Keady () is a town and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

County Armagh County Armagh ( ) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It is located in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster and adjoins the southern shore of Lough Neagh. It borders t ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

. It is south of

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

and near the border with the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...

. It is situated mainly in the historic

barony Barony may refer to: * Barony, the peerage, office of, or territory held by a baron * Barony, the title and land held in fealty by a feudal baron * Barony (county division), a type of administrative or geographical division in parts of the British ...

with six townlands in the barony of

Tiranny Tiranny () is a barony in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. It lies on the western boundary of the county, bordering County Tyrone to its west and County Monaghan in the Republic of Ireland to its south. It is bordered by three other baronies in No ...

. It had a population of 3,051 people in the 2011 Census. This article contains quotations from this source, which is available under th
Open Government Licence v3.0
© Crown copyright. A tributary of the River Callan, known as the Clea, flows from its source in Clea Lake (also spelled as Clay Lake) through the middle of the village. The River Clea once powered Keady's millwheels. In the middle of the town, on the banks of the river, stands the Old Mill, which has been converted into workshops and offices.

History

The Troubles

For more information see

The Troubles in Keady The Troubles in Keady refers to incidents taking place in Keady, County Armagh, Northern Ireland during the Troubles. Incidents in Keady during the Troubles resulting in one or more fatalities: 1972 *21 January 1972 - Stentiford, Philip (18) Br ...

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

Transport

*The railway arrived in Keady in 1909, with the opening of the

Castleblayney, Keady and Armagh Railway The Castleblayney, Keady and Armagh Railway (CK&A) was an Irish gauge railway in Ulster. It linked in County Armagh with in County Monaghan. The Armagh – section was opened in 1909 and closed in 1957. The Castleblayney – Keady section w ...

line (owned by the Great Northern Railway Ireland) from

, which was extended to

Castleblayney Castleblayney (; ) is a town in County Monaghan, Ireland. The town had a population of 3,926 as of the 2022 census. Castleblayney is near the border with County Armagh in Northern Ireland, and lies on the N2 road from Dublin to Derry and L ...

in 1910.

Keady railway station Keady railway station was on the Castleblayney, Keady and Armagh Railway in Northern Ireland. It served the town of Keady in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. History Following their acquisition of the Dublin and Meath and Navan and Kingscourt ...

opened on 31 May 1909, closed for passenger traffic on 1 February 1932 and finally closed altogether on 1 October 1957. As a cross border line, when the

Irish Free State The Irish Free State (6 December 192229 December 1937), also known by its Irish-language, Irish name ( , ), was a State (polity), state established in December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921. The treaty ended the three-ye ...

was created in 1922, it lost all passenger traffic in 1923, with freight being withdrawn from the cross border section from Castleblayney to Keady in 1924. The Armagh to Keady freight service was withdrawn on 1 October 1957. *There is a railway viaduct in Keady as well as one of the more interesting artifacts of Irish railway history, the tunnel for the Ulster and Connaught Light Railway. This was a proposal for a narrow gauge line from

Greenore Greenore () is a village, townland and deep water port on Carlingford Lough in County Louth, Ireland. History A lighthouse was built on Greenore Point in 1830. Several decades later, the Dundalk and Greenore Railway Act 1863 authorised the ...

County Louth County Louth ( ; ) is a coastal Counties of Ireland, county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. Louth is bordered by the counties of County Meath, Meath to the ...

Clifden Clifden () is a coastal town in County Galway, Ireland, in the region of Connemara, located on the Owenglin River where it flows into Clifden Bay. As the largest town in the region, it is often referred to as "the Capital of Connemara". Frequen ...

County Galway County Galway ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Northern and Western Region, taking up the south of the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht. The county population was 276,451 at the 20 ...

, for which the tunnel under the railway embankment at Keady was built, but never used.

Ulsterbus Ulsterbus is a public transport operator in Northern Ireland and operates bus services outside Belfast. It is part of Translink (Northern Ireland), Translink, the brand name for the subsidiary operating companies of the Northern Ireland Transpor ...

now use part of the tunnel as a bus garage. *Ulsterbus operates a few routes through the town to Armagh, these include the 69/a (

Darkley Darkley () is a small village and townland near Keady in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. It had a population of 224 people (80 households) in the 2011 Census. (2001 Census: 282 people) History Darkley is first mentioned on the ''Maps of the ...

