Milford or Millford is a small

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

about one mile southwest 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 ...

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 within the

Armagh City and District Council Armagh City and District Council was a district council in County Armagh in Northern Ireland. It merged with Banbridge District Council and Craigavon Borough Council in May 2015 under local government reorganisation in Northern Ireland to beco ...

area. It had a population of 569 people (215 households) in the 2011 Census. (2001 Census: 301 people)

Name

The village is mostly within the

townland A townland (; Ulster-Scots: ''toonlann'') is a traditional small land division used in Ireland and in the Western Isles of Scotland, typically covering . The townland system is of medieval Gaelic origin, predating the Norman invasion, and mo ...

of Kennedies, which was historically called ''Kennedus'' (1657) and ''Ballycennadus'' (1609). This may be derived . The name ''Milford'' or ''Millford'' comes from a large corn mill, the remains of which stand on Maggy's Burn at the bottom of the steep main street of the village.

History

It was the

linen Linen () is a textile made from the fibers of the flax plant. Linen is very strong and absorbent, and it dries faster than cotton. Because of these properties, linen is comfortable to wear in hot weather and is valued for use in garments. Lin ...

industry of the 19th century, which resulted in Milford growing up around the mill built on the River Callan by William McCrum in 1808. In the 20th century, a decline in the overall importance of the linen industry led to economic stagnation of this once thriving community, where the mill was the main source of local employment. The mill closed in the 1980s.

Sport

William McCrum who inherited the village from his father also founded Milford Cricket Club and Milford Football Club for the benefit of himself and his workers. His lasting legacy was the invention of the penalty kick which was adopted by the

Irish Football Association The Irish Football Association (IFA) is the governing body for association football in Northern Ireland. It organised the Ireland national football team (1882–1950), Ireland national football team from 1880 to 1950, which after 1954, became t ...

at its 1889 meeting on McCrum's proposal and introduced throughout football in 1890. Until recent years the village of Milford consisted of three streets of terraced houses but in modern times several new housing estates have been built. In the summer of 2005 another estate is being built on one of a number of fields which is locally believed to have been the site of the original football pitch where Mr McCrum had some of his workforce practice the original penalty kicks.

Transport

* Milford railway station opened on 1 October 1909 and finally closed on 1 February 1932.

Education

* Aghavilly Primary School

Demography

2011 Census

On Census day (27 March 2011) there were 618 people living in Milford. * 21.5% belong to or were brought up in a 'Protestant and Other Christian (including Christian related)' religion and 74.8% belong to or were brought up in the Catholic religion;

References

Milford HistoryCulture Northern ireland