BANBRIDGE  , a

town of Co . Down, Ireland, in the west parliamentary division, on the Bann, 23 M . S.W. of Belfast on a branch of the Great Northern railway, standing on an eminence . Pop. of urban district (1901) 5oo6 . To mitigate a steep ascent, a central carriage-way, 200 yds, long, is cut along the main street to a depth of 15 ft., the opposite terraces being connected by a bridge . Banbridge is an entirely modern town . It is the principal seat of the linen trade in the county, and has extensive cloth and thread factories, bleachfields and chemical works . A. memorial in Church Square commemorates the Franklin expedition to the discovery of the North-West Passage, and in particular Captain Francis Crozier, who was born at Banbridge in 1796 and served on the expedition .