Sights in County Down
-
Mount Stewart
The magnificent 18th-century Mount Stewart is one of Northern Ireland’s grandest stately homes. It was built for the Marquess of Londonderry and is decorated with lavish plasterwork, marble nudes and priceless artworks. Much of the landscaping of the beautiful gardens was supervised in the early 20th century by Lady Edith, wife of the seventh marquess, for the benefit of her children – the Dodo Terrace at the front of the house is populated with unusual creatures from history (dinosaurs and dodos) and myth (griffins and mermaids), accompanied by giant frogs and duck-billed platypuses. Mount Stewart is on the A20, 3km north-west of Greyabbey and 8km south-east of Newtown…
reviewed
-
Nendrum Monastic Site
The Celtic monastic community of Nendrum was built in the 5th century under the guidance of St Mochaoi (St Mahee). It is much older than the Norman monastery at Greyabbey on the opposite shore and couldn't be more different. The scant remains provide a clear outline of its early plan, with the foundations of a number of churches, a round tower, beehive cells and other buildings, as well as three concentric stone ramparts and a monks' cemetery, all in a wonderful island setting. A particularly interesting relic is the stone sundial that has been reconstructed using some of the original pieces. The minor road to Mahee Island from the lough's western shore crosses a causeway…
reviewed
-
Ego Patricius
The Saint Patrick Centre houses a multimedia exhibition called Ego Patricius, charting the life and legacy of Ireland’s patron saint. Occasionally filled with parties of school kids, the exhibition uses audio and video presentations to tell St Patrick’s story, often in his own words (taken from his Confession, written in Latin around the year AD 450, which begins with the words ‘Ego Patricius’, meaning ‘I am Patrick’). At the end is a spectacular widescreen film that takes the audience on a swooping, low-level helicopter ride over the landscapes of Ireland.
reviewed
-
North Down Heritage Centre
Housed in the converted laundry, stables and stores of Bangor Castle, this centre displays, among other historical curiosities, a facsimile of The Antiphonary of Bangor, a small 7th-century prayer book and the oldest surviving Irish manuscript (the original is housed in Milan's Ambrosian Library). There's also an interesting section on the life of William Percy French (1854–1920), the famous entertainer and songwriter (Bangor is also home to the Percy French Society; www.percyfrench.org). The centre is in Castle Park, west of the train and bus stations.
reviewed
-
Silent Valley Reservoir
At the heart of the Mournes is the beautiful Silent Valley Reservoir, where the River Kilkeel was dammed in 1933. There are scenic, waymarked walks around the grounds, a coffee shop and an interesting exhibition on the building of the dam. From the car park, a shuttle bus (adult/child return £1.40/1) will take you another 4km up the valley to the Crom Dam. It runs daily in July and August, weekends only in May, June and September.
reviewed
-
Down County Museum
Downhill from Down Cathedral is Down County Museum, housed in the town’s restored 18th-century jail. In a former cell block at the back are models of some of the prisoners once incarcerated there, and details of their sad stories. Displays cover the story of the Norman conquest of Down, but the biggest exhibit of all is outside – a short signposted trail leads to the Mound of Down, a good example of a Norman motte and bailey.
reviewed
-
Railway Museum
From mid-June to mid-September, plus December, St Patrick’s Day, Easter, May Day and Halloween, this working railway museum runs steam-hauled trains over a restored section of the former Belfast–Newcastle line. There is a halt next to the grave of King Magnus Barefoot, a Norwegian king who died in battle in 1103. The ticket price includes a return journey on the train and a tour around the engine shed and signal cabin.
reviewed
-
Inch Abbey
Built by de Courcy for the Cistercians in 1180 on an earlier Irish monastic site, Inch Abbey is visible across the river from Down Cathedral. The English Cistercians had a strict policy of non-admittance for Irishmen and maintained this until the end in 1541. Most of the ruins are just foundations and low walls; the neatly groomed setting beside the marshes of the River Quoile is its most attractive feature.
reviewed
-
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.
