County Down

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County Down Contae an Dúin Coontie Doun[1]
Location
Statistics
Province:	Ulster
County seat:	Downpatrick
Area:	2,448 km²
Population (est.)	516,000[citation needed]

County Down (Irish: Contae an Dúin or simply an Dún) is one of the traditional counties of Ireland. It is located within the province of Ulster and is part of Northern Ireland. The county forms an area of 2,448 km² (945 sq mi). The estimated population in 1992 was 416,600; a more recent approximation puts it at about 516,000.^{[citation needed]} The county town is Downpatrick, but the largest town is Bangor. The only whole city is Newry, although east and parts of south Belfast as well as south Lisburn lie within the county also.

Down contains both the southernmost point in Northern Ireland (Cranfield Point) and the easternmost point in Ireland (Burr Point).

The county borders County Antrim to the north, the Irish Sea to the east and County Armagh to the west. It is one of only two counties of Ireland to presently have a majority of the population from a Protestant community background, according to the 2001 census. The other is County Antrim.

Contents 1 Geography 2 Places of interest 3 Settlements 3.1 Cities 3.2 Large towns 3.3 Medium towns 3.4 Small towns 3.5 Intermediate settlements 3.6 Villages 3.7 Small villages or hamlets 4 Sport 5 See also 6 References 7 Further reading 8 External links

[edit] Geography

Down contains two significant peninsulas: Ards Peninsula and Lecale peninsula.

The county has a coastline along Belfast Lough to the north and Carlingford Lough to the south (both of which have access to the sea). Strangford Lough lies between the Ards Peninsula and the mainland. Down also contains part of the shore of Lough Neagh. Smaller loughs include Lough Island Reavy.

The River Lagan forms most of the border with County Antrim. The River Bann also flows through the southwestern areas of the county. Other rivers include the Clanrye and Quoile.

There are several islands off the Down coast: Mew Island, Light House Island and the Copeland Islands, all of which lie to the north of the Ards Peninsula. Gunn Island lies off the Lecale coast. In addition there are a large number of small islands in Strangford Lough.

County Down is where, in the words of the famous song by Percy French, "The mountains of Mourne sweep down to the sea", and the granite Mourne Mountains continue to be renowned for their beauty. Slieve Donard, at 849 m (2,785 ft), is the highest peak in the Mournes and in Northern Ireland. Another important peak is Slieve Croob, at 534 m (1,752 ft), the source of the River Lagan.

[edit] Places of interest

• An area of County Down is known as the Brontë Homeland (situated between Rathfriland and Banbridge, where Patrick Brontë had his church), after Patrick Brontë (originally Prunty), father of Anne, Charlotte, and Emily Brontë, who was born in this region.
• The city of Newry in the south of the county contains St Patrick's (Church of Ireland, 1578), overlooking the city centre from Church street, on the east side of the city, which is considered to be Ireland's first ever Protestant church.^{[citation needed]} Newry is also the home of the first summit-level canal ever to be built in the British Isles.^{[citation needed]}
• Down is also home to Exploris, the Northern Ireland Aquarium, located in Portaferry, on the shores of Strangford Lough, on the Ards Peninsula.
• The Old Inn in Crawfordsburn is one of Ireland's oldest hostelries, with records dating back to 1614. The inn claims that people who have stayed there include Jonathan Swift, Dick Turpin, Peter the Great, Lord Tennyson, Charles Dickens, Anthony Trollope, former US president George H. W. Bush, and C. S. Lewis, who honeymooned there.^[2]
• Scrabo Tower, in Newtownards, was built as a memorial to Charles Stewart, 3rd Marquess of Londonderry.
• Saint Patrick is reputed to be buried at Down Cathedral in Downpatrick, reputedly alongside St. Brigid^{[citation needed]} and St. Columba^{[citation needed]}.
• Kilcoo (from the Irish: Cill Chua meaning "church of mourning" – from the legend that Saint Patrick's body stayed there while on its way to Downpatrick to be buried) is a small village in County Down situated between Hilltown and Castlewellan.

[edit] Settlements

[edit] Cities

(population of 75,000 or more at 2001 Census)^[3]

• Newry

[edit] Large towns

(population of 18,000 or more and under 75,000 at 2001 Census)^[3]

• Bangor
• Dundonald
• Newtownards

[edit] Medium towns

(population of 10,000 or more and under 18,000 at 2001 Census)^[3]

• Banbridge
• Downpatrick
• Holywood

[edit] Small towns

(population of 4,500 or more and under 10,000 at 2001 Census)^[3]

• Ballynahinch
• Carryduff
• Comber
• Donaghadee
• Dromore
• Kilkeel
• Newcastle

mourne mountains

• Warrenpoint

[edit] Intermediate settlements

(population of 2,250 or more and under 4,500 at 2001 Census)^[3]

