Newry-Armagh Railway and South Down
Saturday 26 January
Goraghwood Railway Station (J068317) is approached under a fine granite arch which carried the Newry-Armagh Railway. The station is now totally derelict and consisted of an island platform and one other platform. Only fragments of the buildings remain. To the west of the station is the quarry which supplied ballast to GNR(I). It is approached through a brick arch of Irish Romanesque style. There were extensive sidings here and part of another platform can be seen.
In Knockduff (J059334) there is a fine three-arch viaduct which is now isolated in that the embankments have been removed. It spans a small stream which apparently feeds a mill dam. There are traces of a building, possibly a mill, downstream and water from the dam runs through a long underground passage. However the area in the vicinity of the mill is greatly overgrown and the true nature of the structure cannot be determined.
The southeast entrance to Lissummon Tunnel (J052348) was again viewed but the tunnel was not entered on this occasion. A short distance from the north-west end of the tunnel a road bridge was inspected (J034358). It is an elliptical arch now almost completely blocked by rubble. Loughgilly Tunnel (J011366) was entered from the west end. It is much shorter than the other tunnel. Part of the west end has been in recent use and has concrete partitions at intervals. It is in very good condition throughout and is mainly stone-lined with some brick particularly along the roof.
Markethill Railway Station (H962396) is now a dwelling-house. Most of the original building is intact and appears to be of two storeys, four bays long with single storey projections. At the south end of the platform is the stone base of a water-tower.
Near Hamilton's Bawn a mill was viewed from a distance (H943458). It is a L-shaped building but no details could be seen.
Richhill Castle (H943482) is a two-storeyed house with Dutch-gabled attic in a high-pitched roof. It is U-shaped building with a five-bay entrance front and single-bay wings projecting forward. There are a number of tall brick chimney stacks.
Navan Fort (H847452) was again visited. A massive bank outside a wide ditch encircles the top half of a low hill. At the west end of the summit is a large mound surrounded by a low bank. A short distance to the east of this is a low circular platform surrounded by a shallow ditch.
Near Armagh (H864446) is a mill four storeys high by four bays long and two bays deep. At the east end is a small projection which may house the wheel but no wheel is visible. It is dated 1821.
Sunday 27 January
The court-grave in Moyad (J287196) has a three-chambered gallery about 10m long and 1.5m wide. The exact position of the court is not clear because it is not possible to tell front from back.
Kinghill Rath (J257328) is a large structure with a good inner bank and ditch and substantial remains of an outer bank. The entrance may be in the north but there are a number of gaps in the inner bank. The platform is about 32m diameter and the total diameter is over 50m.
A standing-stone in Legananny was examined (J303427). It is shouldered and is about 2m high by 40cm wide and 30cm thick. On the east face is an inscribed cross about 25cm by 25cm with expanded ends. Along one edge are a number of marks suggestive of Ogham but they are crudely executed and irregular. Legananny Dolmen (J289434) is a fine portal-dolmen with portal-stones about 2m high and a back stone over lm high. The capstone is over 3m long with maximum width about 1.5m and thickness 50cm. There is no cairn material visible.
A small mill was viewed at Derryneill (J284395). It is a stone two-storey building but there is no trace of a wheel or a mill-race. At Clonlea Graveyard (J118222) are three crosses. One dated 1883 is of polished granite set on a stepped base. The second cross is of rough granite set on a rough granite base. The third cross is also of rough granite and its base has some curvilinear decoration. Both the larger crosses are copies of the large cross at Kilbroney but without the fretwork decoration.
TOURS