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POR
It consists of one spacious and handsome street, with
several smaller streets branching from it in various
directions; and contains 315 houses, of which those
in the principal street are large and well built. The
town has been greatly improved within the last 40
years, previously to which it was comparatively of little
importance; it is paved and cleansed by a committee
appointed under the act of the 9th of Geo. IV., which
raises money for that purpose by an assessment on the
inhabitants. The river, which falls into Lough Neagh
about seven miles below the town to the north, and com-
municates with the Newry canal about one mile above it
to the south, is navigable for vessels of 80 tons’ burden;
but from a bar at its mouth, and from want of depth in
the canal, the vessels generally navigating it seldom ex-
ceed 60 tons. The bridge, which is the only one across
the river between Knock and Toome, a distance of full
30 miles, was built in 1764, but has suffered so much
from the winter floods, that it has become necessary to
rebuild it, and the expense is estimated at £8000. The
chief trade is in corn, pork, cattle, and agricultural pro-
duce, and is greatly promoted by the situation of the
place in the centre of an extensive and fertile district.
The corn trade is particularly brisk during the winter; on
an average, from £10,000 to £15,000 is laid out weekly
in the purchase of grain, which is shipped to Newry and
Belfast for exportation to England, the vessels return-
ing with cargoes of timber, coal, slates, iron, and articles
for inland consumption. The manufacture of linen,
lawn, cambric and sheeting is extensively carried on,
chiefly for the bleachers and factors of Banbridge; and
the weaving of cotton goods for the merchants of Bel-
fast also affords employment to a great number of
persons. A very large distillery has been established,
consuming annually more than 3000 tons of malt, bere,
and oats; there is also a very extensive porter brewery;
and since the Tyrone collieries were opened, brick-
making has been extensively carried on. The market
is on Saturday, and is abundantly supplied with pro-
visions of all kinds, and with linen yarn, which is sold
in great quantities. Fairs are held on the third Satur-
day in every month, and also on Easter-Monday and
Whit-Monday, for cattle, pigs, and pedlery, and during
the winter great quantities of pork are sold. A large
and commodious market-place, with shambles and every
requisite, has been recently erected by subscription, and
is under the regulation of a committee. A chief con-
stabulary police force is stationed in the town; petty
sessions are held every Saturday; and courts for the
manors of Ballyoran and Richmount, at which debts
to the amount of 40s. are recoverable, every third Mon-
day, before a seneschal appointed by Viscount Mande-
ville.
The district parish comprises 3836 statute acres,
mostly in a profitable state of cultivation; the demesne
attached to the ancient mansion of the Obyns family,
with the exception of a tract of woodland, has been
parcelled out into farms. The principal seats are Bal-
lyworkan, the residence of G. Pepper, Esq.; Carrick, of
Lieu. Col. Blacker, a fine old mansion, embellished with
some stately timber; Clowna, of J. Woolsey, Esq.; Eden
Villa, of W. Atkinson, Esq.; and Fair View, of T. Car-
leton, Esq. The living is a perpetual curacy, in the
diocese of Armagh, and in the patronage of the Rector of
Drumcree, who pays the curate a stipend of £150. The
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church, a handsome edifice in the early English style,
with a tower at the east end, and for the erection of
which the late Board of First Fruits contributed a gift
of £831, and a loan of £461, was built in 1826; and
the Ecclesiastical Commissioners have lately granted
£173 for its repair. In the R. C. divisions the parish
gives name to a union or district, including also the
parish of Drumcree, where is the chapel. There are
two places of worship for Wesleyan Methodists. About
550 children are taught in seven public schools, of
which two are supported by the rector, four by Lord
and Lady Mandeville, and one partly by Mrs. Henry;
there are also five private schools, in which are about
100 children, and two Sunday schools. A dispensary
for the tenants of the Portadown estate is wholly sup-
ported by Lord Mandeville, by whom also a lending-
library and a loan fund have been established.
PORTAFERRY, a sea-port, market, and post-
town, partly in the parish of ARDQUIN, and partly in
that of BALLYPHILLIP, barony of ARDES, county of
DOWN, and province of ULSTER, 7 miles (N. E.) from
Downpatrick, and 102 (N. N. E.) from Dublin; con-
taining 2203 inhabitants. It is situated on the eastern
side of the inlet to the sea that forms the entrance to
Lough Coyne or Strangford Lough, and opposite to the
town of Strangford, on the western side of the same
inlet, between which two places a constant intercourse
is kept up by means of a ferry. The town owes its
origin to a castle built by the first of the Savage family
who came into this part of the country with John de
Courcy, shortly after the arrival of the English, and
the place being well secured and garrisoned by that
powerful family, its situation on the strait made it a
post of great importance in all the subsequent wars,
during which neither it nor the neighbouring district of
the Southern Ardes ever fell into the hands of the Irish;
but the town, until lately, was only a small collection of
cottages, built under the shelter of the castle, and chiefly
inhabited by fishermen. It is now, owing to the exertions
of the proprietor, Andrew Nugent, Esq., and the spirit
of commercial enterprise in the principal townsmen, a
place of considerable business, and increasing yearly in
prosperity. It consists of a square and three principal
streets, besides a range of good houses on the quay,
which is built along the edge of the strait, chiefly at the
expense of Mr. Nugent. The only public buildings are
the market-house, a substantial old structure in the
middle of the square, which in the disturbances of 1798
became a post of defence to the yeomanry of the town,
who repulsed a body of the insurgents that attempted
to take possession of it; the church of the parish of
Ballyphilip, a neat building erected in 1787; a large
and commodious Presbyterian meeting-house, and
another for Wesleyan Methodists: at a little distance
from the town is the R. C. chapel (a large building) for
the parishes of Ballyphilip, Ballytrustan, Slane, and
Witter. The town is a constabulary police and a coast
guard station. The market, on Saturday, is well sup-
plied with provisions; fairs are held on Jan. 1st,
Feb. 13th, Tuesday after May 12th, and Nov. 13th.
There is a distillery; and a brisk trade is carried on,
chiefly with Liverpool, Glasgow, Dublin and Belfast,
whither it sends wheat, barley, oats, potatoes and kelp,
and receives in exchange timber, coal, and general mer-
chandise. The situation of the town gives it the com-