Bessbrook
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Bessbrook is a village in County Armagh, Northern Ireland, with approximately 3000 inhabitants. It lies about three miles west of the regional centre of Newry, County Down, and close to the main Dublin-Belfast road and rail line.
During the late 20th century some of the worst violence of the 'Troubles' took place near the town and it became a military zone with a large Army garrison and military flights. The small village became the busiest heliport in Europe.
History
The village is probably named after Elizabeth (Bess) Pollock, the daughter of a Newry linen draper born in 1779, but the name may also refer to Elizabeth Nicholson, the wife of a local mill owner in the early 1800s.
It was founded in 1845 as a 'model village', with spacious streets and squares surrounding a large linen mill owned by the Quaker Richardson family (the mill closed in the early 1970s). As a social experiment, it was based partly on the model of the better-known Bournville company town founded by the Cadbury family near Birmingham, England. There are no public houses in the village, unlike almost every other village in Northern Ireland.
In the frequently segregated communities of Northern Ireland, Bessbrook is also an unusally mixed village.
The Troubles
Bessbrook saw some of the worst violence in the 'Troubles', the period of unrest in Northern Ireland from 1972 to 1998. The linen mill was taken over by the British Army as a major military base. A helicopter landing area was established to supply other military outposts in the area as it was too dangerous to supply them by road. At one stage the little village was reportedly the busiest helicopter airport in Europe, more so than the major heliports supplying the North Sea oil rigs. For many years British army helicopters would take off and land every few minutes. To avoid the risk of missile attack they would fly at rooftop level over the village.
Direct access to much of the village was sealed off by security barriers, which led to the commercial decline of many local businesses. The worst incident occurred on 5 January 1976 when 10 workers from the mill were shot dead after their minibus was stopped by Republican terrorists.
The end of the 'Troubles' following the signing of the Good Friday Agreement in 1998 has led to some recovery for the village. But the local economy still lags behind the rapid growth in the nearby Republic of Ireland, the 'emerald tiger'.
External link
short history and photographs http://cloghmore.bravepages.com/bessbrook/bessbrook_history.html