Armagh - The Orchard County of Ireland, 1962

Armagh - known as the Orchard County of Ireland has a long history of apple production.

County Armagh is a place where apples have grown for centuries. Today Armagh orchards have a reputation for producing high quality Bramley apples, which arrived here in 1884.

Charles Lamb uses modern horticultural practices at his orchard in Richhill. A reduced number of apple trees means easier management of the crop and more convenient methods of harvesting, resulting in,

An increased yield to over 500 bushels of first quality apples per acre.

At present in the Orchard County there are two thousand farmers growing apples on half a million trees on over five thousand acres of land.

The recent addition of gas storage units has been a good investment for apple growers, enabling them to

Hold their best fruit until June and July.

A new development in Armagh in recent years has been the setting up of grower owned and operated fruit canneries, many of whom are run as cooperative ventures. The McKeever brothers’ cannery at Lurgancot, Kilmore, employs 30 people. High grade fruit is preserved here but in the main the canneries provide

An outlet for the windfalls and apples of low keeping quality.

These enterprises have given a new impetus to the apple industry in Armagh, providing local employment and opening new markets for the county’s apples.

This report for ‘On The Land’ was broadcast on 29 October 1962.
The reporter is Patrick Jennings.