Things to do in Central County Down
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Plough Inn
This fine old pub, with its maze of dark wood-panelled nooks and crannies, has been offering 'beer and banter' since 1758. It serves gourmet bar lunches – how about tempura of pheasant and wild duck with sesame, ginger and Asian leaves? – and also offers fine dining in the restaurant around the back, where stone walls, low ceilings and a roaring fireplace make a cosy setting for a menu ranging from wood pigeon to rack of lamb.
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Hillsborough Castle
The town's main attraction is this rambling, two-storey late-Georgian mansion built in 1797 for Wills Hill, the first Marquess of Downshire, and extensively remodelled in the 1830s and '40s. The guided tour takes in the state drawing room and dining rooms, and the Lady Grey Room where UK prime minister Tony Blair and US president George W Bush had talks on Iraq in 2003.
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Hillside Bar & Restaurant
This is a homely pub serving real ale (and mulled wine beside the fireplace in winter), with live jazz Sunday evenings and a dinky wee beer garden in a cobbled courtyard out the back. The upstairs restaurant offers formal dining, with crisp white table linen and sparkling crystal, and a menu offering dishes such as lobster tart, roast quail, venison and steak.
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St Malachy's Parish Church
St Malachy's is one of Ireland's most splendid 18th- century churches, with twin towers at the ends of the transepts and a graceful spire at the western end. A tree-lined avenue leads to the church from a statue of Arthur Hill, fourth Marquess of Downshire, at the bottom of Main St.
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Hillsborough Fort
Close to the church, Hillsborough Fort was built as an artillery fort by Colonel Hill in 1650 and remodelled as a Gothic-style tower house in 1758.
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Hillside Bar & Restaurant
This is a homely pub serving real ale (and mulled wine beside the fireplace in winter), with live jazz Sunday evenings and a dinky wee beer garden in a cobbled courtyard out the back. The upstairs restaurant offers formal dining, with crisp white table linen and sparkling crystal, and a menu offering French/Irish cuisine.
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Hillsborough Courthouse
A fine old Georgian building, the courthouse exhibits various displays describing the working of the courts in the 18th and 19th centuries.
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