Portadown#Demography

File:Market Day, Portadown (5969567125).jpg

File:Bridge Street showing First Presbyterian Church, Portadown, Co. Armagh (16740202726).jpg

File:High Street, Portadown (31578636306).jpg

The Portadown area had long been populated by Irish Gaels.{{cite web|title=The Rise and Development of Portadown|url=http://www.craigavonhistoricalsociety.org.uk/rev/luttonriseofportadown.html|last=Lutton|first=SC|publisher=Review – Journal of the Craigavon Historical Society|volume= 5|number =2|access-date=9 April 2010}}

At the beginning of the 1600s, this area was within the district of Clancann (Clann Chana), which was part of the larger territory of Oneilland (Uí Nialláin). This district was named after the dominant local clan—the McCanns (Mac Cana){{cite book|author1=Michael O'Clery|author2=Cucogry O'Clery|author3=Ferfeasa O'Mulconry|author4=Cucogry O'Duigenan|author5=Conary O'Clery|title=Annala Rioghachta Éireann: Introductory remarks. Annals, to A.D. 902|url=https://archive.org/details/annalarioghachta03ocleuoft|access-date=13 December 2012|year=1856|publisher=Hodges, Smith, and Company|pages=[https://archive.org/details/annalarioghachta03ocleuoft/page/173 173]–}}—who had occupied the area since before the 13th century.{{cite book|author=George Hill|title=The Fall of Irish Chiefs and Clans and the Plantation of Ulster: Including the Names of Irish Catholics, and Protestant Settlers|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=D9_naRNn_asC&pg=PA8|date=1 January 2004|publisher=Irish Roots Cafe|isbn=978-0-940134-42-3|pages=8–}}{{cite book|author=Aenghus O'Daly|title=The tribes of Ireland: a satire, with poetical tr. by J. C. Mangan; together with An historical account of the family of O'Daly; and an introduction to the history of satire in Ireland, by J. O'Donovan|url=https://archive.org/details/tribesirelandas00odagoog|year=1852|pages=[https://archive.org/details/tribesirelandas00odagoog/page/n64 62]–}} The McCanns were then a vassal sept of the O'Neills (Uí Néill). On the eastern banks of the River Bann was the district of Clanbrasil (Clann Bhreasail).[http://www.ulsterplacenames.org/PDF%20Files/Craigavon%20%28Derrytrasna%20ward%29%20%28C.%20Dunbar%29.pdf Craigavon Borough: Derrytrasna Ward] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303225126/http://www.ulsterplacenames.org/PDF%20Files/Craigavon%20(Derrytrasna%20ward)%20(C.%20Dunbar).pdf |date=3 March 2016 }}. Northern Ireland Place-name Project, p. 2

The town's name comes from the Irish Port a' Dúnáin (or, more formally, Port an Dúnáin), meaning the port or landing place of the small fort. This was likely a fort of the McCanns.

From 1594 until 1603, the O'Neills and an alliance of other clans fought in the Nine Years' War against the English Tudor conquest of Ireland. This ended in defeat for the Irish clans, and the Crown seized and redistributed much of their land.

In 1608, King James VI and I began the Plantation of Ulster – the organised colonisation of the region by Protestant settlers from Britain, known as 'planters'.{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zj7vrj6/articles/z2bgsrd|title=What was the Plantation of Ulster?|publisher=BBC|access-date=26 November 2022}}

In 1610, as part of the Plantation, the lands of Portadown were granted to William Powell. In 1611, he sold his grant of land to Reverend Richard Rolleston, who in turn sold it in two portions to Richard Cope and Michael Obins. Obins built a large Elizabethan-style mansion for himself and his family, and a number of houses nearby for English tenants. This mansion was in the area of the present-day Woodside estate.{{cite web|title=The Walk, Portadown|url=http://www.craigavonhistoricalsociety.org.uk/rev/courtneywalk.html|last=Courtney|first=Brian|publisher=Review – Journal of the Craigavon Historical Society Vol. 8 No. 3|access-date=11 January 2013}}

The present-day People's Park was part of its grounds. The park is now bounded on either side by Obins Street and Castle Street, both of which are references to "Obins' Castle". In 1631, Obins was granted a licence for a "fair and market". He built the first bridge across the River Bann shortly thereafter.

During the Irish Rebellion of 1641, Obins Castle was captured by a force of dispossessed Irish led by the McCanns, Magennises and O'Neills. In November 1641, Irish rebels—likely under the command of Toole McCann—killed about 100 captured British settlers by forcing them off the Bann bridge and shooting those who swam ashore.

This became known among British Protestants as the "Portadown massacre" and was one of the worst atrocities of the rebellion. It fuelled revenge killings by the English during the conflict that followed and was used to justify the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland. The Irish Confederate troops abandoned Obins Castle during the Cromwellian conquest. Hamlet Obins (who had survived its capture) repossessed it in 1652. It was later passed to his son, Anthony Obins.

In 1741, Anthony Obins was involved with development of the Newry Canal. He was succeeded by Michael Obins in 1750. The latter set up a linen market in Portadown in 1762, which laid the foundations of Portadown's major industry.

Michael Obins died in 1798 and left a son, Michael Eyre Obins, to succeed him. In 1814, Eyre Obins took holy orders; he sold the estate to the Sparrow family of Tandragee.

George Montagu, 6th Duke of Manchester (known as Viscount Mandeville) married Millicent Sparrow in 1822 and came into possession of the estate. This family's legacy in the town includes such street names as Montagu Street, Millicent Crescent and Mandeville Street, and buildings such as the Fergus Hall (formerly the Duke's School and Church Street PS), and the Carleton Home. (Formerly the Duke's townhouse, this was later used as a maternity hospital/nurses accommodation. It has since been adapted as private apartments).{{cite web|url=https://hekint.org/2017/02/23/workhouse-to-hospital/|title=Workhouse to hospital|publisher=Hektoen International|access-date=26 November 2022}}

The Blacker family, descended from Danes who had invaded and settled in Ireland in the 9th century, founded an estate at Carrick, on the Portadown–Gilford road. The land had been bought by Colonel Valentine Blacker from Sir Anthony Cope of Loughgall.{{citation needed|date=October 2020}} It became known as Carrickblacker, and is now the site of Portadown Golf Club. One of the notables in the Blacker family, Colonel William Blacker, High Sheriff of Armagh, took part in the "Battle of the Diamond" and was a founding member of the Orange Order.{{cite web|title=[Col.] William Blacker|url=http://www.pgil-eirdata.org/html/pgil_datasets/authors/b/Blacker,W/life.htm

