Portadown (from Irish Port an Dúnáin 'landing place of the little fort' pronounced [pɔɾˠt̪ˠ ə ˈd̪ˠuːnˠaːnʲ])[3][4] is a town in County Armagh, Northern Ireland.

Although Portadown was founded during the early 17th century English Plantation of Ulster, it was not until the Victorian era and the arrival of the railway that it developed as a major town.

In the 1990s, the dispute escalated and the government responded with a massive security operation, drawing worldwide attention to Portadown.

[7] 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).

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'.

[7] Obins built a large Elizabethan-style mansion for himself and his family, and a number of houses nearby for English tenants.

[7] 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.

[7] George Montagu, 6th Duke of Manchester (known as Viscount Mandeville) married Millicent Sparrow in 1822 and came into possession of the estate.

[14] 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.

[25] Portadown's 'Catholic district' is now bordered by the railway line and by a security barrier ("peace wall") along Corcrain Road.

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"[27] and a "siege".

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.

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.

The following is a list of townlands within Portadown's urban area, alongside their likely etymologies:[37][38][39][40] West bank of the River Bann (parish of Drumcree): East bank of the River Bann (parish of Seagoe): The climate of Portadown is like that of much of the rest of the UK and Ireland, being a temperate oceanic climate.

For census purposes, Portadown is not treated as a separate entity by the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA).

However, a fairly accurate population count can be arrived at by combining the data of the electoral wards that make up Portadown.

Portadown is part of the Upper Bann constituency for elections to the Northern Ireland Assembly and Parliament of the United Kingdom.

[54] 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.

A combination of road, canal and rail links, all converging on Portadown railway station, gave it the nickname "Hub of the North".

[59] At Portadown railway station, lines were built serving destinations in four diretions: one went northeast toward Belfast, one northwest toward Dungannon, one southwest to Armagh, and one southeast toward Newry and onward to Dublin.

Repair yards were opened in 1925[60] and these large concrete buildings dominated the skyline on the west of the town centre.

The Town Hall, an 1890 Victorian building, has been extensively refurbished to offer a commercial in-house theatre and conference facilities.

[73] 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.

Today it is administered jointly by the Museum Services and the Lough Neagh Discovery Centre at Oxford Island.

[74] 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.

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.

and Annagh United in the NIFL Championship, and Bourneview Young Men F.C., Hanover F.C., St Mary's Youth F.C.

The website, which was updated biweekly, attracted media attention by poking fun at Northern Ireland politics and culture.