reviewed
-
Exploris
Next to the tourist office is this outstanding state-of-the-art aquarium, with displays of marine life from Strangford Lough and the Irish Sea. Touch tanks allow visitors to stroke and hold rays, starfish, sea anemones and other sea creatures. Exploris also has a seal sanctuary, where orphaned, sick and injured seals are nursed back to health before being released into the wild.
reviewed
Advertisement
-
Quoile Countryside Centre
A tidal barrier was built at Hare Island, 3km downstream from Downpatrick, in 1957 to control flooding. The waters enclosed by the barrier now form the Quoile Pondage Nature Reserve, whose ecology is explained at the Quoile Countryside Centre. The centre is housed in a little cottage beside the ruins of Quoile Castle.
reviewed
-
Down Cathedral
According to legend, St Patrick died in Saul, where angels told his followers to place his body on a cart drawn by two untamed oxen, and that wherever the oxen halted was where the saint should be buried. They supposedly stopped at the church on the hill of Down, now the site of the Church of Ireland's Down Cathedral.
The cathedral is testimony to 1600 years of building and rebuilding. Viking attacks wiped away all trace of the earliest churches, and the subsequent Norman cathedral and monasteries were destroyed by Scottish raiders in 1316. The rubble was used in a 15th-century church finished in 1512, but after the Dissolution of the Monasteries it was razed to the ground…
reviewed
-
Portaferry Castle
Portaferry's castle is a small 16th-century tower house beside the tourist information centre, which, together with the tower house in Strangford, used to control sea traffic through the Narrows.
reviewed
-
Ballycopeland Windmill
Approximately 1.5km northwest of Millisle is Ballycopeland Windmill, a late-18th-century corn mill that remained in commercial use until 1915 and has been restored to full working order.
reviewed
-
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.
reviewed
-
Dundrum Castle
Dundrum Castle, founded in 1177 by John de Courcy of Carrickfergus, overlooks the sheltered waters of Dundrum Bay, famous for its oysters and mussels.
reviewed
-
Newry and Mourne Museum
With exhibits on the Newry Canal and local archaeology, culture and folklore, the museum is housed in Bagenal's Castle, the town's oldest surviving building. Recently rediscovered, having been incorporated into more recent buildings, the 16th-century tower house was built for Nicholas Bagenal, grand marshal of the English army in Ireland. The castle also houses the tourist office.
reviewed
-
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.
reviewed
-
Temple of the Winds
The 18th-century Temple of the Winds is a folly in the classical Greek style built on a high point above the lough.
reviewed
-
Temple of the Winds
The 18th-century Temple of the Winds is a folly in the classical Greek style built on a high point above the lough.
reviewed
Advertisement
-
Cockle Row Cottages
The fishing village of Groomsport, on the eastern edge of town, has a picturesque harbour overlooked by Cockle Row Cottages, one of which has been restored as a typical fisherman's home of 1910.
reviewed
-
Ballyholme Bay
To the east of the town centre, Ballyholme Bay has a long sandy beach and wide green spaces for the kids to run around in.
reviewed
-
Saint Patrick Centre
This heritage centre houses a multimedia exhibition called Ego Patricius, charting the life and legacy of Ireland's patron saint. Occasionally filled with parties of school kids, the exhibition uses audio and video presentations to tell St Patrick's story, often in his own words (taken from his Confession, written in Latin around the year 450, which begins with the words 'Ego Patricius', meaning 'I am Patrick'). At the end is a spectacular widescreen film that takes the audience on a swooping, low-level helicopter ride over the landscapes of Ireland.
reviewed
-
Murlough National Nature Reserve
Footpaths and boardwalks meander among the grassy dunes, with great views back towards the Mournes.
reviewed
-
Mourne Wall
The dry-stone Mourne Wall was built between 1904 and 1922 to keep livestock out of the catchment area of the Kilkeel and Annalong Rivers, which were to be dammed to provide a water supply for Belfast.(Poor geological conditions meant the Annalong could not be dammed, and its waters were diverted to the Silent Valley Reservoir via a 3.6km-long tunnel beneath Slieve Binnian.) The spectacular wall, 2m high, 1m thick and over 35km long, marches across the summits of 15 of the surrounding peaks including the highest, Slieve Donard (853m).
reviewed