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020320083009/http://www.pgil-eirdata.org/html/pgil_datasets/authors/b/Blacker,W/life.htm

|url-status=usurped

|archive-date=20 March 2002

}}

This, and subsequent events such as the founding of a 'provisional' Grand Lodge in the town after the 'voluntary' dissolution of the Order in 1825, led to the town being known as 'The Orange Citadel'. It was a center of sectarian strife for two centuries.{{cite web|title=Two Hundred Years in the Citadel|url=https://www.scribd.com/doc/26105917/Two-Hundred-Years-in-the-Citadel|last=Mulholland|first=Dr. Peter|date=30 January 2010|access-date=20 April 2010}} Many of the Blacker family were soldiers or churchmen. The family estate was purchased in 1937 by Portadown Golf Club.{{cite web|title=Club history|url=http://www.portadowngolfclub.co.uk/history|access-date=22 November 2015}} In 1988 the club demolished Carrickblacker House to make way for a new clubhouse.{{cite web|url=https://www.archiseek.com/2013/carrickblacker-house-portadown-co-armagh/|title=1692 – Carrickblacker House, Portadown, Co. Armagh|date=28 March 2013 |publisher=Archiseek| access-date=26 November 2022}}

File:WarMemorialPortadown.JPG

A large prisoner-of-war (POW) camp was built at Portadown during World War II. It was at the site of a former sports facility on what was then the western edge of town.{{Cite web|title=Brownstown Prisoner of War Camp, Portadown, Co. Armagh|url=https://archives.wartimeni.com/location/co-armagh/portadown/brownstown-prisoner-of-war-camp/|access-date=3 November 2020|website=WartimeNI|language=en-GB}} This area is now covered by housing from Fitzroy Street and the Brownstown Estates. The camp housed (mostly) German POWs. For a time these POWs were guarded by Welsh servicemen (known as "Bluecaps") who had been transferred from assignments with troops in Germany. They were billeted at St Patrick's Hall in Thomas Street.

The local newspaper carried a story of another POW camp, adjacent to Killicomaine Castle (also known as Irwin's Castle), in what was then known as "Cullen's Lane" but is now called "Princess Way". That area was later part of the Killicomaine estate, housing built in 1954 and largely contemporary with other estates built by the then Portadown Borough Council and the former Northern Ireland Housing Trust (now called the Northern Ireland Housing Executive).{{cite web|url=http://www.portadowntimes.co.uk/news/your-community/fond-memories-of-the-beginning-of-killicomaine-1-6102330|title=Fond memories of the beginning of Killicomaine|work=portadowntimes.co.uk|access-date=22 November 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160407091807/http://www.portadowntimes.co.uk/news/your-community/fond-memories-of-the-beginning-of-killicomaine-1-6102330|archive-date=7 April 2016|url-status=dead}}

A third camp was built on the Carrickblacker estate towards the end of World War II, possibly as an overflow for the nearby Elmfield Camp in Gilford. It was used as accommodation for Allied troops and no Axis POWs were ever imprisoned there.{{Cite web|url=https://wartimeni.com/article/german-prisoners-of-war-in-northern-ireland/|title = German Prisoners of War in Northern Ireland}}

In 2005, a public air-raid shelter was uncovered during excavation works near the riverbank just outside the town centre. One of ten built by the council during World War II, it is one of only two now remaining. The other is at the new roundabout on the Gilford Road. These are rare examples of public air raid shelters in Northern Ireland.{{cite news|url=http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/imported/battle-on-to-preserve-air-raid-shelter-13720236.html|title=Battle on to preserve air raid shelter – imported|work=Belfast Telegraph|date=14 May 2005|access-date=13 November 2011}}

{{Main|The Troubles in Portadown|Drumcree conflict}}

During the Troubles, there were numerous shootings, bombings and riots in Portadown. The conflict led to the deaths of 45 people in the town.[http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/sutton/search.html An Index of Deaths from the Conflict in Ireland]. Conflict Archive on the Internet (CAIN).

Loyalists killed 25 people: eighteen Catholic civilians, three Protestant civilians, two members of the security forces, a republican paramilitary and a loyalist paramilitary. Irish republicans killed 18 people: nine members of the security forces, one loyalist paramilitary, seven Protestant civilians and one Catholic civilian. The security forces killed one Protestant civilian, and another loyalist was killed by his own bomb. In 1993 and 1998, the town centre was devastated by two large car bombs planted by republicans.{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/59314.stm|title=Car bomb explodes in Portadown|date=23 February 1998|newspaper=BBC|access-date=26 November 2022}}

The Troubles resulted in the town becoming residentially segregated: the northwestern part of the town became almost wholly populated by the Catholic/Irish nationalist minority, while the rest of the town became almost wholly Protestant/unionist.McKay, Susan. [http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/othelem/people/accounts/mckay00.htm Northern Protestants: An Unsettled People – Portadown]. Blackstaff Press (2000). Portadown's 'Catholic district' is now bordered by the railway line and by a security barrier ("peace wall") along Corcrain Road.{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-43977277|title=Replacing Portadown's peace lines|date=4 May 2018|newspaper=BBC| access-date=26 November 2022}}

The Troubles also intensified the long-running Drumcree marching dispute, over Orange marches through the Catholic part of town. Each July from 1995 to 2000, the dispute drew worldwide attention as it sparked protests and violence throughout Northern Ireland, prompted a massive police/British Army operation, and threatened to derail the peace process. When the Army sealed off the Catholic part of Portadown with large steel, concrete and barbed-wire barricades, the situation was reported by news media as like a "war zone"[https://www.theguardian.com/uk/1999/jul/03/northernireland.stuartmillar "Parade fervour turns country lane into war zone"], theguardian.com, 3 July 1999. and a "siege".[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/events/northern_ireland/focus/127075.stm "Siege of Drumcree"], bbc.co.uk, 5 July 1998.

Each summer, during the "marching season", there are many Protestant/loyalist marches in the town. Loyalists put up numerous flags{{Cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/6720063.stm|title=Portadown edging towards change|author=Staff|date=6 June 2007|access-date=22 May 2010|work=BBC News}} and raise arches over some streets. These marches, and the raising of these flags and arches near the homes of Catholic families, continues to be a source of tension and sometimes a catalyst for violence.[http://www.portadowntimes.co.uk/news/local-news/parkmount-row-after-flags-are-removed-1-5272717 "Parkmount row after flags are removed"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304070356/http://www.portadowntimes.co.uk/news/local-news/parkmount-row-after-flags-are-removed-1-5272717 |date=4 March 2016 }}. Portadown Times, 15 July 2013.[http://www.portadowntimes.co.uk/news/local-news/parkmount-arch-sparks-stand-off-over-flags-1-4027572 "Parkmount Arch sparks stand-off over flags"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151123002643/http://www.portadowntimes.co.uk/news/local-news/parkmount-arch-sparks-stand-off-over-flags-1-4027572 |date=23 November 2015 }}. Portadown Times, 8 July 2012.[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-14171633 "Portadown violence – three arrested in overnight riots"]. BBC News, 16 July 2011.[http://www.portadowntimes.co.uk/news/local-news/anger-as-arch-on-garvaghy-road-is-painted-1-1655449 "Anger as arch on Garvaghy Road is painted"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160705131908/http://www.portadowntimes.co.uk/news/local-news/anger-as-arch-on-garvaghy-road-is-painted-1-1655449 |date=5 July 2016 }}, Portadown Times, 17 July 2009.

