View from the top of Slieve Gullion (County Armagh), looking across heather in bloom and below an Irish rural landscape, stretching from County Armagh (Northern Ireland, UK) across to County Louth (Republic of Ireland).  The open border between the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland winds its way through fields, villages, farmsteads and along roads for 310 miles (499 km).

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Counties Down & Armagh

County Down's treasures fan out beyond Belfast. Strangford Lough's sparkling, island-fringed waters stretch south, with the bird-haunted mudflats of Castle Espie and Nendrum's ancient monastery on one shore, and the picturesque Ards Peninsula on the other. The Mourne Mountains' velvet curves sweep down to the sea near Downpatrick and Lecale, the old stamping grounds of Ireland's patron saint. To the south of the Mournes, the coastal road passes the picturesque coastal towns of Rostrevor and Warrenpoint, the respective hosts of summer folk and blues festivals.


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