Keady

Keady
Town
Kinelowen Street
Keady is located in Northern Ireland
Keady
Keady
Location within Northern Ireland
Population3,327 (2021 census)
Irish grid referenceH844340
District
County
CountryNorthern Ireland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townARMAGH
Postcode districtBT60
Dialling code028
PoliceNorthern Ireland
FireNorthern Ireland
AmbulanceNorthern Ireland
UK Parliament
NI Assembly
List of places
UK
Northern Ireland
Armagh
54°14′54″N 6°42′17″W / 54.2483°N 6.7046°W / 54.2483; -6.7046

Keady (from Irish An Céide, meaning 'the flat-topped hill') is a small historic market town and civil parish in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. It is south of Armagh and near the border with the Republic of Ireland. It is situated mainly in the historic barony of Armagh with six townlands in the barony of Tiranny. It had a population of 3,327 people in the 2021 census.

A tributary of the River Callan, known as the Clea, flows from its source in Clea Lake (also spelled as Clay Lake) through the middle of the town. The River Clea once powered Keady's millwheels. In the middle of the town, on the banks of the river, stands the Old Mill, which has been converted into workshops and offices.

History

At this time the Tyronne o'Neills entered the Fews through Middletown and Madden and left distinctive inheritance in Keady - two sons, Cairbre and Aobh.

The townland southwest of the village, Rathcarbery is translated as the ''Fort of Cairbre''. Keady's main street, Kinelowen means ''the seeds of owen'' and the most popular local surname Hughes is a derivative of Aodh, the Anglicised name being Hugh.

By 1804 the town consisted of Church Street, Main Street and Madden Row with a lane, (Drury Lane) now Davis Street leading up to the original Presbyterian church which was built in 1776.

The Troubles

For more information see The Troubles in Keady, which includes a list of incidents in Keady during the Troubles resulting in two or more deaths.

Demography

2021 Census

On Census day (21 March 2021) there were 3,327 people living in Keady.

2011 Census

On Census day (27 March 2011) the population of Keady was 3,051, accounting for 0.17% of the NI total. Of these:

Transport

Churches in Keady

Schools

St Patrick's High School

Civil parish of Keady

The civil parish contains the villages of Darkley and Keady.

Townlands

The civil parish contains the following townlands:

People

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Bunachar Logainmneacha na hÉireann".
  2. 1 2 3 "Keady". IreAtlas Townlands Database. Retrieved 7 May 2015.
  3. ↑ "Keady in Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon (Northern Ireland)". citypopulation.de. Retrieved 16 July 2025.
  4. ↑ "Geograph:: Heritage Map and Information Board © Sean Davis". www.geograph.ie. Retrieved 23 August 2026.
  5. ↑ "Census 2011 Population Statistics for Keady Settlement". Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA). Retrieved 5 May 2021. This article contains quotations from this source, which is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0. © Crown copyright.
  6. ↑ "Keady station" (PDF). Railscot - Irish Railways. Retrieved 16 October 2007.
  7. ↑ "Welcome Statement". Parish of Keady, Derrynoose & Madden. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
  8. ↑ Stanley Kunitz, Marie D. Loizeaux (1952) Wilson Library Bulletin, Vol. 27. p. 682
  9. ↑ Anne Innis Dagg (2001) The Feminine Gaze: A Canadian Compendium of Non-Fiction Women Authors and Their Books, 1836-1945. p. 236-237