Community leaders in Portadown have been involved with the Ulster Project since it began in 1975. The project involves teenagers from both of Northern Ireland's main communities. The goal is to foster goodwill and friendship between them. Each year, a group of teenagers are chosen to travel to the United States, where they stay with an American family for a few weeks.{{cite web|url=https://pure.ulster.ac.uk/ws/portalfiles/portal/79312292/CR_Youth_Work.pdf|last=Milliken|first= M. |year=2020|title=The Development and Delivery of Community Relations Through Youth Work |work=Investing in lives: The history of the youth service in Northern Ireland (1973-2017) |volume=2|pages=433–453}}

File:Bann River at Portadown - geograph.org.uk - 1093155.jpg

File:The Bann bridge - geograph.org.uk - 1053296.jpg

Portadown is located in a relatively flat part of Northern Ireland, near the southern shore of Lough Neagh. Two small wetland areas are on the outskirts of the town; one at Selshion in the west and another at Annagh in the south. The Ballybay River flows into the town from the west before joining the River Bann.

Most of the town is built on the western side of the River Bann, which supported its industry and prosperity. Construction in 1740 of the Newry Canal (linking Carlingford Lough with Lough Neagh) enabled Portadown to become a hub for the water traffic between Newry and Belfast.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZKaCAAAAIAAJ|title=Harvest Home: The Last Sheaf: a Selection from the Writings of T. G. F. Paterson Relating to County Armagh|first= T. G. F. |last=Paterson|year=1975|publisher=Armagh County Museum, T. G. F. Paterson Memorial Fund Committee|isbn=978-0950478005}}

There are three bridges across the river at Portadown. Bridge Street and Northway are both road bridges, and there is a railway bridge beside the Northway. The 'Bann Bridge' on Bridge Street is the oldest. It was unusual in that it was built over dry earth. After the bridge was completed, the course of the River Bann was diverted by some 100 yards to straighten a meander and run under the bridge. The old riverbed was then built upon.

In the 21st century, an archaeological dig in the area of the old riverbed uncovered the bones of some of those who were drowned in the 1641 massacre in the town.{{cite journal|title=Building bridges? Remembering the 1641 rebellion in Northern Ireland|first=Naomi |last=McAreavey|journal=Memory Studies |year=2018 |publisher=University College Dublin|url=https://doi.org/10.1177/1750698017736841|volume=11|issue= 1|pages=100–114 |doi=10.1177/1750698017736841 |s2cid=148696761 |doi-access=free}}

Like the rest of Ireland, the Portadown area has long been divided into townlands, whose names came mostly from the Irish language. Portadown sprang up along a road (High Street/Market Street) that marked the boundary between two of these – Tavanagh and Corcrain. Over time, the surrounding townlands have been built upon and they have given their names to many roads and housing estates.

The following is a list of townlands within Portadown's urban area, alongside their likely etymologies:{{cite web

|url = http://www.placenamesni.org/index.php

|title = Northern Ireland Placenames Project

}}{{cite web

| url=http://www.logainm.ie/?parentID=293&typeID=BF

| title=Placenames Database of Ireland

| access-date=25 February 2010

}}{{cite web

| url=http://sinton-family-trees.com/maps2/mapsx.php

| publisher=Sinton Family Trees

| title=Townland Maps

| access-date=25 February 2010

}}{{cite web

| title=OSI Map Viewer

| publisher=Ordnance Survey Ireland

| url=http://ims0.osiemaps.ie/website/publicviewer/main.aspx#V1,700863,853770,5

| access-date=25 February 2010

| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100529055024/http://ims0.osiemaps.ie/website/publicviewer/main.aspx#V1,700863,853770,5

| archive-date=29 May 2010

| url-status=dead

}} – Note: Select "historic" to view the townland boundaries

West bank of the River Bann (parish of Drumcree):

• Annagh ({{etymology|ga|Eanach|marsh}})
• Ballyoran (from Baile Uaráin meaning "townland of the spring")
• Baltylum (from Bailte Loma meaning "bare townlands")
• Clounagh or Clownagh (from Cluaineach meaning "place of the water-meadow")
• Corcrain (from Corr Chrainn meaning "round hill of the tree")
• Garvaghy (from Garbh Achadh meaning "rough field")
• Mahon or Maghon (from Maigh Ghamhan meaning "plain of the calves")
• Selshion (from Soilseán meaning "shining place")
• Tavanagh (from Tamhnach meaning "grassland")

East bank of the River Bann (parish of Seagoe):

• Ballyhannon (from Baile Uí Sheanacháin meaning "O'Shannon's townland")
• Bocombra (formerly Bocomra, from Bac Iomarach meaning "ridged bank")
• Edenderry (from Éadan Doire meaning "hill-brow of the oak grove")
• Kernan (formerly Kerhanan, from Caorthannán meaning "place of rowans")
• Killycomain or Killicomain (from Coill Uí Chomáin meaning "Ó Comáin's woodland")
• Levaghery (from Leathmhachaire meaning "half plain")
• Lisnisky (from Lios an Uisce meaning "ringfort of the water") – the fields in Lisnisky separate Portadown from Craigavon
• Seagoe Upper (from Suidhe Gobha meaning "seat of Gobhan")

The climate of Portadown is like that of much of the rest of the UK and Ireland, being a temperate oceanic climate. It has mild temperatures throughout the year. historically summer temperatures have not reached levels to be deemed very hot and winter not very cold, but climate change has resulted in more extreme temperatures in the 21st century.

Summer temperatures can reach more than {{cvt|20|°C}} though it is rare for them to go higher than {{cvt|30|°C}}. The consistently humid climate that prevails over Ireland can make these temperatures feel uncomfortable when they stray into the high 20s °C (80–85 °F), more so than similar temperatures in hotter but drier climates in the rest of Europe. It also receives a steady amount of rainfall throughout the year.

