Bannfoot 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...

 in the 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...

 of Derryinver, 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...

. It sits where the Upper Bann

River Bann

The River Bann is the longest river in Northern Ireland, the total length being 80 miles . The river winds its way from the south east corner of Northern Ireland to the north west coast, pausing in the middle to widen into the enormous Lough Neagh...

 flows into Lough Neagh

Lough Neagh

Lough Neagh, sometimes Loch Neagh, is a large freshwater lake in Northern Ireland. Its name comes .-Geography:With an area of , it is the largest lake in the British Isles and ranks among the forty largest lakes of Europe. Located twenty miles to the west of Belfast, it is approximately twenty...

. Bannfoot is within the Craigavon Borough Council

Craigavon Borough Council

Craigavon Borough Council is a local council in counties Armagh, Down and Antrim, in Northern Ireland. The headquarters of the council is in Craigavon, on the shores of Lough Neagh, a new town built between Lurgan and Portadown. The council area includes the large towns of Lurgan and Portadown, as...

 area.

History

The surrounding area was originally known as Bun na Banna, and this name has been adopted as the modern Irish

Irish language

Irish , also known as Irish Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family, originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish people. Irish is now spoken as a first language by a minority of Irish people, as well as being a second language of a larger proportion of...

 for Bannfoot. There was once a fort at the mouth of the Upper Bann known as Bun an Bhealaigh, meaning "end of foot of the road or pass". This fort has been anglicised in past as "Fort Bunvalle".

In 1760 reference is made of the "Bann Foot Ferry" (sic). Charles Brownlow, 1st Baron Lurgan

Baron Lurgan

Baron Lurgan, of Lurgan in the County of Armagh, was a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1839 for Charles Brownlow, who had previously represented Armagh in the House of Commons. His son, the second Baron, served as a Government Whip from 1869 to 1874 in the first...

, built the village near the Bannfoot ferry, naming it Charlestown, in about 1830. It is claimed he intentionally erected it equidistant (seven miles) each from Portadown

Portadown

Portadown is a town in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. The town sits on the River Bann in the north of the county, about 23 miles south-west of Belfast...

, Lurgan

Lurgan

Lurgan is a town in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. The town is near the southern shore of Lough Neagh and in the north-eastern corner of the county. Part of the Craigavon Borough Council area, Lurgan is about 18 miles south-west of Belfast and is linked to the city by both the M1 motorway...

 and Stewartstown

Stewartstown

Stewartstown can refer to:*Stewartstown, New Hampshire*Stewartstown, Pennsylvania*Stewartstown, County Tyrone, a village in Northern Ireland...

.

The ferry no longer operates and a bridge has never been constructed across the river, but there have been calls for a bicycle and pedestrian bridge as a means of boosting tourism. Proposals for bridging the river at this point go back as far as the 1830s.