2011 Census. Of these: * 21.1% were aged under 16 years and 78.9% were aged 16 and over * 49.6% of the population were male and 50.4% were female * 6.4% were from a

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

background and 88% were from a

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

background * 3.59% of people aged 16–74 were unemployed

2001 census

The NI Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) classifies Richhill as an intermediate settlement (''i.e.'' with population between 2,250 and 4,500 people). On Census day (29 April 2011) there were 2,818 people living in Richhill. Of these: * 26.8% were aged under 16 years and 73.2% were aged 16 and over * 49.8% of the population were male and 50.3% were female * 3.4% were from a

background and 94.6% were from a

background * 1.9% of people aged 16–74 were unemployed

References

External links

Richhill online
{{authority control Villages in County Armagh