{{Weather box

|location = Portadown

|metric first = Yes

|single line = Yes

|Jan high C = 7.4

|Feb high C = 8.1

|Mar high C = 10.2

|Apr high C = 12.6

|May high C = 15.6

|Jun high C = 18.0

|Jul high C = 19.7

|Aug high C = 19.3

|Sep high C = 16.9

|Oct high C = 13.4

|Nov high C = 10.0

|Dec high C = 7.7

|year high C = 13.3

|Jan low C = 1.9

|Feb low C = 1.6

|Mar low C = 3.1

|Apr low C = 4.3

|May low C = 6.7

|Jun low C = 9.6

|Jul low C = 11.7

|Aug low C = 11.4

|Sep low C = 9.5

|Oct low C = 6.8

|Nov low C = 3.9

|Dec low C = 2.1

|year low C = 6.1

|Jan precipitation mm = 74.5

|Feb precipitation mm = 54.0

|Mar precipitation mm = 65.6

|Apr precipitation mm = 57.6

|May precipitation mm = 57.8

|Jun precipitation mm = 58.4

|Jul precipitation mm = 62.7

|Aug precipitation mm = 76.3

|Sep precipitation mm = 68.1

|Oct precipitation mm = 85.5

|Nov precipitation mm = 74.6

|Dec precipitation mm = 77.1

|year precipitation mm = 812.3

|unit precipitation days = Days of rainfall >= 1 mm

|Jan precipitation days = 14.3

|Feb precipitation days = 11.0

|Mar precipitation days = 13.3

|Apr precipitation days = 11.6

|May precipitation days = 11.8

|Jun precipitation days = 10.9

|Jul precipitation days = 11.7

|Aug precipitation days = 13.0

|Sep precipitation days = 12.2

|Oct precipitation days = 13.7

|Nov precipitation days = 13.6

|Dec precipitation days = 13.3

|year precipitation days = 150.3

|source 1 = Met Office{{cite web |title=Weather Averages – Portadown, UK|url= http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/public/weather/climate/portadown-county-armagh#?tab=climateTables|publisher=Met Office |access-date=7 April 2014}}

|date=2010}}

For census purposes, Portadown is not treated as a separate entity by the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA). Instead, it is combined with Craigavon, Lurgan and Bleary to form the "Craigavon Urban Area". However, a fairly accurate population count can be arrived at by combining the data of the electoral wards that make up Portadown. These wards are Annagh, Ballybay, Ballyoran, Brownstown, Corcrain, Edenderry, Killycomain and Tavanagh.

On the day of the last census (21 March 2021), the combined population of these wards was 32,926.[https://build.nisra.gov.uk/en/custom/data?d=PEOPLE&v=DEA14&v=RELIGION_BELONG_TO_OR_BROUGHT_UP_IN_DVO&%7EDEA14=N10000207 Northern Ireland Census 2021 – Religion or Religion Brought Up In: KS212NI (administrative geographies)]. Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA).

Of this population:

• 17,063 (51.8%) were Protestant or from a Protestant background
• 12,205 (37.0%) were Catholic or from a Catholic background
• 3,658 (11.2%) were of other religious backgrounds or no religious background.

On the day of the census (21 March 2011) the combined population of these wards was 22,899.[http://www.ninis2.nisra.gov.uk/public/ViewDataSet.aspx?ds=2426&lh=38&yn=2011&sk=136&sn=Census%202011&yearfilter=2011 Northern Ireland Census 2011 – Religion or Religion Brought Up In: KS212NI (administrative geographies)]. Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA).

Of this population:

• 13,957 (60.9%) were Protestant or from a Protestant background
• 7,300 (31.8%) were Catholic or from a Catholic background
• 1,642 (7.3%) were of other religious backgrounds or no religious background.

Immigrants make up about 8% of the town's population, many of whom come from Eastern Europe, and Portugal. Some have also come from East Timor, China, and India.{{cite web|url=http://m.portadowntimes.co.uk/news/local-news/buckley-accused-after-criticism-of-immigration-1-6295003|archive-url=https://archive.today/20140916005357/http://m.portadowntimes.co.uk/news/local-news/buckley-accused-after-criticism-of-immigration-1-6295003|url-status=dead|archive-date=16 September 2014|title=Buckley accused after criticism of immigration|work=portadowntimes.co.uk|access-date=22 November 2015}}

On the day of the last census (21 March 2021), the combined ethnic groups of these wards are:[https://build.nisra.gov.uk/en/custom/data?d=PEOPLE&v=DEA14&v=ETHNIC_GROUP_INTERMEDIATE&%7EDEA14=N10000207 Northern Ireland Census 2021 – Ethnic Group]. Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA).

• 30,799 (93.5%) were White (including White British, White Irish and other white groups)
• 1,025 (3.11%) were Black or British Black
• 560 (1.7%) were Asian or British Asian (including South Asian, East Asian and Filipino)
• 542 (1.6%) were other ethnic group (included mixed).

File:Plaque - geograph.org.uk - 668124.jpg

Portadown is part of the Upper Bann constituency for elections to the Northern Ireland Assembly and Parliament of the United Kingdom. The boundaries of the Assembly constituency and Parliament constituency are identical. This has long been a safe unionist seat.{{cite web|title=Upper Bann|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/constituency/1387/upper-bann|work=The Guardian|location=UK|access-date=23 March 2010}}

Portadown came under the governance of Portadown Borough Council following the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898. This was abolished with the Local Government (Boundaries) Act (Northern Ireland) 1971 and the Local Government Act (Northern Ireland) 1972. Henceforth, the town had been under the jurisdiction of the larger Craigavon Borough Council.

However, after local government reform, the town is now part of one of Northern Ireland's largest councils, the Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council. Councillors are elected to the council every four years by proportional representation.{{cite web|url=https://www.eoni.org.uk/Elections/Election-results-and-statistics/Election-results-and-statistics-2003-onwards/Elections-2019/Local-Council-Election-Results|title=Local Election Results|publisher=The Electoral Office of Northern Ireland|access-date=26 November 2022}}

The councillors for the DEA are:

Portadown is located along the River Bann, which forms the boundary between two parishes. The part of the town to the west of the Bann is in Drumcree parish, while the part of the town on the east of the Bann is in Seagoe parish.

In 1826, Saint Martin's Church of Ireland (Anglican) was built, and later renamed Saint Mark's.{{cite web|url=http://www.stmarksportadown.armagh.anglican.org/home.html/|title=St. Mark's Church, Portadown|work=anglican.org}} Before this, Church of Ireland members attended either Drumcree Parish Church or Seagoe Parish Church.[http://www.lisburn.com/books/dromore-diocese/parish-seagoe.html] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080314195645/http://www.lisburn.com/books/dromore-diocese/parish-seagoe.html|date=14 March 2008}}

The current Seagoe Parish Church of St. Gobhan's (Church of Ireland), was built in 1814. It replaced the many previous church foundations, dating from circa 7th century, that were located about one hundred yards distant. The ancient cemetery of Seagoe is adjacent to this site. The church is linked to Seagoe Primary School, which is maintained by the Church. It is one of the few remaining Anglican primary schools. The former Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church, Most Revd David Chillingworth was rector at Seagoe for 19 years. St Columba's Parish on the Loughhall Road, and Knocknamuckley Church of Ireland (St. Matthias) on the Bleary Road are also extant parishes.[http://armagh.anglican.org/index.php/parishes/?page_id=211 Armagh parishes] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140424044020/http://www.armagh.anglican.org/index.php/parishes/?page_id=211 |date=24 April 2014 }}, anglican.org; accessed 8 November 2015.

