Bessbrook is a village in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. It lies about three miles (5 km) northwest of Newry and near the Newry bypass on the main A1 Belfast-Dublin road and Belfast-Dublin railway line. Today the village of Bessbrook straddles the three townlands of Maghernahely, Clogharevan and Maytown. Bessbrook is near Newry railway station. It had a population of 2,750 at the 2011 Census. The model village of Bessbrook, Co. Armagh is a visible memorial to the commercial endeavours of the Richardson family over a number of generations. During the late 20th century some of the worst violence of "the Troubles" took place near the village and it became a military zone with a large garrison. The small village became the busiest (military) heliport in Europe. History Bessbrook is named from Elizabeth or Bess Nicholson, wife of Joseph Nicholson whose family had carried on a linen business in the district from 1806 until 1845. The 'brook' is a stream which runs through the outskirts of the village. Bessbrook was founded by John Grubb Richardson in 1845 as a 'model village' along with the Richardson Spinning industry, with spacious streets and squares surrounding a large linen mill owned by the Quaker Richardson family. In the 18th and 19th centuries the linen industry was a significant contributor to the wealth of Quaker families in Ulster. As a social experiment it is similar to the model of the better-known Bournville company town founded by the Cadbury family near Birmingham, England. The model village of Bessbrook, provided a model for George Cadburys “Bournville”, the famous model village in England and predates this development by more than 30 years. The founder of Bessbrook, John G. Richardson, was a Quaker and was likely aware of other quakers such as the Malcomson Family who set up Portlaw in County Waterford. This awareness had some influence on Richardson’s own schemes in Bessbrook. Among the principles on which the village was based was a philosophy of "Three P's": there should be no public houses, no pawn shops, and consequently no need for police. It was John Grubb Richardson's belief that without a public house there would be no need for a pawn brokers or police station. To this day there are no public houses in the village. Nor are there any pawn shops, although nowadays there is a Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) station. Richardson did not at