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{{Short description|Village and townland in County Armagh, Northern Ireland}}
{{for|the [[County Fermanagh]] town|Belleek, County Fermanagh}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}}
{{Infobox UK place
| official_name = Belleeks
| irish_name = Béal Leice
| scots_name =
| local_name =
| static_image = Belleeks Post Office - geograph.org.uk - 1542693.jpg
| static_image_width = 250px
| static_image_caption = Belleeks Post Office
| map_type = Northern Ireland
| coordinates = {{coord|54.1667|-6.483333|display=inline,title}}
| population = 375
| population_ref = (2011)
| irish_grid_reference = H987272
| unitary_northern_ireland = [[Newry, Mourne and Down District Council|Newry, Mourne and Down]]
| country = Northern Ireland
|historic_county=
| post_town = NEWRY
| postcode_area = BT
| postcode_district = BT35
| dial_code = 028
| constituency_westminster = [[Newry and Armagh (UK Parliament constituency)|Newry & Armagh]]
| constituency_ni_assembly = [[Newry and Armagh (Assembly constituency)|Newry & Armagh]]
| lieutenancy_northern_ireland = [[County Armagh]]
| website =
| hide_services = yes
}}
'''Belleeks'''  ({{Irish derived place name|Béal Leice|ford-mouth of the flagstone}})<ref>[http://www.placenamesni.org/resultsdetail.phtml?entry=14136 Placenames NI] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120526085401/http://www.placenamesni.org/resultsdetail.phtml?entry=14136 |date=May 26, 2012 }}</ref> is a small [[village]] and [[townland]] in south [[County Armagh]], [[Northern Ireland]]. In the [[United Kingdom Census 2011|2011 Census]] it had a reported population of 375.<ref>See ''Census 2011 - Headcount and Household Estimates for Settlements'' published by the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency, available at http://www.nisra.gov.uk/census/2011/results/settlements.html</ref> It lies within the [[Newry, Mourne and Down District Council]] area and the historic [[barony (Ireland)|barony]] of Upper Fews.
== Location ==
Belleeks lies between the villages of [[Camlough]] and [[Newtownhamilton]], on the [[A25 road (Ireland)|A25]] between the Newtownhamilton and [[Newry]]. The nearest large town is Newry, approximately 7 miles to the east and [[Whitecross, County Armagh|Whitecross]] is the nearest settlement approximately 2 miles to the north. Belleeks lies in the [[townland]] of Belleeks Lower.
== Demography ==
At the time of the 2001 census, returns for the Belleeks-Blackrock-Tullyah electoral area,<ref>Output Area 95VV060002</ref> reported that:
* 26.0% were under 16 years old and 12.6% were aged 60 and above;
* The average age of a resident of the village was 30.8 years old;
* 46.3% of the population were male and 53.7% were female;
* 95.5% were from a [[Roman Catholic|Catholic]] Community Background;
* 4.5% were from a [[Protestant]] or 'Other Christian' community background;
* 13.7% had [[University degree|degree]] level or higher qualifications
* 56.5% were economically active, 43.5% were economically inactive;
* 6.7% were [[unemployed]], of these 42.9% were long-term unemployed;
* 68.3 stated reported their health was 'good';
* 3.22 was the average family size;
* 81.8% of households reported they had access to a private motor [[vehicle]];
* 75.9% of homes were owner occupied and 25.5% of all homes were owned outright.<ref>{{cite web | title= Census Returns for Belleeks-Blackrock-Tullyah | work= Northern Ireland Neighbourhood Information Service | url= http://www.ninis.nisra.gov.uk| access-date=2008-08-08}}</ref>
== Features and economy ==
Saint Laurence O'Toole's [[Roman Catholic]] Church sits in a prominent location above the village whilst a [[Church of Ireland]] church and [[Orange Order|Orange Hall]] lie between Belleeks and Whitecross. The village has two [[public house]]s, a small store, a part-time factory and a public common in the village centre. The village has developed from a [[linear settlement]] along the A25 as late as the 1960s with the addition of five private and [[local authority]] housing developments since the 1970s.