• Ballygowan
• Castlewellan
• Hillsborough
• Killyleagh
• Moira
• Portaferry
• Rostrevor
• Saintfield
• Waringstown

[edit] Villages

(population of 1,000 or more and under 2,250 at 2001 Census)^[3]

• Annahilt
• Annalong
• Ardglass
• Ballywalter
• Crossgar
• Drumaness
• Dundrum
• Gilford
• Greyabbey
• Helen's Bay
• Kilcoo
• Kircubbin
• Millisle
• Portavogie
• Rathfriland

[edit] Small villages or hamlets

(population of less than 1,000 at 2001 Census)^[3]

• Annsborough
• Ballyhalbert
• Ballykinler
• Ballymartin
• Bryansford
• Carrowdore
• Clough
• Cloughey
• Crawfordsburn
• Donaghcloney
• Dromara
• Gilnahirk
• Groomsport
• Hilltown
• Killinchy
• Killough
• Lawrencetown
• Loughbrickland
• Loughinisland
• Mayobridge
• Scarva
• Seaforde
• Strangford

[edit] Sport

Down is a strong GAA county. There is a proud tradition of gaelic football & Hurling within the county.

Gaelic Football

Honours won

All-Ireland Senior Football Championships: 5

1960, 1961, 1968, 1991, 1994

All-Ireland Under-21 Football Championships: 1

1979

All-Ireland Minor Football Championships: 4

1977, 1987, 1999, 2005

All-Ireland Junior Football Championships: 1

1946

National Football Leagues: 4

1960, 1962, 1968, 1983

Ulster Senior Football Championships: 12

1959, 1960, 1961, 1963, 1965, 1966, 1968, 1971, 1978, 1981, 1991, 1994

Ulster Under-21 Football Championships: 7

1965, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1984, 2005, 2008

Ulster Minor Football Championships: 10

1958, 1960, 1962, 1963, 1966, 1977, 1979, 1986, 1987, 1999

Ulster Junior Football Championships: 8

1931, 1946, 1947, 1949, 1958, 1965, 1966, 1971

McKenna Cups: 11

1944, 1959, 1961, 1964, 1972, 1987, 1989, 1992, 1996, 1998, 2008

GAA All Stars Awards: 19

1971 (S. O’Neill), 1972 (S. O’Neill), 1975 (C. McAlarney), 1978 (C. McAlarney), 1981 (P. Kennedy), 1983 (L. Austin, G. Blaney), 1990 (J. McCartan), 1991 (C. Deegan, B. Breen, R. Carr, G. Blaney), 1994 (M. Magill, P. Higgins, D.J. Kane, G. McCartan, G. Blaney, J. McCartan, M. Linden)

Hurling

Three Down hurling clubs, Ballycran, Ballygalget and Portaferry play in Antrim League. The first two used the experience to win Ulster Senior Club Hurling Championships. Although they had not won the B championship in four final appearances, when the Ulster hurling championship was revived Down won titles in 1992, 1995 and 1997.

In 2008, Down made history as the first GAA county to field two inter-county hurling teams in the National Hurling League. A South Down team - made up of hurlers from non-Ards clubs - recorded their first win by beating Cavan at Ballela, scoring 4-15 to Cavan's 0-9 in Division Four of the league.

Honours Won

All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championships: None

All-Ireland Under-21 Hurling Championships: None

All-Ireland Minor Hurling Championships: None

All-Ireland Junior Hurling Championships: 1

1964

National Hurling Leagues: None

Ulster Senior Hurling Championships: 4

1941, 1992, 1995, 1997

Ulster Under-21 Hurling Championships: 12

1969, 1971, 1975, 1977, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1990, 2003, 2004, 2005

Ulster Minor Hurling Championships: 12

1930, 1932, 1934, 1957, 1971, 1972, 1976, 1978, 1984, 1985, 1989, 1994

Ulster Junior Hurling Championships: 7

1956, 1960, 1962, 1964, 1967, 1992, 1993

All Stars: 1

1992 (G. McGrattan)

[edit] See also

• Abbeys and priories in Northern Ireland (County Down)
• List of places in County Down
• List of townlands in County Down

[edit] References

[edit] Further reading

• Harris, Walter (attributed). 1744. The Ancient and Present Stare of the County of Down...'Dublin.
• The Memoirs of John M. Regan, a Catholic Officer in the RIC and RUC, 1909–48, Joost Augusteijn, editor, District Inspector, Co. Down 1930s, 1919, ISBN 978-1-84682-069-4.

[edit] External links

• County Down at the Open Directory Project
• County Down tourism
• Armagh and Down tourism
• Culture Northern Ireland - Industrial Heritage of County Down
• Down Gaelic Athletic Association/Cummann Lúthchleas Gael Coiste An Dún
• Genealogy indexes for County Down
• Ardglass fishing port on East Down coast

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