Forkhill or Forkill (/fɔːrkˈhɪl/ fork-HIL, /fɔːrˈkɪl/ for-KIL; from Irish Foirceal, meaning 'trough/hollow')[1] is a small village and civil parish in south County Armagh, Northern Ireland.

Its name, deriving from the Irish word foirceal[citation needed] may refer to the village's position on flat land between the large hills of Tievecrom (to the east) and Croslieve (to the west).

Following the terms of a trust set up by a subsequent owner, Richard Jackson, much of the property was declared waste and resettled in 1787–91 with a view to encouraging the linen industry, most of the new settlers being Protestants.

This was followed by serious breaches of the peace, which have been attributed not to sectarianism but by L. M. Cullen to political disputes among the gentry, and by David Millar to weakening social disciplines on the increasingly independent class of skilled linen weavers, both Protestant and Catholic.

About 10% of the 7,063 inhabitants were Protestant; and between the denominations the average family size was identical at just over 5 persons, both employed servants in roughly equal proportions, and both were for the most part situated on small farms.

[8] However, this source of resentment soon became overtaken by issues of rent and security, with persistent claims for proper leases being refused in the early 1840s, the Forkhill Estate preferring to deal with tenants-in-chief who sublet on difficult terms, a system giving rise to widespread intimidation and violence without regard to religious affiliation.