Newry (from the Irish: An tIúr meaning "the yew tree") is the fourth largest city in Northern Ireland and ninth in all of Ireland. The River Clanrye, which runs through the city, forms the historic border between County Armagh and County Down : Newry was included entirely in the latter by the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898.
It is about 37 miles (60 km) from Belfast and 67 miles (108 km) from Dublin. It had a population of 27,433 people in the 2001 Census. It was founded in 1144 alongside a Cistercian monastery and is one of Northern Ireland's oldest towns. It sits at the entry to the Gap of the North, close to the border with the Republic of Ireland.
It grew as a market town and a garrison and became a port in 1742 when it was linked to Lough Neagh by the first summit-level canal in The British Isles. In March 2002, as part of Queen Elizabeth's Golden Jubilee celebrations, Newry was granted city status alongside Lisburn[1]. However, despite being the fourth largest city in Northern Ireland, it is not the fourth largest settlement.
Newry was an important centre of trade in early Ireland because of its position between Belfast and Dublin. Newry has a reputation as one of the best provincial shopping-towns in Ireland and also has two of the oldest churches in Ireland. Newry recently topped the league of house prices increases across the whole United Kingdom over the last decade. Prices in the city have increased by 371% since 1996[2].
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