Acton is a small village

Village

A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...

 and townland

Townland

A townland or bally is a small geographical division of land used in Ireland. The townland system is of Gaelic origin—most townlands are believed to pre-date the Norman invasion and most have names derived from the Irish language...

 in County Armagh

County Armagh

-History:Ancient Armagh was the territory of the Ulaid before the fourth century AD. It was ruled by the Red Branch, whose capital was Emain Macha near Armagh. The site, and subsequently the city, were named after the goddess Macha...

, Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...

, about a half mile north of Poyntzpass

Poyntzpass

Poyntzpass is a village on the border between County Armagh and County Down in Northern Ireland. It is within the Armagh City and District Council area. In the 2001 census it had a population of 1987 people....

. In the 2001 Census

United Kingdom Census 2001

A nationwide census, known as Census 2001, was conducted in the United Kingdom on Sunday, 29 April 2001. This was the 20th UK Census and recorded a resident population of 58,789,194....

 it had a population of 78 people. It is situated within the Armagh City and District Council

Armagh City and District Council

Armagh City and District Council is a district council in County Armagh in Northern Ireland. It includes the city of Armagh, as well as the surrounding area and its population is about 54,000. City status was officially conferred in 1995...

 area.

History

The village was originally founded by Sir Toby Poyntz, son of Lieut Charles Poyntz,[Poyntzpass and District Local History Society Web Site]. who, for his military services, obtained a grant of 500 acres (2 km²) of land, part of the forfeited estates of the O'Hanlons, and erected a bawn

Bawn

A bawn is the defensive wall surrounding an Irish tower house. It is the anglicised version of the Irish word badhún meaning "cattle-stronghold" or "cattle-enclosure". The Irish word for "cow" is bó and its plural is ba...

 100 feet (30.5 m) square, a house of brick and lime for his own residence, and 24 cottages for so many English settlers, and called the place Acton, after his own native village in England. It consists of one main street, and in 1837 contained about 50 houses "indifferently built".

See also

• List of villages in Northern Ireland
• List of places in County Armagh