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RICHHILL

CO. ARMAGH · IE

Richhill

The Ireland's Ancient East
STOP 05 / 05

Richhill · Co. Armagh

A planter's village laid out around a square, with Dutch gables on the hill and Bramleys in every field beyond.

Richhill is a planted village six miles east of Armagh city, dropped into orchard country in the 1660s by an English officer named Edward Richardson. He gave it his name and his castle — a Dutch-gabled mansion on the hill above the square, built between 1664 and 1669, still standing, still privately owned, still mostly closed to the public. You can see the gables from the road. That's the deal.

What the village really runs on is apples. This is the heart of the Armagh Bramley belt — the cooking apple with PGI protection, grown on something over a hundred farms between here and Loughgall up the road. In May the lanes turn white with blossom. In October the village throws an Apple Harvest Fayre that pulls thousands of people in for the day. The rest of the year it's quiet, and the orchards do their slow work in the background.

Don't come expecting a night out. Come for an afternoon — the square, the market house, a look up at the castle gates that aren't there (they were carted off to Hillsborough in 1936 and never came back; the village has been asking for them ever since). Then drive the orchards. That's Richhill.

Population

2,738

Walk score

Square to square in five minutes

Founded

c. 1664

Coords

54.3559° N, 6.5586° W

01 / 05

At a glance.

Three things every local will eventually mention. Read these and you've already understood more than most day-trippers do.

01 The castle

Dutch gables on an Armagh hill.

Built for Major Edward Richardson between 1664 and 1669 — five bays, two flanking wings, all topped with Dutch gables. Grade A listed. Privately owned by the Lyttle family since 1959. You see it from the road; you don't get in.

Stories & lore → 02 The orchards

Heart of the Armagh Bramley belt.

The PGI-protected Armagh Bramley is grown commercially on over 100 farms clustered around Richhill and Loughgall. Drive any lane in May and the whole place is white with blossom.

When to go → 03 The square

Plantation geometry, intact.

A market house from 1753 sits at the centre of the square — once the engine of a £2,600-a-week linen yarn trade. The whole village is a Conservation Area, which is why it still looks like itself.

Stories & lore →

02 / 05

Stories & lore.

The reason to come back. The things every local will eventually tell you about, usually after the second pint.

Edward Richardson, 1664

The castle on the hill

The estate was originally called Legacorry — granted in 1610 to a Leicestershire planter, Francis Sacherevall. His granddaughter married Major Edward Richardson, MP for County Armagh, and Richardson built the present house between 1664 and 1669. Five bays, two wings, all under Dutch-style gables — the most striking 17th-century house in the county. The village took his name. The Lyttle family have owned it since 1959 and have been restoring it slowly.

And never came back

The gates that went to Hillsborough

The wrought-iron entrance gates to Richhill Castle were made in 1745 by the Thornberry brothers of Armagh — eighteen feet high, topped with the Richardson coat of arms, considered some of the finest in Ireland. In 1936 they were removed to Hillsborough Castle, residence of the Governor of Northern Ireland, while it was being repaired after a fire. They were supposed to come back. They didn't. They're still at Hillsborough. Local councillors raised it again in 2009. Nothing changed. People here haven't forgotten.

Armagh's apple

The Bramley

Bramleys have been grown commercially in this corner of Armagh for over a century — the cooler climate and the drumlin soils suit them. The Armagh Bramley has held PGI status since 2012, the same protected-origin designation as Champagne and Parma ham. Over a hundred orchards work the belt between Richhill and Loughgall. If you've eaten an apple tart in Ireland, there's a fair chance the apples came from within five miles of this square.

1753

The market house

The octagonal market house in the square was put up in 1753 and ran a busy linen yarn market for the next century — weekly sales averaging around £2,600, which was real money. The village's plantation grid and Georgian fronts survived because Richhill never industrialised the way Portadown and Lurgan did. The Conservation Area designation now keeps it that way.

03 / 05

When to go.

There is no bad time. There are different times.

Spring

Mar–May

May is blossom season. Drive any lane between Richhill and Loughgall and the orchards are white as snow. The Armagh Apple Blossom event runs in mid-May.

◉ Go

Summer

Jun–Aug

Quiet, green, long evenings. Good base for poking around the orchard country and Armagh city.

◉ Go

Autumn

Sep–Oct

Harvest. The Richhill Apple Harvest Fayre is on a Saturday at the end of October — local growers, food stalls, the village at its busiest day of the year.

◉ Go

Winter

Nov–Feb

Nothing much happening. The castle and the square look fine in low winter light, but you'll have them to yourself.

◐ Mind yourself

04 / 05

What to skip.

Honestly? Don't bother.

If a local was sitting beside you, this is the bit where they'd lean in.

Trying to get into Richhill Castle

It's a private home in slow restoration. The gates are locked and the gates are also gone. Look from the road and move on.

Coming on a Sunday for a meal

This isn't a hospitality village. Eat in Armagh city or Portadown — both are fifteen minutes away.

Driving through without stopping at the square

The square is the whole point. Park, walk around it, look at the market house, look up at the castle. Five minutes well spent.

Getting there.

By car

Six miles east of Armagh city on the A3 / B131. Five miles west of Portadown. Belfast is about 35 miles, an hour on the M1.

By bus

Translink Ulsterbus route 251 runs Armagh–Portadown via Richhill, several times a day. Check translink.co.uk for current times.

By train

Nearest station is Portadown (5 miles), on the Belfast–Newry–Dublin line. Then bus or taxi.

By air

Belfast International (BFS) is around 40 miles. Belfast City (BHD) about 45. Dublin is 90 miles down the M1.

Next on the tour

Co. Armagh

Armagh

Two cathedrals on two hills, both called St Patrick's. The ecclesiastical capital, six miles west.

Co. Armagh

Portadown

Linen town on the Bann. Five miles east. The nearest train.

Co. Armagh

Tandragee

Castle, crisp factory, golf course. Down the road into the drumlins.