There are two Presbyterian churches, First Portadown (aka Edenderry) Presbyterian Church (1822) and Armagh Road Presbyterian Church (1859). The Rev Stafford Carson was Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, June 2009 to June 2010.{{cite web|url=https://www.presbyterianireland.org/News/2009-News-Archive/Carson-elected-as-next-Presbyterian-Moderator.aspx|title=Carson elected as next Presbyterian Moderator|date=3 February 2009|publisher= Presbyterian Church in Ireland |access-date=26 November 2022}}

The Methodist church has operated at several different sites. It now stands in Thomas Street.{{cite web|url=https://methodisthistoryireland.org/locations/thomas-street-methodist-church/|title=Thomas Street Methodist Church|publisher=Methodist Historical Society of Ireland|access-date=26 November 2022}}

In addition, there are Baptist meeting halls on Thomas Street and Killicomaine Road; an Elim Pentecostal church on Clonavon Avenue; a Quaker meeting hall on Portmore Street; and a large Free Presbyterian congregation meets in Levaghery. The pentecostal Light of the World Ministries are located in the town, as are the evangelical neocharismatic Vineyard Church. The Salvation Army have a hall in Edward Street.{{cite news|url=https://www.portadowntimes.co.uk/news/salvation-army-hall-reopens-after-revamp-759721|title=Salvation Army hall reopens after revamp|date=24 November 2016|newspaper=Portadown Times|access-date=21 November 2021}}

{{Gallery

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|File:Edenderry Memorial Methodist Church, Portadown - geograph.org.uk - 507828.jpg|Edenderry Methodist

|File:Armagh Road Presbyterian Church, Church Street, Portadown. - geograph.org.uk - 568313.jpg|Armagh Road Presbyterian

|File:The church of St. Gobhan - Seagoe parish church, Portadown.JPG|Seagoe Parish

|File:Friends Meeting House, Portmore Street, Portadown. - geograph.org.uk - 574781.jpg|Friends Meeting House

}}

Saint John the Baptist's Church was built in the townland of Ballyoran in 1783. The original church had become surrounded by a large graveyard. A second Catholic church, Saint Patrick's, was built on William Street in 1835.{{cite web|url=http://www.craigavonhistoricalsociety.org.uk/rev/luttonriseofportadown.php|title=The Rise and Development of Portadown|first= S. C.|last= Lutton|publisher=Journal of Craigavon Historical Society|volume=5 |issue=2 |year=1986}}

In the 1980s Saint John's was taken down brick-by-brick, moved and rebuilt at the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum in Cultra, County Down.{{cite web |url=http://www.uftm.org.uk/collections_and_research/folk_collections/town_buildings/catholic_church/ |title=National Museums Northern Ireland |publisher=Uftm.org.uk |access-date=13 November 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090505040210/http://www.uftm.org.uk/collections_and_research/folk_collections/town_buildings/catholic_church/ |archive-date=5 May 2009 |url-status=dead }} A new Saint John's church was built in 1977 close to where the original stood. It is at the intersection of the Garvaghy Road and the Dungannon Road.{{cite web|url=https://www.drumcreeparish.com/content/view/82/319/|title=St John the Baptist Church|publisher=Drumcree Parish|access-date=26 November 2022}}

{{Gallery

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|File:St Patrick's Roman Catholic Church, Portadown - geograph - 571123.jpg|Saint Patrick's Roman Catholic

|File:St John's Roman Catholic Church, Portadown - geograph - 527608.jpg|Saint John's Roman Catholic

}}

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has a church on the Brownstown Road. In addition the Jehovah's Witnesses have a Kingdom Hall, on the town outskirts in Kernan.

File:Sticking up posters on the gate piers of Portadown Railway Station.jpg

A combination of road, canal and rail links, all converging on Portadown railway station, gave it the nickname "Hub of the North". This supported employment through mass industry and marketing and shipping of agricultural products from the area. The Newry Canal, opened in 1742,{{cite news | title = City of Merchants Festival: Timeline of Newry's history | url = https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/life/travel/city-of-merchants-festival-timeline-of-newrys-history-36174398.html | date = 27 September 2017 | work = Belfast Telegraph | access-date = 31 May 2021}} linked Carlingford Lough and the Irish Sea with Lough Neagh. It joined the River Bann a couple of miles to the southeast of Portadown. The canal opened up waterborne trade and left Portadown ideally situated to take full advantage of the trading routes. However, the canal went into decline with the growth of the railway network and it closed to commercial traffic in 1936.{{cite news|url=https://www.belfastlive.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/newry-canal-should-restored-before-22116999|title=Newry Canal should be restored 'before it's too late'|date=9 November 2021|newspaper=Belfast Live|access-date=26 November 2022}}

About a century later, establishment of the Great Northern Railway resulted in extending overland trading routes and shortening delivery times shortened. The town's first railway station opened in 1842.{{cite book |last=Hajducki |first=S. Maxwell |year=1974 |title=A Railway Atlas of Ireland |location=Newton Abbott |publisher=David & Charles |isbn=0-7153-5167-2 }} Map 8

At Portadown railway station, lines were built serving destinations in four directions: one went northeast toward Belfast, one northwest toward Dungannon, one southwest to Armagh, and one southeast toward Newry and onward to Dublin. Today only the Belfast–Dublin line remains. Repair yards were opened in 1925Adventure Guide to Ireland by Tina Neylon, Hunter Publishing 2003, {{ISBN|1-58843-367-6}}, p. 551 and these large concrete buildings dominated the skyline on the west of the town centre. The current station opened in 1970.