)/c (Castleblayney).

People

Cathal Boylan Cathal Boylan (Irish name: ''Cathal Ó Baoighealláin, ''born 30 April 1964) is an Irish Sinn Fein politician, serving as a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Newry and Armagh since 2007. Background He is a former Sinn Féin ...

Sinn Féin Sinn Féin ( ; ; ) is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The History of Sinn Féin, original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffit ...

MLA * Michael Colgan, actor * Jimmy Jones, footballer *

Tommy Makem Thomas Makem (4 November 1932 – 1 August 2007) was an Irish folk music, folk musician, artist, poet and storyteller. He was best known as a member of the Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem. He played the long-necked 5-string banjo, tin whistle, l ...

, singer, musician, and songwriter *

Sarah Makem Sarah Makem (18 October 1900 – 20 April 1983) a native of Keady, County Armagh, Northern Ireland, was a traditional Irish singer. She was the wife of fiddler Peter Makem, mother of musicians Tommy Makem and Jack Makem, as well as daughte ...

(18 October 1900 – 20 April 1983) Traditional Irish singer * Dessie O'Hare,

Irish republican Irish republicanism () is the political movement for an Irish republic, void of any British rule. Throughout its centuries of existence, it has encompassed various tactics and identities, simultaneously elective and militant and has been both w ...

paramilitary * John Dillon Nugent (1869 – 1 March 1940) Irish nationalist politician * Louisa Watson Peat (1883–1953) was an Irish-born writer and lecturer.

Churches in Keady

* St Patrick's Church, Keady, is one of the largest churches in the Archdiocese of Armagh in regard to seating capacity. Built in 1860, it was extended and extensively renovated in 1989. * Keady Baptist Church, Pastor Paul McAdam * The Temple Presbyterian, Rev Ian Abraham * Second Keady Presbyterian, Rev Alan Marsh * St Matthews Church of Ireland

Schools

Clea Primary School Clea is a female given name. Clea may refer to: People with the given name * Clea DuVall (born 1977), actress * Clea Hoyte (born 1981), West Indies cricketer * Clea Koff (born 1972), British-born American forensic anthropologist and author * ...

* Keady Primary School * St. Francis of Assisi Primary School * St. Mary's Boys' School (Keady) *

St Patrick's High School (Keady) St Patrick's High School is a Roman Catholic non-selective, mixed secondary school in Keady, County Armagh, Northern Ireland that was founded in 1970 by the De La Salle Brothers. History The school was founded in 1970 by the De La Salle Broth ...

Demography

Keady is classified as an intermediate settlement by the

Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency The Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA, ) is an executive agency within the Department of Finance (Northern Ireland), Department of Finance in Northern Ireland. The organisation is responsible for the collection and publicat ...

(NISRA) (i.e. with a population between 2,500 and 4,999 people). On Census Day (27 March 2011) the usually resident population of Keady Settlement was 3,051, accounting for 0.17% of the NI total. Of these: *21.53% were aged under 16 years and 14.00% were aged 65 and over *48.90% of the population were male and 51.10% were female *87.45% were from a Catholic background and 10.32% were from a 'Protestant and Other Christian (including Christian related)' background

Civil parish of Keady

The civil parish contains the villages of

and Keady.

Townlands

The civil parish contains the following townlands: * Aughnagurgan * Brackly * Cargaclogher * Carrickduff *

Clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolinite, ). Most pure clay minerals are white or light-coloured, but natural clays show a variety of colours from impuriti ...

* Corkley * Crossdened * Crossmore * Crossnamoyle * Crossnenagh *

* Drumderg * Dundrum * Dunlarg * Granemore * Iskymeadow * Kilcam * Lagan * Racarbry * Tassagh * Tievenamara * Tullyglush * Tullynamalloge

References

County Armagh.comCulture Northern Ireland

External links

{{authority control Villages in County Armagh