Banbridge is a town in County Down in Northern Ireland, nowadays governed as part of Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon District. It stands on the road between Belfast and Newry so it grew up as a rest stop for stagecoaches, and in the 19th century it was a major centre of the Irish linen industry. In 2021 it had a population of 17,400.
Understand
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The direct route from Belfast to Newry and Dublin crosses higher ground, which the railway swings west to avoid. The River Bann flows northwest out of the Mourne Mountains towards Lough Neagh: it's narrow and fast-flowing, good for powering watermills, but not navigable. South of the bridge over the Bann which gives this town its name, there's a long grinding gradient as the road climbs out of the valley. Modern vehicles have no difficulty but it was sore toil for horses and their drivers, so in 1834 "The Cut" was made through the brow of the hill, with a bridge for the cross-street. You still needed to rest the horses, so Banbridge became a staging post for the mail coaches.
Banbridge isn't recorded in history until 1691, when Jacobite resistance to King William III was being crushed. It grew with the linen industry, becoming the principal linen-producing district in Ireland by 1772; fabric was whitened by laying it out in the sunshine in riverside bleach-greens. Domestic production grew into "cottage industry" then large mills, although transport here was always a handicap compared to lowland Lisburn.
The mills were most suited to items like bed linen, with plain fabric and mass production runs. In the early 19th century the Jacquard machine made the looms programmable, enabling more complex designs and shorter runs. The pattern was specified by punched cards, which moved rods, which raised or lowered hooks carrying threads into the "shed" of the loom. Charles Babbage took a great interest in this invention, and in the ideas of George Boole in Cork who formulated logic into algebra, and the modern programmable computer was born. Herman Hollerith the founder of IBM developed smaller 12-row 80-column cards which became an industry standard and remained in common use to 1980.
In the 20th century the linen trade collapsed under foreign competition. Flax-growing, spinning into yarn, weaving, and making up into garments is nowadays mostly abroad. A single manufacturer, Thomas Ferguson, has stayed in business by concentrating on luxury apparel.
Get in
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Banbridge is on A1 between Belfast and Newry, which continues across the border as N1 / M1 to Dundalk, Drogheda and Dublin.
Goldliner Bus 238 runs from Belfast Grand Central via Sprucefield retail park (south edge of Lisburn), Hillsborough and Dromore to Banbridge, 50 min. It continues to Newry (another 40 min), which has buses and trains from Dublin. It runs every 20-30 min M-Sa, hourly on Sunday. A slower Ulsterbus 538 from Belfast takes 80 min via Dunmurry, Lisburn, Sprucefield, Hillsborough and Dromore, and occasionally extends to Newry.
Goldliner X1 runs hourly from Dublin Busáras and Airport via Newry to Banbridge (2 hr), continuing to Sprucefield and Belfast. Don't take X2 or the Aircoach, which are nonstop from airport to Belfast.
Bus 62 runs from Portadown via Gifford to Banbridge, taking 40 min. It runs M-F hourly, Sa every couple of hours, no Sunday service.
1 Banbridge bus station is south end of main street at the junction with Kenlis Rd.
Banbridge lost its railway in 1956, so by train change at Newry or Lisburn for the bus. There's a closer station at Scarva 4 miles west, but it has only a couple of rush-hour trains a day, and three buses (#66) to Banbridge.
Get around
[edit]- Near Banbridge town, in the County Down, One morning last July
- Down a boreen green came a sweet colleen, And she smiled as she passed me by.
- - Trad ballad, trad values, that was as close as he got.
Bus 330C potters round town hourly, and reaches the Outlet Park, for Game of Thrones Studio.
You can also reach Loughbrickland by bus. You need your own wheels for anywhere that's not along A1.
Taxi firms are Q Cabs (+44 28 4066 9300) and Bann Taxis (+44 28 4062 9100).
See
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- Town centre: North of the river is the most attractive part, with Georgian buildings lining A26. South ascending through The Cut is modern and nondescript.
- 1 Game of Thrones Studio, Cascum Rd BT32 4LF (on Outlet Park), ☏ +44 4046 4777. Daily 10AM-6PM. Tour of the principal studio behind GOT, price includes a shuttle from town centre. Adult £30, child £20.
