There are many famous people from Lurgan, Co Armagh, from the sporting world to music and the world of science and technology.
By Carmel Robinson
Published 1st Mar 2023, 15:17 BST
Updated 1st Mar 2023, 15:26 BST
Some of those include Jay Beatty, footballer and manager, Neil Lennon, Len Ganley, Barry Douglas, Archbishop Michael Jackson as well as William Paul Duprex who started scientific research by testing saliva of his Lurgan school friends.
Comedians Micky Bartlett and William Caulfield, as well as Lord Chief Justice Brian Kerr and Michael Deeny the 'Godfather of Irish Music' who brought the Horslips to the international stage.
9. William is a comedian, panto star, actor and writer of his own play 'Our Jimmy'
William Caulfield is a writer, actor, comedian and TV performer from Lurgan, Co Armagh. He was educated at Kings Park Primary, Lurgan Junior High School and Lurgan College. He has achieved popularity through his TV, radio and theatre shows. He has appeared on a number of TV shows and interviewed Jade Goody for Channel 4 in What Jade Did Next. He also appeared in An Evening with James Young and a four-part series Our William, both on BBC 1 NI. He has also appeared in a number of theatre productions and pantomimes and starred in a new version of his ‘'Our Jimmy’' show every year since 2000. Photo: Contributed
10. Legend goes that Margorie's husband died on the spot when she returned home from the grave dripping in blood
The last resting place of Margorie McCall among the grave stones in Shankill Burial Ground. Margorie McCall was married to a doctor and they lived in Church Place, Lurgan, By all accounts it was a happy married and when Margorie fell ill, her husband John was beside himself with worry. Sadly, Margorie died from the fever and was buried hastily in Shankill Church of Ireland Cemetery in Lurgan, for fear of the fever spreading. Margorie was buried still wearing her beautiful gold wedding ring. Due to her husband's inability to remove it from her finger, which had swollen considerably since her death, but news of the treasure leaked out to grave robbers. They opened the coffin and tried in vain to pull the ring off her finger and decided to chop the finger off. As soon as blood was drawn from Marjorie she came to and revived from the coma-like state. She sat bolt upright, eyes wide and wailed like a banshee. Margorie returned home and knocked on the door three times. When her husband opened the door and saw his formerly dead wife, in her white burial gown and dripping with blood from her severed finger, he dropped dead on the spot. He was later buried in the plot earlier vacated by his wife. It is not known what happened to the grave robbers. Photo: Geoffrey Cousins Staff Johnston
11. Former Supreme Court judge Lord Kerr of Tonaghmore served in the UK's highest court since it was established in 2009
Former Supreme Court judge Lord Kerr of Tonaghmore was born in Lurgan, Co Armagh in February 1949 to James William Kerr and Kathleen Rose (née Murray) Kerr of Lurgan, County Armagh. He was educated at St Colman's College, Newry, and read law at Queen's University Belfast. He was called to the Bar of NI in 1970, and to the Bar of England and Wales at Gray's Inn in 1975. He took silk in 1983 and became a member of the Bar of Ireland in 1990, and an Honorary Bencher of Gray's Inn in 1997 and the King's Inns in 2004. He served as Junior Crown Counsel (Common Law) from 1978 to 1983 and Senior Crown Counsel from 1988 to 1993. In 1993, Kerr was appointed a Judge of the High Court and knighted, and in 2004 was appointed Lord Chief Justice of NI only the second Catholic to hold the position, and sworn of the Privy Council. His death was announced just two months after he retired in 2020, having served in the UK's highest court since it was established in 2009. Lord Kerr also served as lord chief justice of Northern Ireland from 2004 to 2009. Photo: Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland
12. Pacemaker Press 10-08-2020: Barry Douglas OBE classical pianist and conductor pictured at his home in Lurgan
Barry Douglas OBE classical pianist and conductor pictured at his home in Lurgan, Co Armagh. Although born in Belfast in 1960, Barry has called Lurgan his home for decades. He studied piano, cello, clarinet and organ while growing up in Belfast. He won the gold medal outright in the International Tchaikovsky Competition in 1986, the first non-Russian pianist to do so since Van Cliburn in 1958. His debut album was a recording of Modest Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition. He has made many recordings since then and has recently (2007) completed (with Camerata Ireland) recording the five Beethoven piano concertos and the Triple Concerto (with Kim Chee-yun and Andrés Díaz). He is Artistic Director of the International Piano Festival in Manchester, England and the Clandeboye Festival in Clandeboye, Bangor, County Down. Photo: Picture By: Arthur Allison/ Pacemaker Press.