Most residents work away from the village. The largest local industry remaining is [[agriculture]]. Belleeks is served by the number 44 [[Ulsterbus]] service from Newry to Newtownhamilton a number of times daily as well as the number 40 service between Newry and Whitecross.
== Education ==
There are two [[primary school]]s in or near the village; St. Brigid's Primary School and St. Laurence O'Toole's Primary School. Secondary schooling of residents takes place primarily at St. Paul's High School in [[Bessbrook]], or else in Newtownhamilton or Newry.
==Sport==
Belleeks has a [[Gaelic Athletic Association|Gaelic Athletic Club]], Laurence O'Toole's (Cumann Lorcáin Uí Thuathail), which competes in underage and [[Gaelic football|senior men's]] and [[Ladies' Gaelic football|ladies' football]] as well [[Scór|Scor]] and other [[Armagh GAA]] competitions. The clubhouse is in Shaughan in the townland of Belleeks Upper.
==History==
===Early history===
The area in which Belleeks is situated has been populated for many thousands of years but contains less in terms of easily discernible pre-historic remains than is widely evident in other parts of south County Armagh.  What was to become the village of Belleeks was once the site of a [[Lordship of Ireland|Tudor]] garrison, besieged and taken during the [[Nine Years' War (Ireland)|Great O'Neill's rebellion]]. The area which was to become the village was held in the estates of Hugh Boy O'Hanlon in 1641, one of the few Catholic gentry retaining substantial landholdings in County Armagh following the [[Plantation of Ulster]], prior to the Rising of that [[1641 Rebellion|year]]. Situated in the estates of the [[Earl of Gosford|Earls of Gosford]] by the eighteenth century, the modern settlement largely owes its origins to the then current earl, who, in the 1790s created a planned village on the site. Prior to the [[Irish Land Acts]], the Earls of Gosford retained a large [[Deer park (England)|Deerpark]] on the outskirts of the village, whose impressive 18th century walls still bound the settlement to the east.<ref>Mulligan, K. ''The Buildings of Ireland: South Ulster'' Yale University Press, 2005, p. 191</ref>
===Pre-20th Century===
By the early 19th century, a hamlet had developed at Belleeks along the Newtownhamilton-Newry road which branches off to Whitecross at Belleeks, Indeed, in February 1767 Sir Archibald Acheson was granted a patent to hold [[fair]]s in the village on the 3rd days of February, May, August and November every year, all bar which the February fair survived up until 1852.<ref>Crawford, W.H., Evolution of Towns in County Armagh, in Hughes, A.J. & Nolan, W. (2001): ''Armagh - History & Society'' Geography Publications, Dublin,  p. 861</ref>
Census returns for the period between 1841 and 1851, during which the [[Great Famine (Ireland)|Famine]] occurred show a decrease in population of the village and surrounding area greater than one quarter of population in the ten-year period due to death and emigration.<ref>Grant, J., Some Aspects of the Great Famine in County Armagh, in Hughes, A.J. & Nolan, W. (2001): ''Armagh - History & Society'' Geography Publications, Dublin, p.840</ref> During the 19th century, however, the settlement acted as the commercial centre for the surrounding region, with residents of outlying districts and nearby villages bringing butter, cheese, and other produce to Belleeks for sales and export to Belfast, and beyond.
===The Troubles 1969-1998===
For more information on [[The Troubles]], see [[The Troubles in Belleeks (Armagh)]], which includes a list of incidents in Belleeks during the Troubles resulting in two or more fatalities.
== References ==
{{Reflist|2}}
== External links ==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20080514073625/http://www.belleeksgfc.com/ Belleeks GAC Website]
*[http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/othelem/chron/ch76.htm#Mar Conflict Archive on the Internet]
== See also ==
*[[List of villages in Northern Ireland]]
{{County Armagh}}
{{authority control}}
[[Category:Villages in County Armagh]]
[[Category:Townlands of County Armagh]]