Downhill Demesne

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In 1774, the bishop of Derry (fourth earl of Bristol, Frederick Augustus Hervey), built a palatial home amid a 160-hectare demesne. The house burnt down in 1851, was rebuilt in 1876, and abandoned after WWII. The ruins now stand forlornly on a clifftop, with beautiful landscaped gardens below.

The colonnaded, dome-capped Mussenden Temple, built by the bishop for his library (some say his mistress), is a Game of Thrones icon.

Enter via the Lion's Gate or Bishop's Gate.

Nearby is whitewashed, 17th-century Hezlett House (open 11am to 5pm from June to September, weekends only April to June), one of Ireland's oldest thatched cottages, which belonged to the same family of dairy farmers for over 300 years. The rooms are set up as they would have looked in Victorian times. It's 2km southeast of Downhill Demesne on the Mussenden Rd.

Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

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  • Setting sun over the The Giants Causeway, County Antrim, Northern Ireland.

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  • Malin Head is located on the Inishowen Peninsula, County Donegal, Ireland and is the most northerly point of the island of Ireland. A military watchtower was built at Banba's Crown in 1805, during the Napoleonic Wars. Around 1902, a signal station was also built at Banba's Crown, quite close to the old Napoleonic watchtower. Both of these buildings still stand.

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    On the northernmost tip of Malin Head, called Banba's Crown, stands a cumbersome 1805 clifftop tower that was built by the British admiralty and later…

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  • People's Gallery Murals

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    The 12 murals that decorate the gable ends of houses along Rossville St, near Free Derry Corner, are popularly referred to as the People's Gallery. They…

  • Culdaff beach, Inishowen Peninsula, County Donegal

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  • Derry's City Walls

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    The best way to get a feel for Derry's layout and history is to walk the 1.5km circumference of the city's walls. Completed in 1619, Derry's city walls…

  • Rathlin West Light Seabird Centre

    Rathlin West Light Seabird Centre

    23.11 MILES

    This Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) centre offers spectacular views of a thriving seabird colony, where every summer thousands of…

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