A visit to Tandragee, Co. Armagh in 2021

A slideshow of photos I took during my first visit to Tandragee on Thursday 24th June 2021. Tandragee (Irish: Tóin re Gaoith, meaning 'backside to the wind') is a town in County Armagh. It is built on a hillside overlooking the Cusher River, in the civil parish of Ballymore and the historic barony of Orior Lower. It had a population of 3,486 people in the 2011 Census. Overlooking the village is Tandragee Castle. Originally the seat of the O'Hanlon sept, the chiefs of Orior, it was taken over by the English during the Plantation of Ulster and rebuilt in about 1837 for The 6th Duke of Manchester. Today, its grounds are home to the Tayto potato-crisp factory and It offers guided tours. Thomas Sinton opened a mill in town in the 1880s, an expansion of his firm from its original premises at nearby Laurelvale - a model village which he built. Sintons' mill, at the banks of the River Cusher, remained in production until the 1990s. Northern Ireland Electricity has an interconnector to County Louth from the outskirts of the town. Earlier spellings of the name include Tanderagee and Tonregee. Churches in Tandragee are St. James the Apostle Church (Roman Catholic), St. Mark's Church of Ireland (Anglican), Tandragee Presbyterian Church, Tandragee Methodist Church, Tandragee Baptist Church, Tandragee Free Presbyterian Church and Freedom Pentecostal Church. Schools in Tandragee are Tandragee Primary School and Tandragee Junior High School. Tandragee Rovers play in the Mid-Ulster Football League. There is a golf course within the grounds of Tandragee Castle, within walking distance of the main street. It is 5,589 metres, par 71, and a hilly parkland course. Tandragee is also home to the Tandragee 100, a motorcycle road racing event held each year on country roads near the town. Despte Tandragee's Protestant majority, the Gaelic Athletic Association also has a presence in the town. Tandragee's Gaelic football team is named "The Redmond O'Hanlons", after the 17th century rapparee of the same name. Tandragee had a railway station on the Dublin-Belfast railway line. It opened on 6 January 1852 and closed on 4 January 1965. The nearest railway stations are in Scarva and Portadown. The A27 Newry to Portadown road goes through Tandragee. The A51 links Tandragee with Armagh and Gilford. There is an airstrip for landing and taking off of small aircraft near the old porridge factory.