Lurgan Park Trails Map

KEY Parking Toilets

Trails

Golf Course

Walk Trails start Tree Trail Nature Trail Family Activity Trail Heritage Trail

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Brownlow House

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Once marshland, the Park was created over 300 years ago as a garden demesne for the Brownlow family, the founders of Lurgan town, who lived in Brownlow House.

Lurgan Park Lake

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The Lake was dug out by hand in the 1700s to provide water to power a nearby mill. The phrase ‘a face as long as a Lurgan spade’ may come from the sad faces of the poor diggers.

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Play Park

16th Bn. Royal Irish Rifles Training Coalbrookdale Fountain

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During World War 1 (1914-1918) soldiers housed at Brownlow House trained for trench warfare in Lurgan Park.

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Bowling Pavilion Tennis Club

D The Great Avenue

Cricket Pitch

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Audio Journey through the Park Listen as you walk to learn more about this beautiful Park!

Download the ExploreABC app to access audio trails of the Park including Tree, Nature, Family Activity and Heritage Trails.

Available now from the Google Play or the App Stores.

Just scan the QR code below.

lurgantownscapeheritage.com

Changing Places

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, age k, f ‘when o r rs [I was] abou beau ve yea a pa i f r o r u t f o o t ty fi rs ed in come t dawned o and I n me. I had stray ver o r dils.’ s e s o m a f by s embered h r f g a ow I lay fl at on ome of d encha p m ntment flickering about a clu The Lurgan born artist and writer George ‘AE’ Russell (1867-1935) recalling his childhood playing in the Park in ‘Song and Its Fountains’ (1932).

The Lime lined Avenue once formed the main entrance way to the Brownlow’s original castle, as shown on Patrick Dougan’s 1751 map.

Coalbrookdale Fountain

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The Fountain was built to mark the 1897 Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria and was moved to the Park from the town centre in 1911.

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After much campaigning from local man Billy Fox, an island was created as a haven for the Park’s beloved swans in the 1980s.

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Welcome to the Lurgan Park Tree Trail

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We begin at the Robert Street entrance to the Park. To find your first tree turn left onto the path that winds its way towards the tennis courts and bowling pavilion…

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Poplars love wet soils, and are now often planted to clean up our environment as their monster root systems suck up all sorts of nasty chemicals from the ground, acting a bit like a hoover!

During the summer months, the leaves of the Lime will be coated with a sticky sweet liquid called honeydew, produced by hungry aphid greenflies as they suck the sap from the tree.

Long ago, our ancestors chewed the bark of the Willow to treat headaches and toothaches, which had the same effect as taking an aspirin tablet today!

Larch Larix decidua

Explore Further

Common Ash Fraxinus excelsior

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The Ash’s hard, shock resistant wood has been used to make lots of things from chariots to aeroplanes, but perhaps not for much longer as the Ash could soon be wiped out by the deadly ash dieback disease.

Whitebeam Sorbus aria

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Alder Alnus glutinosa

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When under water Alder wood does not rot, instead it turns harder. It is so strong that the warriors of old made their shields from soaked alder wood to protect them in battle!

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Common Lime Tilia x. europaea

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White Willow Salix alba

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Whitebeam’s name comes from the tiny white hairs on the underside of its leaves, which help the tree keep its water and protect it from insect attack.

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Elder Sambucus nigra

Grey and White Poplars Populus spp

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The fast-growing Sycamore can produce as many as 10,000 ‘helicopter’ seeds each year making it one of our most widespread trees – so much so, it is sometimes regarded as a weed!

First brought to our shores 300 years ago from the Alps as a decorative garden tree, Larch became more widely planted from the 1800s to produce wood for boat building!

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In mythology Hazel was regarded as a magical tree of knowledge, with its wood used to make staffs and wands, and its hazelnuts said to full of the wisdom of the world.

Sycamore Acer pseudoplatanus

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Hold your nose for the Elder leaves can give off a nasty smell; so strong that people used to plant Elder by their doorways to keep flies and evil spirits out!

Let’s Start

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Hawthorn Crataegus laevigata

Hazel Corylus avellana

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Ireland was once covered with Oak forests, with over 1,600 place names containing the word ‘Derry’, derived from the Gaelic word for ‘oak wood’. Local examples include Derrymacash, Derrytrasna, Derryadd, Derrytagh and Derryinver.

Take care for lone Hawthorn’s like this are called ‘Fairy Trees’, for it is believed the magical fairies live beneath them. Harming a fairy tree can result in bad luck, so best leave it alone!

The tree trail is circular and will take about one hour to complete. Along the way you will meet 13 different trees, each with a tree marker. Remember to download the ExploreABC app for the accompanying audio trail, which provides more facts about each tree.

Turkey Oak Quercus cerris

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During the autumn, look around the base of this tree for its conker seeds wrapped in green spiky cases. Conkers were once used to help cure coughing horses, hence the tree’s name!

The Park is home to lots of different trees, including trees that were planted hundreds of years ago by the Brownlow family when the Park formed part of the demesne garden attached to their magnificent house. However, most of the trees you will come across today were planted after the opening of Lurgan Park in 1909.

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Horse Chestnut Aesculus hippocastanum

Holm Oak (Quercus ilex) Behind the Windsor Avenue gate lodge grows a Holm Oak, which unlike most Oaks holds on to its leaves in the winter.

Irish Yew (Taxus hibernia) At the entrance to Brownlow House stand two Yews; regarded as the tree of everlasting life due to their long lifespans of over 1000 years.

Giant Redwood (Sequoiadendron giganteum) On the way to Lurgan Golf Club, you will find a skyscraping Redwood, planted to mark the death of the Duke of Wellington in 1852, the victor of the Battle of Waterloo, giving the tree it’s other name: Wellingtonia.

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Acknowledgements With thanks to Paul May of the Friends of Lurgan Park; John McNamara of Arbour Consulting; Pascal Downing; and Mark Salisbury of the Lurgan Townscape Heritage Partnership for their assistance. This trail has been supported by The National Lottery Heritage Fund and the Armagh City, Banbridge & Craigavon Borough Council through

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the Lurgan Townscape Heritage Scheme.

Image credits: ‘Trench Warfare in Lurgan Park’, ©Royal Ulster Rifles Museum; ‘Patrick Dougan’s 1751 Map of the Demesne, ©Public Record Office of Northern Ireland; ‘Fox’s Island’, ©Donald Bell; ‘Self-Portrait of George AE’ Russell’, ©Armagh County Museum; all other historic images courtesy of Craigavon Museum Services.

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Enjoy the Outdoor Responsibly | Information can be found at getactiveabc.com/lurganpark