Killylea - History

History

In 1858 Killylea railway station opened, situated on the Elm Park Road. It was opened by the Ulster Railway and became part of the Great Northern Railway in 1876, offering people the chance to travel to Belfast and Dublin. Like most rural railways in Northern Ireland, it was not to last and eventually closed in 1957. The station platforms can still be seen today from the railway bridge on the Elm Park Road.

In September 1887 events on the platform of Killylea railway station made it into the British House of Commons as Alexander Blane, Nationalist MP for South Armagh asked a question relating to an attack on a train by what he described as an "Orange mob". Edward King-Harman, then Under-Secretary for Ireland, stated "that a party of Nationalists returning by train from a meeting at Middle-town, County Armagh, while passing Killylea Station, which is essentially an Orange district, made use of party cries" and that the only shot fired was from the train, concluding that "Nationalists appear to have been altogether responsible" for the events. He goes on to say that a "boy" was injured by the shot fired from the train but that he escaped with only minor injuries to his foot.

From 1920 to 1954 Killylea was home to an elite private school, Elm Park Preparatory School. This was set up by Seth Smith and Willoughby Weaving to educate boys up to the age of 14. Following the outbreak of World War II, the school's population expanded dramatically because parents believed that it was safer than sending their children to England. This expansion, however, was not to last and due to a decline in numbers in the years following World War II, the school was forced to close in 1954. One of the most famous pupils to attend Elm Park school was Brian Faulkner who was to become the sixth and final Prime Minister of Northern Ireland, presiding over the prorogation of the Stormont Parliament in 1972 following the outbreak of the Troubles only a few years earlier. Faulkner attended the school from 1933 to 1935. There is still a pew in St. Mark's Church which bears the name of the school as it is where the boys sat when they attended church each Sunday.

As is illustrated by the name of the pub at the top of Main Street, Killylea has always been closely associated with hunting, with the traditional Boxing Day hunt taking place in December each year. This tradition stretches back to 1838 when the Tynan and Armagh Harriers were established by Sir James Stronge.