[4] The town began as a coaching stop on the road from Belfast to Dublin and thrived from Irish linen manufacturing.

Banbridge, home to the "Star of the County Down", is a relatively young town, first entering recorded history around 1691 during the aftermath of the struggle between William III and James II.

By 1820 the town was the centre of the 'Linen Homelands' and its prominence grew when it became a staging post on the mail coach route between Dublin and Belfast.

A gift of £500 from the Marquis of Downshire around this time helped to alleviate some problems with the steepness of the road and paid for significant improvements.

[7] This industry has now greatly diminished in prominence, but Banbridge still has three of the major producers in Ulster; Weavers, Thomas Ferguson & Co, and John England Irish Linen.

On 17 July, the Irish Republican Army (IRA) assassinated British colonel Gerald Smyth in Cork.

After Smyth's funeral, about 3,000 Protestant loyalists took to the streets of Banbridge and wreaked revenge on the Catholic community.

On 15 March 1982, a Provisional IRA bomb on Bridge Street killed a schoolboy and injured 36 people.

[11][12] On 4 April 1991, another IRA bomb of 1,000 lb of explosives caused widespread damage and injured a police officer outside Banbridge Courthouse.

[14] Like the rest of Ireland, the Banbridge area has long been divided into townlands, whose names mostly come from the Irish language.

[5] Of these: Near the town lie the ancient Lisnagade Fort, Legannany Dolmen, and the Loughbrickland Crannóg, constructed around the year 500 AD.

[41] Clann Na Banna (Founded 1903) are the local Gaelic Football and Hurling club, with their ground located at Cottage Park, Scarva Road.