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LOUGHGALL |
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LOUGHGALL , a small estate village about five miles west of
Portadown (and the same distance north of Armagh along the B27) lies in
the middle of apple orchard country, beautiful in the spring, and is
worth visiting mainly for its historical connections. In 1988, the
village was the scene of a British army ambush in which eight IRA men
died, but both before and since has retained a genteel tranquillity.
Like many of its neighbours in Armagh's rural north, Loughgall is
strongly Protestant . It was three miles northeast of the village at
Diamond Hill that the Battle of the Diamond took place in 1795, which
led to the foundation of the first Protestant Orange Order in the
cottage of Dan Winter nearby. The cottage is now open to the public as
the Dan Winter Ancestral Home (Mon-Sat 10.30am-8.30pm, Sun 2-8.30pm;
voluntary donation) which, alongside seventeenth-century furniture,
displays maps and relics from the battle, while the cottage roof still
contains original lead-shot. Loughgall's tiny Orange Museum at Sloane
House is part of a terrace at the northern end of the main street (key
next door with Mrs Vallary), and includes such Orange paraphernalia as
sashes, flags and the banner from the Dolly Brae victory, the first
Orange Order warrant signed on a Catholic after the Battle of the
Diamond, and a couple of UVF armbands. A new village amenity is
Loughgall Country Park (entrance from Main Street; open daily until
sunset; car £2.50) which offers waymarked trails and children's play
areas. The main street has a couple of fine antique shops and, two miles
east on Ballyhagan Road (off the B77 to Portadown) is the Famous Grouse
(tel 028/3889 1778), a lively bar with the best restaurant for miles
around plus regular live music.
Five miles or so north of Loughgall are two National Trust stately homes
a few miles apart that are worth visiting if you've more than a day in
the area. Ardress House (April, May & Sept Sat & Sun 2-6pm; Easter week
same times; June-Aug Mon & Wed-Sun same times; £2.70) is a seventeenth-century
manor house with ornate plasterwork by Michael Stapleton, a good
collection of paintings, a sizeable working farmyard and wooded grounds.
The Argory (same hours; £3) is a fine Neoclassical building dating back
to 1824 which contains its original furniture and a fabulous cabinet
barrel organ, and which is still lit by an original 1906 acetylene gas
plant in the stable yard.
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