Newtownhamilton or simply Newtown to locals is a small town in South Armagh. Before the Plantation of Ulster it was known as Tullyvallen and was renamed by Alexander Hamilton in 1773 and was once an important stop off between Armagh and Dundalk. The town has suffered in past decades from the rise of other towns in the area like Markethill, Castleblaney and Bessbrook as well as cities like Newry and Armagh becoming little more than a group of houses and small shops. This series will highlight a few local areas of history and interest.
This cache is placed on the Dundalk Rd out of Newtown and for years was the traditional route the Orange order paraded along when the 12th of July was in Newtownhamilton. The parade would leave the town and walk past the chapel then turn right onto the Altnamakin rd and the field was on the left approx 200 metres along the road. At the height of the Drumcree protest and as tensions were simmering here too, the Newtownhamilton District took the view that unlike some other lodges in Northern Ireland, they would decide them selves to reroute, not only the 12th Demonstration but also their own return parade every 12th July evening when they returned home to the town. They moved away from the mainly Catholic end of the town altogether.
Sadly stories like this seldom make the news and as a result of their actions there is fantastic support for the orangemen of Newtownhamilton from within the Catholic Community and indeed, many come out to watch the parade every 12th. The news reporters however would not deem this as news worthy and so continue to focus their efforts on the controversial parades in Belfast and elsewhere.