Notable buildings
The headquarters of Newry and Mourne District Council are in Newry. The area has a majority nationalist population, leading to a council dominated by Sinn Féin and the Social Democratic and Labour Party, but there are some Ulster Unionist and Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) councillors and one councillor from the Green Party.

Administration
The English version of the name of the city comes from the original Irish Iúr Chinn Trá (in older spelling, Iubhar Chinn Trábha), which translates as "the yew at the head of the strand", which relates to an apocryphal story that Saint Patrick planted a yew tree there in the 5th century. In modern Irish the full name of the town is rarely used; instead it is abbreviated to An tIúr.
The town was established in 1144 with the building of a monastery, although there is strong evidence of continual human habitation in the area for several millennia. The monastery only lasted until 1162, when it was burned to the gound, and later replaced by a cistercian monastery. This monastery itself was later converted to a collegiate church in 1543, before being surrendered to the crown in 1548.
Sir Nicholas Bagenal, Marshal of the Army in Ireland, took over the site around 1550, later building a castle there. The remains of the original Cistercian Monastery were still standing when Bagenal acquired the land and it may well have been the Abbot's House that Bagenal proclaimed as his Castle. The site was said to consist of a 'church, steeple, and cemetery, chapter- house, dormitory and hall, two orchards and one garden, containing one acre, within the precincts of the college'. The remains of Bagenal's Castle can be found today on Castle Street, near to the LIDL store, on what was once the site of McCann's Bakery.
A rental roll dated 1575, provides a unique insight into life in the town at the time. It listed the names of the tenants in 'The High Street', 'Tenements within the Fort' and The Irish Street without the Fort'. These three distinct areas also appear in a map of the same time, along with a drawing of the castle.
During the Williamite War, the forces of King James II set fire to the town in 1689, while retreating from William. It is said that only six houses and the castle survived the inferno.
The town was rebuilt shortly afterwards, and its fortunes changed dramatically. Within decades it had the busiest port in Ulster and in 1742, had the first summit level canal in the British Isles. This led to a further period of economic prosperity, evidence of which can be seen in the many fine buildings and public places that can still be seen today.

History
Newry saw a number of violent incidents during the conflict known as the Troubles. For more information see The Troubles in Newry, which includes a list of all the fatal incidents that happened in Newry during the Troubles.
See also: The Troubles in Killeen, for information on incidents at the border and customs post at Killeen on the border with the Republic of Ireland and close to Newry. The British Army moved in during the 1950s and have been there ever since. However, in 2003, the hilltop watch towers started being taken down and in 2005 the main base in Bessbrook started to be dismantled.

The Troubles

John Mitchel, a 19th century Irish patriot who inspired the Young Ireland Movement, is buried in the Old Meeting House cemetery in the town.
Danny McAlinden won the bronze medal for boxing (Heavyweight) at the 1966 Commonwealth Games in Kingston, Jamaica. Later he became British and Commonwealth Heavyweight champion. He was born in Newry in 1947.
Matthew Russell, SJ. Irish Jesuit, poet and editor. Russell was born in Newry in 1834. He entered the Jesuit Order and was ordained to the priesthood at age 33. Father Russell established the 'Irish Monthly' in 1873 and served as editor for nearly forty years. He also wrote many volumes of verse, and corresponded with the English Jesuit poet Gerard Manley Hopkins.
Seán Hillen, artist, was born and grew up in Newry, and made a large body of photomontage artworks related to the 'troubles', many of which are based on his own photographs taken in and around Newry. They include a series satirically titled "LondoNewry, a Mythical Town.."
Charles Russell, Baron Russell of Killowen, (1832–1900), Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales, was born in Newry on 10 November 1832.
Susan McCann, world-famous folk singer is from Newry
BML Hillen Keene, a published author of the book Land in Mist, born in Newry on August 20, 1986.
Sir William Hill Irvine GCMG (6 July 1858 - 20 August 1943), the 21st Premier of Victoria was born in Newry.
Thomas Duff, Architect, (1792 - 1848) was born in Newry. Duff is renowned for having designed the Cathedral of St. Patrick and St. Colman in the town. People
Newry lies in the most south-eastern part of both Ulster and Northern Ireland. Approximately half of the city lies in County Down and the other half in County Armagh.
The city sits in a valley, nestled between the Mourne Mountains to the east, and the Ring of Gullion to the south-west, both of which are designated Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The Clanrye River runs through the centre of town, parallel to the canal, forming part of the border between County Down and County Armagh. The city also lies at the extreme northernmost end of Carlingford Lough, where the canal enters the sea.

Geography

Newry is home to Newry City F.C., who play in the Irish Premier League at their Showgrounds stadium.
Down Gaelic football club play their home games at Páirc Esler in the city.
Newry Bosco GFC
Newry Shamrocks GAC
Newry Mitchel's GFC
Thomas Davis GFC, Corinshego
Ballyholland GFC
St. Monnina GFC, Killeavy Sport

The Newry Canal opened in 1742, and was the first major commercial canal in the British Isles. It ran for 18 miles to Lough Neagh. In 1777 Newry was ranked the fourth largest port in Ireland. Some surviving 18th and 19th century warehouses still line the canal, and now many houses, shops and restaurants.
MacNeill's Egyptian Arch is a railway bridge located near Newry. It was selected for the design of the British One Pound coin to represent Northern Ireland for 2006.
Newry is served by an Ulsterbus bus station, located in the city centre, that offers local, regional and cross-border services.
A Northern Ireland Railways station, just off the Camlough road, offers cross border services on the Dublin-Belfast line. Planning permission for the construction of a new station, to the east of the current station, was granted in May 2006.
Newry is on the main M1/A1 route from Dublin to Belfast. The road is of dual carriageway/motorway standard on the Southern side, and single carriageway/dual carraigeway/motorway on the Northern side. The remainder of the A1 on the Northern side is expected to be upgraded to dual carriageway standard in 2012. Transport
Although officially a city, Newry is classified as a Large Town by the NI Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) (ie with population between 18,000 and 75,000 people). On Census day (29 April 2001) there were 27,433 people living in Newry. Of these:

26.2% were aged under 16 years and 16.0% were aged 60 and over
48.5% of the population were male and 51.6% were female;
89.6% were from a Catholic background and 9.4% were from a Protestant background
5.5% of people aged 16–74 were unemployed. 2001 Census

Abbey Christian Brothers Grammar School
Ballyholland Primary School
Bunscoil an Iúir
Cloughoge Primary School
Killean Primary School
Newry High School
Our Lady's Grammar School
Sacred Heart Grammar School
St Clare's Convent Primary School
St Colman's Abbey Primary School
St Colman's College
St. John's Primary School
St Joseph's Boys' High School
St Joseph's Convent Primary School
St Mary's High School
St Patrick's Primary School
St Ronan's Primary School
Windsor Hill Primary School
Newry and Kilkeel Institute Churches

Altnaveigh
Ashton Heights
Barcroft Park
Carlingford Park
Carnagat
Carnagh Park
Carrivemaclone
Courtneay Hill
Derrybeg
Drumalane
Drumgullion
Dublin Road
Glen Hill
High Street
Liska Road
Loanda
Monk's Hill
Old Warrenpoint Road
Parkhead
Shandon Park
The Meadow