National Cycle Route 9 links Portadown with Belfast and Newry.{{cite web | title = Route 9 | url = https://www.sustrans.org.uk/find-a-route-on-the-national-cycle-network/route-9/ | publisher = Sustrans | access-date = 8 April 2021}}

Portadown's major employers have included:

• Irwin's Bakery was established in 1912 as a grocery retailer by William David Irwin, grandfather of the existing joint managing directors. It expanded into Great Britain and the Republic of Ireland in the 1980s.{{cite web|url=https://bakeryinfo.co.uk/born-and-bread/born-andamp-bread-irwins-bakery/624368.article|title=Born & Bread: Irwin's Bakery|publisher=British Baker|date=6 December 2017|access-date=26 November 2022}}
• Wade (Ireland) Ltd. Wade Ceramics{{cite web|url=http://www.wade.co.uk|title=Ceramics is a market leader in the design and production of high quality|publisher=Wade|access-date=13 November 2011}} had a substantial plant in Portadown{{cite web|url=http://www.worldcollectorsnet.com/wade/irishwade.html|title=Iris Carryer/Wade Ireland the early years|publisher=Worldcollectorsnet.com|access-date=13 November 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110613001002/http://www.worldcollectorsnet.com/wade/irishwade.html|archive-date=13 June 2011}} between in Watson Street, Edenderry, adjacent to the Victorian Railway Station. The factory closed in 2002.{{cite news|url=https://www.armaghi.com/news/portadown-news/co-armagh-church-writes-to-raise-concerns-over-plans-to-build-new-5-7m-church-next-door/69417|title=Co Armagh church writes to raise concerns over plans to build new £5.7m church 'next door'|newspaper=Armagh I|date=14 June 2018| access-date=26 November 2022}}
• Ulster Carpets Ltd was established in the town in 1938 and was the major employer producing woolen Axminster.{{cite web|url=https://ulstercarpets.com/contract/about-us-read-our-story/|title=Our Story|publisher=Ulster Carpets |access-date=26 November 2022}}
• Henry Denny & Sons (NI) Ltd. meat processors were originally established in Obins Street. It moved to Corcrain after being acquired in 1982 by the Kerry Group.{{cite web|url = http://www.kerrygroup.com/page.asp?pid=107 | archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20080703064010/http://www.kerrygroup.com/page.asp?pid=107 | archivedate = 3 July 2008 | title = Kerry Group - About Foods | website = kerrygroup.com }}

Much of the town's industry in the 19th and 20th centuries was centred on the linen trade. The 1881 edition of Slater's Directory (a comprehensive listing of Irish towns) listed 15 manufacturing employers in Portadown at that time.Slater's Commercial Directory of Ireland, 1881, Ulster & Belfast Sections, {{ISBN|1-84630-038-X}}

File:Portadown Town Hall, Edward Street, Portadown. - geograph.org.uk - 574764.jpg]]

Portadown Town Hall, in Edward Street, was once the seat of the town's local government. Reforme of local government in 1972 resulted in a change in venue. The Town Hall, an 1890 Victorian building, has been extensively refurbished to offer a commercial in-house theatre and conference facilities.{{cite web|title=Portadown Town Hall|url=http://www.discovercraigavon.com/section_specific.aspx?title=Conferencing&title2=Portadown%20Area&dataid=373385|publisher=Discover Craigavon|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110710132928/http://www.discovercraigavon.com/section_specific.aspx?title=Conferencing&title2=Portadown%20Area&dataid=373385|access-date=22 November 2021|archive-date = 10 July 2011}}

The Millennium Court Arts Centre contains two galleries featuring exhibits by local artists.{{Cite web|url=https://www.millenniumcourt.org/|title=Millennium Court|website=Millennium Court}}

Ardress House is a 17th-century farmhouse that was remodelled in Georgian times. Today it is owned by the National Trust. It is open to the public and offers guided tours, local walks, and recreations of farmyard life.{{cite web|title=Ardress House|url=http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-ardresshouse|publisher=National Trust|access-date=19 April 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100428205139/http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-ardresshouse|archive-date=28 April 2010}}{{cite web|url=http://www.what-to-do.org/attractions/index.php?attraction=137|title=Ardress House and Farmyard Portadown hotels, attraction and tourist information|publisher=What-to-do.org|date=22 August 2005|access-date=13 November 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151122225105/http://www.what-to-do.org/attractions/index.php?attraction=137|archive-date=22 November 2015}}

The Newry Canal Way is a fully accessible, restored canal towpath now usable as a bicycle route between Newry Town Hall and the Bann Bridge in Portadown. The Canal was the first summit-level canal in Britain and Ireland and has 14 locks between its entrance at Carlingford Lough and the other end at Lough Neagh.{{cite web|title=Newry Canal|url=http://www.discovernorthernireland.com/product.aspx?ProductID=7091|access-date=19 April 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061020061638/http://www.discovernorthernireland.com/product.aspx?ProductID=7091|archive-date=20 October 2006}}

One of the attractions on the Newry Canal Way is Moneypenny's Lock, a site that includes an 18th-century lock-keeper's house, stables and bothy. This provided accommodation for workers on the canal and their horses in the days when the canal was part of the industrial transport network. Today it is administered jointly by the Museum Services and the Lough Neagh Discovery Centre at Oxford Island.{{cite web|title=Moneypenny's Lock|url=http://www.discoverireland.com/us/ireland-things-to-see-and-do/listings/product/?fid=NITB_2854|access-date=19 April 2010|publisher=Tourism Ireland}}

The only fully restored Royal Observer Corps Cold War Nuclear Monitoring Bunker in Northern Ireland is located just outside the town off Dungannon Road. Opened in 1958 it, and an additional 57 other bunkers spread throughout Northern Ireland, would have been used to monitor and report the effects of a Nuclear Attack. The bunker was closed and abandoned in 1991. Nearly 20 years later, it was fully restored to its 1980s appearance and opened as a museum in 2010.{{cite web|url=http://www.nibunker.co.uk|title=Northern Ireland Secret bunker|access-date=24 August 2010}}{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/8802680.stm|title=Portadown man restores Cold War nuclear bunker|work=BBC News|date=8 July 2010|access-date=24 August 2010}}