- 2 Lisnagade is a large earthen ringfort 3 miles west of town, follow Scarva Rd then turn south on Lisnagade Rd. It's three concentric embankments separated by ditches, some 120 yards in diameter, and connected at the north to a subsidiary fort. It may have been built around 350 AD. Sectarian battles were fought here in 1783 and 1789.
- 3 Loughbrickland is a village 3 miles south of Banbridge on A1. You might need to use a bit of imagination to appreciate the place, which was home to the Rev Patrick Brunty, father of the Brontë family, and of Enoch Powell MP. The lough itself, another mile south, has a crannog, a man-made island settlement from maybe 500 BC in the late Bronze Age. It was inhabited in the 17th century by the Magennis family in preference to their castle (which must have been the pits; nothing of it remains) and as a rebel hideout. All you see from the shore is a wooded islet. At the north end of the village, a permissive trail around the Whyte Estate takes in the earthworks of Coolnacran Ringfort and Johnston's Fort.
- Dromore: see Hillsborough for this small town with a cathedral and Norman motte and bailey.
- Legananny Dolmen: see Newcastle for this impressive neolithic tripod near Castlewellan.
Do
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- IMC Cinema is on Victoria St.
- The Leisure Centre is off Huntly Rd near the river bridge. It has a gym, pool and fitness classes, non-members welcome.
- Banbridge Golf Club is along Huntly Rd a mile north of town. White tees 5665 yards, par 69.
- Buskfest is a busking festival and competition in Banbridge in mid June.
Buy
[edit]- Tesco is on Castlewellan Rd just east of the river. It's open M-Sa 7AM-11PM, Su 1-6PM and has a filling station.
- The Outlet is a retail park a mile south of town at the junction of Newry Rd and A1. It's mostly for clothing.
- Thomas Ferguson Irish Linen, 54 Scarva Rd BT32 3QD, ☏ +44 28 4062 3491. Shop M-Th 9AM-4:30PM, F 9AM-noon. This is the last of Ireland's traditional linen weavers, now part of Franklins Group. They've kept going by concentrating on short-run luxury items such as damask weaves. No factory tours.
Eat
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- Main Street has Harry's Bar, The Vault Pizza, Friar Tuck's, Rosehip Cafe, Cafe Marmalade, Piggotts, Jinglers, Safari, The Food House and Blend & Batch.
- The Seven Stars, 4 Main St, Loughbrickland BT32 3NQ (off A1 three miles southwest of town), ☏ +44 28 4062 6461. Tu-Sa 5-9PM, Su noon-9PM. Great little Irish bar and restaurant.
- 1 Pot Belly Restaurant, 59a Banbridge Rd, Laurencetown BT63 6DL, ☏ +44 28 3883 1404. Th 5-8PM, F Sa noon-9PM, Su 12:30-7:30PM. Splendid Irish restaurant in a converted mill, worth the extra drive out.
Drink
[edit]- Town centre pubs are Imperial Inn, Bus Bar and Old Tavern, with Railway Inn northwest off Huntly St.
Sleep
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- Downshire Arms Hotel, 95 Newry St BT32 3EF (opposite bus station), ☏ +44 28 4066 2638, [email protected]. Comfy central hotel with 9 rooms en suite and restaurant. B&B double £110.
- 1 Belmont House Hotel, Rathfriland Rd BT32 3LH, ☏ +44 28 4066 2517. Elegant small hotel close to town centre. B&B double £140.
- 2 Banville Hotel, 174 Lurgan Rd BT32 4NR (on A26 three miles north of town), ☏ +44 28 4062 8884. Good mid-range place with popular restaurant. B&B double £130.
- 3 Blackwell House, 33 Mullabrack Rd, Scarva BT63 6BP, ☏ +44 28 3883 2752, [email protected]. Charming small hotel 5 miles west of town. B&B double £250.
Connect
[edit]As of Oct 2025, Banbridge and its approach roads have 4G from EE, Three and Vodafone, and 5G from O2.
Go next
[edit]- Hillsborough is an attractive Georgian village clustered round its imposing "castle", the residence of the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.
- Lisburn is where the Irish linen trade was founded.
- Newry and Newcastle are the obvious choices for exploring the Mourne Mountains.
- Brontë Country: there's little trace in County Down of the early years of Patrick Brunty or Brontë, so head for Haworth and other sites in the north of England to pick up the literary trail.
| Routes through Banbridge |
| Belfast ← Hillsborough ← | N  S
|
→ Newry → Dublin |