Bannfoot
Bannfoot is a small village in the townland of Derryinver, County Armagh, Northern Ireland. It sits where the Upper Bann flows into Lough Neagh. Bannfoot is within the Craigavon Borough Council area.
History[edit]
The surrounding area was originally known as Bun na Banna, and this name has been adopted as the modern Irish for Bannfoot.[1] There was once a fort at the mouth of the Upper Bann known as Bun an Bhealaigh, meaning "end of foot of the road or pass".[2] This fort has been anglicised in past as "Fort Bunvalle".[1]
In 1760 reference is made of the "Bann Foot Ferry" (sic).[1] Charles Brownlow, 1st Baron Lurgan, built the village near the Bannfoot ferry, naming it Charlestown, in about 1830.[3] It is claimed he intentionally erected it equidistant (seven miles) each from Portadown, Lurgan and Stewartstown.[4]
The ferry no longer operates and a bridge has never been constructed across the river, but there have been calls for a bicycle and pedestrian bridge as a means of boosting tourism.[5] Proposals for bridging the river at this point go back as far as the 1830s.[6]
References[edit]
- ^ a b c Placenames Database of Ireland (see scanned images)
- ^ Ulster Place Names – Craigavon (Derrytrasna Ward)
- ^ "Craigavon Borough Council, Derrytrasna Ward" (PDF). Ulster Place-Name Society. Retrieved 7 July 2010.
- ^ "The Montiaghs". Craigavon Historical Society. Retrieved 7 July 2010.
- ^ 13 January 2009. "Bridge call". Lurgan Mail. Retrieved 9 June 2011.
- ^ McCorry, Francis. "The Lough Gullion Drainage Attempt". Craigavon Historical Society. Retrieved 9 June 2011.
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Coordinates: 54°30′N 6°31′W / 54.500°N 6.517°W