{{See also|Category:People from Portadown}}

• Harris Boyle (1953–1975) was a high-ranking Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) member who was blown up when he and another member planted a bomb on the Miami Showband's minibus.
• George Gilmore (1898–1985) was a Protestant Irish Republican Army (IRA) leader during the 1920s and 1930s. In 1934 he left the IRA and helped set up the Republican Congress and the Connolly Column. Thereafter, Gilmore remained a significant left-wing figure within the republican movement.
• Marion Greeves MBE (1894–1979) was the first of what have been only two female members of the Senate of Northern Ireland.{{Cite web|url=http://www.haverford.edu/library/special/aids/jonescadbury/page2.html|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20071211132331/http://www.haverford.edu/library/special/aids/jonescadbury/page2.html|url-status=dead|title=Cadbury Family Tree|archivedate=11 December 2007}} She served as an independent from June 1950 until June 1969.{{cite web|url=http://www.nationalarchives.ie/search/index.php?browse=true&category=19&subcategory=148&offset=6200&browseresults=true|title=The National Archives of Ireland|publisher=Nationalarchives.ie|access-date=13 November 2011}}{{cite web|url=http://www.ark.ac.uk/elections/hnisen.htm|title=Northern Ireland Elections|publisher=Ark.ac.uk|access-date=13 November 2011}}
• Sir Robert Hart (1835–1911) was a British consular official in China, who served from 1863 to 1911 as the second Inspector-General of China's Imperial Maritime Custom Service (IMCS).{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/256117/Sir-Robert-Hart-1st-Baronet#tab=active~checked%2Citems~checked&title=Sir%20Robert%20Hart%2C%201st%20Baronet%20--%20Britannica%20Online%20Encyclopedia|title=Sir Robert Hart, 1st Baronet (British statesman)|encyclopedia=Britannica.com|date=20 September 1911|access-date=13 November 2011}}
• Eric Mervyn Lindsay OBE (1907–1974) was an astronomer who was instrumental in setting up Armagh Planetarium. He was also responsible for persuading the Irish government and Harvard University to found a telescope at Boyden Station in South Africa for the purpose of charting the southern skies. A crater on the moon has been named after him.
• Harold McCusker (1940–1990) was an Ulster Unionist politician who served as MP for Upper Bann till his death. He was tipped to be a future party leader.
• Robert Russell (c. 1858–1938) was an Irish mathematician and academic who served as Erasmus Smith's Professor of Mathematics at Trinity College Dublin
• Alexander Walker (1930–2003) was a film critic who worked for the Birmingham Post in the 1950s and the London Evening Standard from 1960 until his death. He was a highly influential figure within the film industry and also wrote a number of books on the topic.
• D'Arcy Wentworth (1762–1827), was a surgeon and founder of an Australian political dynasty.
• Billy Wright (1960–1997) was a loyalist paramilitary leader who spent much of his life in Portadown. He led the Mid Ulster Brigade of the UVF before founding a breakaway group called the Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF) in 1996. He was assassinated by the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA).

• Gloria Hunniford (born 1940) is a TV and radio presenter and formerly a singer. She is the mother of Caron Keating.
• Victor Sloan MBE (born 1945) is a photographer and artist who lives and works in Portadown. Employing primarily the medium of photography, he manipulates his negatives and reworks his prints with paints, inks, toners and dyes. He also uses video and printmaking techniques.
• David Simpson (born 1959) is a former Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) Member of Parliament for Upper Bann.
• Brendan McKenna is an Irish republican activist and spokesman of the Garvaghy Road Residents' Coalition. He was a Sinn Féin political advisor until 2007 and became General Secretary of éirígí in 2009.
• Les Binks is a drummer who is best known for having been the drummer of Judas Priest between March 1977 and July 1979.
• Aaron McCusker (born 1978) is an actor most famous for playing Jamie Maguire in Channel 4's comedic drama series Shameless.
• Paddy Johns (born 1968) was an Irish rugby union player from 1990 until 2000; he represented Ulster and Ireland. He played at the 1995 Rugby World Cup finals and the 1999 Rugby World Cup finals.
• Colin Turkington (born 1982) is an auto racing driver and is the reigning British Touring Car Champion.
• Adam Carroll (born 1982) is also an auto racing driver.{{cite news|title=Q&A with Adam Carroll|publisher=britsonpole.com|url=http://www.britsonpole.com/a1gp-qa-with-adam-carroll-post610|date=31 May 2008|access-date=16 April 2009}} He raced for A1 Team Ireland in the A1 Grand Prix series and won in 2008-09. Carroll has also raced for FMS International in the GP2 Series.
• Leigh Alderson (born 1986) is a male ballet dancer, model, actor and choreographer. Alderson was nominated for The Arts Personality of the Year Award in the Ulster Tatler Awards in two consecutive years, 2009 and 2010.
• Newton Emerson is a journalist and founder of the satirical online newspaper Portadown News.
• Chris Pennell, English rugby union player, was raised in the town.
• Lady Mary Peters (born 6 July 1939) is a former British athlete, best known for the pentathlon and shotput. She was born in England but relocated at age 11 to Portadown and was educated at Portadown College.
• Michael Andrew Martin O'Neill MBE (5 July 1969) Football manager
• Tim Mullen (born 1976), racing driver

File:Portadown (59), September 2009.JPG

Portadown has (or had) a large selection of academic institutions, past and present. Today, schools in Portadown operate under the Dickson Plan, a transfer system in north Armagh that allows pupils at age 11 the option of taking the 11-plus exam to enter grammar schools. Pupils in comprehensive junior high schools are sorted into grammar and non-grammar streams. Pupils can get promoted to or demoted from the grammar stream during their time in those schools, depending on the development of their academic performance. At age 14 they can take subject-based exams across the syllabus to qualify for entry into a dedicated grammar school to pursue GCSEs and A-levels.{{cite web|title=Parents will have last word on Grammar schools|url=http://www.sluggerotoole.com/index.php/weblog/comments/parents_will_have_last_word_on_grammar_schools|last=Emerson|first=Newton|publisher=The Irish News via Slugger O'Toole|date=30 August 2005|access-date=31 March 2010}}

The state-run Thomas Street Primary School, and Church Street Primary School, formerly the "Duke's School", were both incorporated into Millington Primary School in 1970.{{cite web|url=http://www.millington-sch.org.uk|title=Welcome to Millington Primary School|publisher=Millington-sch.org.uk|date=24 June 2003|access-date=13 November 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120224074301/http://www.millington-sch.org.uk/|archive-date=24 February 2012|url-status=dead}} Other state-run primary schools include Ballyoran Primary School, Bocombra Primary School,{{cite web|url=http://www.bocombraps.co.uk|title=Bocombra Primary School, Portadown, County Armagh|publisher=Bocombraps.co.uk |date=8 November 2011|access-date=13 November 2011}} Edenderry Primary School, Hart Memorial Primary School,{{cite web|url=http://www.hartmemorial.org.uk|title=Hart Memorial PS|publisher=Hartmemorial.org.uk|access-date=13 November 2011}} Moyallan Primary School,{{cite web|url=http://www.schoolswebdirectory.co.uk/schoolinfo2.php?ref=23697|title=Schools Web Directory UK|publisher=Schoolswebdirectory.co.uk|access-date=13 November 2011}} Portadown Primary School,{{cite web|url=http://www.schoolswebdirectory.co.uk/schoolinfo2.php?ref=23722|title=Schools Web Directory UK|publisher=Schoolswebdirectory.co.uk|access-date=13 November 2011}} Richmount Primary School,{{cite web|url=http://www.richmountprimary.co.uk|title=Richmount Primary School|publisher=Richmountprimary.co.uk|access-date=13 November 2011}} and the Anglican Seagoe Primary School.{{cite web|url=http://www.seagoeprimary.co.uk|title=seagoeprimary.co.uk|publisher=seagoeprimary.co.uk|access-date=13 November 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190124020838/https://seagoeprimary.co.uk/|archive-date=24 January 2019|url-status=dead}} Derrycarne Primary School is now used as an Orange Hall by the Orange Order.{{cite web|url=http://www.portadowndistrictlolno1.co.uk/LOL78.htm|title=Portadown District LOL No. 1|publisher=Portadown District LOL No. 1|access-date=13 November 2011}}

