In older English documents, the village's name was usually spelt Rathfylan or Rathfrilan. It was once the capital of the Magennis family, the Gaelic lords of Iveagh. They built a castle there in the late 16th century. The ruins may still be seen on the hill upon which Rathfriland sits. It was a square building of 3-4 storeys with a stone barrel vault at the ground floor to lessen the risk of fire. The castle was battered down during the Irish Confederate Wars and much of the remainder was carried off by William Hawkins of London, the first Protestant landowner there after the war. The stones were used to build the Town Inn and other houses in the village. In 1760 the Market House, which dominates the main square, was built for the linen market by Miss Theodosia McGill. An old map of 1776 prepared for the Meade Estate shows streets, lanes, tenements and gardens forming the early village. A clock-faced war memorial stands in the square on the southeastern side. To this day, the names Meade, Maginess and Hawkins live on in Rathfriland, most notably in Iveagh Primary School where the three surnames are the name of the 'houses' or teams on sports day. The Dolly's Brae conflict took place between Rathfriland and the nearby town of Castlewellan on 12 July 1849. Up to 1,400 Orangemen marched from Rathfriland to Tollymore Park near Castlewellan, County Down. When 1,000 barely armed Ribbonmen gathered, rocks were thrown at the Orange parade. Catholic homes were burned and 80 Catholics killed. Rathfriland lies in County Down, the baronies of Iveagh Lower, Lower Half and Iveagh Upper, Upper Half, the townlands of Rossconor and Lessize, the district electoral area of Knockiveagh, and the civil parishes of Drumballyroney and Drumgath.
Rathfriland was served by Ballyroney railway station, only a few miles away. Goods and passengers were transported from the station to the village. The former GNR line between Banbridge and Newcastle was shut down in 1955 by the UTA.
Rathfriland Angling Club - game fishing On the Upper River Bann and Drumlough Lake.
Demography
Rathfriland is classified as a village by the but is described as a town by most residents. On the most recent census day there were 2,740 people living in the ward of Rathfriland. Of these:
21.8% were aged under 16 years and 22.8% were aged 60 and over
48.4% of the population were male and 51.6% were female
38.5% were from a Roman Catholic background and 56.8% were from a Protestant background
4.3% of people aged 16–74 were unemployed.
This represents an increased population from 2,079 in April 2001. The population had increased from 1,886 in 1971 to 2,243 ten years later but had then decreased to 2,126 in 1991 and had continued to fall. New construction had increased the population to an estimated 2,575 in 2008. More details are available from the .
Media
The town has had its own newspaper since 1940.
Notable people
Famous personalities with local connections include:
Agnes Macready Australia's first war correspondent was born here in 1855.
Theodosia Meade, Countess of Clanwilliam.
Patrick Brontë, the father of the Brontë sisters was born in 1777 in a cottage in Edenagarry on the outskirts of Annaclone, where he lived until a local vicar paid his way to Cambridge University in 1802. While studying at Cambridge, he changed his name from Brunty to Brontë. He preached and taught at Drumballyroney Church and School House, between Rathfriland and Moneyslane. The Brontë Homeland Interpretative Centre is at Drumballyroney.
Margaret Byers was born in Rathfriland in 1832. Margaret Byers was a teacher, a businesswoman, a pioneer of higher education for girls, a philanthropist and a suffragist. She said: "My aim was to provide for girls an education...as thorough as that which is afforded to boys in the schools of the highest order." In 1905 she was given an honorary degree by Trinity College, Dublin and in 1908 Queen's University, Belfast appointed her to its senate.
John McAlery, Irish association football pioneer, founder of first Irish football team in 1879, captained Ireland in its first ever international match in 1882
Margaret Byers, Irish educator, activist, social reformer, missionary, writer
