| Official Name: | Newtownhamilton |
| Irish Name: | Baile Úr[1] |
| Static Image Name: | Village Centre - Newtownhamilton - geograph.org.uk - 547838.jpg |
| Static Image Caption: | Village Centre, looking south |
| Map Type: | Northern Ireland |
| Coordinates: | 54.1906°N -6.5764°W |
| Population: | 2,836 |
| Population Ref: | (2011) |
| Irish Grid Reference: | H930278 |
| Country: | Northern Ireland |
| Post Town: | NEWRY |
| Postcode Area: | BT |
| Postcode District: | BT35 |
| Dial Code: | 028, +44 28 |
| Hide Services: | yes |
Newtownhamilton is a small village and civil parish in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. It lies predominantly within Tullyvallan townland. The civil parish is within the historic barony of Fews Upper.[2] In the 2011 Census it had 2,836 inhabitants.
The village is built around two narrow main streets (Armagh Street and Dundalk Street) and a main town square (The Square). Other places include Newry Street, Castleblaney Street (known locally as 'Blaney Hill'), Shambles Lane and The Commons. Residential areas include Dungormley Estate, Meadowvale and the Nine Mile Road.
Before the Plantation of Ulster the area of Newtownhamilton was known as Tullyvallan. This comes from the Irish Tulaigh Uí Mhealláin meaning "Ó Mealláin's hillock."[3]
The modern Irish name of Newtownhamilton is An Baile Úr, meaning "the new town"; a rarely used alternative is Baile Úr Uí Urmoltaigh ("the new town of Hamilton").[1]
On 9 May 1920, during the Irish War of Independence, some 200 Irish Republican Army volunteers under Frank Aiken surrounded and attacked the Royal Irish Constabulary barracks in Newtownhamilton. After a two-hour firefight, the IRA breached the barracks wall with explosives and stormed the building. The RIC refused to surrender even though the building was set alight with petrol from a potato-spraying machine.The 200-400 IRA men left the town at daybreak Discouraged and very drunk from the public house they had broken into beside the Barracks and had demolished the walk Between the Pub and the barracks. leaving the Constabulary still shouting No Surrender and with the Officers safe. One officer's wife and children had been hiding the whole time, With the Mother Helping load the magazines for the constabulary. [4]
Newtownhamilton suffered significant disruption, damage and fatalities during The Troubles from the late 1960s to the 1990s. The deadliest incident was the Tullyvallen massacre. For more information, see The Troubles in Newtownhamilton. While the British Army had a major presence in the village during the conflict, this was scaled down and eventually removed entirely following the Good Friday Agreement. In 2006 it was announced that the local police station would be upgraded to full-time status due to a recent bomb explosion caused by a nationalist still active group. [5]
Newtownhamilton is classified as a small town. On Census Day[6] (27 March 2011), in Newtownhamilton Ward, there were 2,836 people living in 956 households, giving an average household size of 2.97.
Of the population aged 3 years old and over:
On Census day 29 April 2001, there were 648 people living in Newtownhamilton.
The civil parish contains the village of Newtownhamilton.[2]
The civil parish contains the following townlands:[2]
1https://www.jstor.org/stable/29742796