Primary schools managed by the Council for Catholic Maintained Schools are Presentation Convent Primary School,{{cite web|url=http://www.presentation-sisters.ie/content/view/23/37|title=Presentation Sisters – Ireland (Northern Province)|publisher=Presentation-sisters.ie|access-date=13 November 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120123152523/http://www.presentation-sisters.ie/content/view/23/37/|archive-date=23 January 2012|url-status=dead}} St John the Baptist Primary School (Irish: Bunscoil Eoin Baiste),{{cite web|url=http://www.stjohnthebaptist.org.uk|title=St. John the Baptist P.S. Home Page|publisher=Stjohnthebaptist.org.uk|access-date=13 November 2011}} which has both English-medium and Irish-medium units within it,{{cite web|url=http://www.deni.gov.uk/index/85-schools/10-types_of_school-nischools_pg/schools_-_types_of_school-_irish-medium_schools_pg/schools_-_types_of_school_lists_of_irishmedium_schools_pg.htm|title=List of Irish-medium schools – Department of Education, Northern Ireland|publisher=Deni.gov.uk|date=6 February 2009|access-date=13 November 2011}} and St. John's Primary School.{{cite web|url=http://www.schoolswebdirectory.co.uk/schoolinfo2.php?ref=23781|title=Schools Web Directory UK|publisher=Schoolswebdirectory.co.uk|date=9 February 2007|access-date=13 November 2011}} St Columba's Primary School in Carleton Street is now closed.

A multi-denominational, integrated primary school, known as Portadown Integrated Primary School, opened in 1990.{{cite web |title=Portadown Integrated Primary School |url=https://www.pipsonline.co.uk/ |website=Portadown Integrated Primary School |access-date=16 May 2022}}

• Portadown College (Controlled) - a grammar school which opened in 1924
• Clounagh Junior High School (Controlled)
• Craigavon Senior High School (Controlled),[http://www.cshs.org.uk/default.asp/] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071223030027/http://www.cshs.org.uk/default.asp/|date=23 December 2007}}
• Killicomaine Junior High School (Controlled){{cite web|url=http://www.killicomaine.co.uk/ |title=Killicomaine Junior High School – Portadown |publisher=Killicomaine.co.uk |access-date=13 November 2011}}
• St John the Baptist's College (Catholic Maintained){{cite web |title=St John the Baptist's College |url=https://www.stjohnthebaptistcollege.co.uk/home/ |website=St John the Baptist's College |access-date=14 May 2022}}
• Southern Regional College - Portadown Technical College, later Portadown College of Further Education, was merged with Lurgan CFE and Banbridge CFE to form the Upper Bann Institute of Further Education. Further Education in the region was consolidated again when the institute was merged with other FE colleges in Armagh, Newry and Kilkeel to form the Southern Regional College.{{cite web |url=http://www.src.ac.uk/ |title=Welcome to Southern Regional College |publisher=SRC |access-date=13 November 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190722174530/https://www.src.ac.uk/ |archive-date=22 July 2019 |url-status=dead }}

File:New Health and Care Centre, Portadown 5 - geograph.org.uk - 1770276.jpg

Access to a GP is provided at Portadown Health Centre.{{cite web |author=Gillian Burnett |url=http://www.portadownhealthcentre.co.uk/ |title=Portadown Health Centre |publisher=Portadown Health Centre |access-date=13 November 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161231084120/http://www.portadownhealthcentre.co.uk/ |archive-date=31 December 2016 |url-status=dead }} Hospital care and Accident and Emergency services are available at Craigavon Area Hospital, built 1972 on the outskirts of town as part of the Craigavon development.{{cite web|url=https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/executive-urged-to-build-450m-hospital-in-northern-ireland-35252206.html|title=Executive urged to build £450m hospital in Northern Ireland|publisher=Belfast Telegraph|date=29 November 2016|accessdate=3 April 2019}}

File:ShamrockParkSep089.jpg]]

Association football is played by Portadown F.C. and Annagh United in the NIFL Championship, and Bourneview Young Men F.C., Hanover F.C., St Mary's Youth F.C. and Seagoe F.C. in the Mid-Ulster Football League.

Rugby is played by Portadown Rugby Club,{{cite web|url=https://www.intouchrugby.com/magazine/portadown-rugby-match-reports-pictures-i-iv-v-xv-v-city-of-derry-omagh-clogher-valley-also-video-v-omagh-interview-with-chunka/ |title=Portadown Rugby Match Reports |accessdate=28 January 2018 |date=17 January 2011 |publisher=www.intouchrugby.com|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180128091611/https://www.intouchrugby.com/magazine/portadown-rugby-match-reports-pictures-i-iv-v-xv-v-city-of-derry-omagh-clogher-valley-also-video-v-omagh-interview-with-chunka/ |archivedate=28 January 2018 }} and Gaelic football is played by Tír na nÓg GAA Club.{{cite news| url=http://www.portadowntimes.co.uk/sport/no_joy_for_tir_na_nog_1_1645722| title=No joy for Tir na nOg| work=Portadown Times| date=29 May 2007| access-date=24 March 2011}}{{cite web|url=http://www.gaelsport.com/html/club/getStaticNew.jsp?c=42&pageID=431&opt=History/ |title=Tir Na Nog Gaelic football Clubs Hurling Clubs GAA Club Portal Gaelic Games Club portal |publisher=Gaelsport.com |access-date=13 November 2011}}

Portadown's main local newspaper is the Portadown Times, which is published by Johnston Publishing (NI). Although the newspaper focuses on the Portadown area, it also serves towns and villages across north Armagh. It was founded in 1924 and is issued weekly.{{cite news|url=https://www.northernirelandworld.com/news/times-is-at-the-heart-of-community-2416663|title=Times is at the heart of community|date=7 May 2010|newspaper=Northern Ireland World|access-date=26 November 2022}}

Between 2001 and 2005, Portadown resident Newton Emerson ran a controversial satirical online newspaper called the Portadown News. The website, which was updated biweekly, attracted media attention by poking fun at Northern Ireland politics and culture.{{cite news| url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4189048.stm| title = That's all jokes | access-date =15 January 2008| date = 29 August 2005| work=BBC News| author = Jonathan Duffy}}

{{Commons category|Portadown}}

• List of towns in Northern Ireland
• List of villages in Northern Ireland

{{reflist}}

• [http://www.ark.ac.uk/elections/lgcraigavon.htm Craigavon Borough Council Elections 1993 – 2005]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20070305075616/http://www.culturenorthernireland.org/town_Home.aspx?co=3&to=56&ca=0&sca=0&navID=1 Culture Northern Ireland]

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{{County Armagh}}

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Category:Towns in County Armagh