[2] The model village of Bessbrook, County Armagh is a visible memorial to the commercial endeavours of the Richardson family over a number of generations.

[3] During the late 20th century some of the worst violence of "the Troubles" took place near the village and it became a military zone with a large garrison.

[3] As a social experiment it is similar to the model of the better-known Bournville company town founded by the Cadbury family near Birmingham, England.

It was John Grubb Richardson's belief that without a public house there would be no need for a pawn brokers or police station.

Nor are there any pawn shops, although there was a Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) station until its closure in June 2012.

In the frequently segregated communities of Northern Ireland, Bessbrook is an unusually mixed village, with representation of Anglican, Methodist, Presbyterian and Roman Catholic denominations.

There was a dispensary in the town and the workers subscribed to a medical club which was supplemented by donations from Bessbrook Spinning Co. which supported a doctor.

There was a Temperance Hotel which acted as a social centre where English and Irish Newspapers could be bought, draughts and chess could be played, and people could indulge in smoking.

The town boasted a Co-Operative store, a refreshment hall for travelling workers, a farm supplying milk, as well as allotments.

On 25 June 2007 the British Army withdrew their military presence from Bessbrook and closed all of their facilities, marking an end to Operation Banner in the South Armagh region.

[citation needed] The viaduct still carries the Dublin-Belfast railway line and with eighteen, (60 ft) twenty metre high arches, spanning about quarter of a mile (500 m), it was for a long time the longest bridge in Ireland.

[citation needed] Bessbrook is classified as an Intermediate Settlement by the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA), i.e. with a population between 2,500 and 4,999.