Down and Armagh Guide Newcastle County Down - where the Mountains of Mourne come down to the sea latest update February 2008 Down and Armagh are the 'Home Counties' of Northern Ireland with much rolling countryside and large country houses. Their northern halves are traditional Protestant areas from the Linen Towns west of Belfast to the workers holiday towns on the east coast. The southern areas closer to the border are majority nationalist areas and with wilder landscapes including the Mourne Mountains. On the dividing line between these two halves lie the ancient religious capital of Ireland, the city of Armagh, home to Protestant and Catholic cathedrals. Coast Clockwise from Belfast 9km east of Belfast is the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum. Buildings from across northern Ireland have been reassembled as a Museum Village. There are also impressive transport exhibits. Bangor, 20km east of Belfast is a victorian resort. Traditional and modern resort life come in shape of Pickie Fun Park with pedaloes, and a new Marina. Get your fill of local history in the North Down Heritage Centre in Castle Park. From here the coast runs south along the seaward side of the Ards Peninsular to a succession of fine bays. The relative lack of places of identifiable interest leads most guidebooks to suggest you should head down Strangford Lough, but if its the views that you want this is a fine place for them. Portaferry and Strangford face each other across a channel less than 1 km wide that connects Strangdford Lough with the sea, with a ferry running between them. Near Strangford is Castleward House, classical at the front and gothic at the back. The house is laid out to show life above and below stairs. Lovely scenery opens up on the way to prim Ardglass where Jordan's Castle defended the town for Elizabeth 1 against the Earl of Tyrone from 1598-1601. Soon the Mountains of Mourne come into view, the youngest looking mountains in Ireland. They dont so much 'come down to the sea' as rise up from it. 13th century Dundrum castle sits a few miles north of Newcastle, a wonderfully situated little resort with the mountains behind and Dundrum Bay curving around it. Their are roads around the Mountains of Mourne both along the coast and around their north inland. But they are worth exploring in more detail with the best routes being through the middle of them. They make for great, if strenuous, walking country. Moune Heritage Trust has a good website with plenty of info. To the east of the Mournes is the border, an invisble live down the centre of Carlingford Lough. You can head into Newry to cross into the Republic, or, if you are on foot or bike take a tiny ferry from Warrenpoint to Omeath on the Cooley Peninsula. At the seaward end of a pretty glen is the attractive village of Rostrevor. Here you will find the Christian Renewal Centre on Shore Road which has been praying for peace in Ireland for the last 30 years. Strangford Lough This 20 mile long sea inlet has a number of places of interest on its shores. Newtownards, at its northernmost point is an unremarkable dormitory town of Belfast. 8km south on the east bank of the Lough is Mountstewart House and Gardens. The 35 hectares of gardens are particulary fine and filled with a mixture of unionist and nationalist symbols: Harps and the Red Hand of Ulster. Central County Down The area due south of Belfast is drumlin country, with gentle rounded hills leading southward to 550m tall Slieve Croob. The main town in the area is Ballynahinch, a planned town laid out in the 1640's by the Earl of Moira. It was badly damaged in 1798. St Patrick's Catholic Church has a beautiful classical interior. On the road south out of town is a working water powered corn mill. To the north of the town are the beautiful Rowallane Gardens and a few km north of them the pretty village of Saintfield which won the Britain in Bloom award in 1990. Downpatrick Named for Ireland's greatest saint this is by far the most genteel town in Northern Ireland, with picture postcard georgian architecture abounding. The finest street in town is the Mall where you will find the Protestant Down Cathedral, a 8th/19th century building which preserves a traditional church culture extending to pews named for the families that use them. Down County Museum is housed in the town's 18th century Jail with models of some of its former prisinors. There are other fine buildings such as the 18th century Soundwell School and the Courthouse. Ego Patricus, Market street, is a multi media style centre dedicated to the great saint. Downpatrick Railway Museum, Market Street runs steam trains on part of the old Belfast to Newcastle line. North County Down. This is part of the Unionist heartland. An area of linen towns, rich farmland and country houses. The Lagan and Bann valleys have inspired many poems and songs. On the road west there is the elegant town Moira, its mainstreet lined with 18th century blackstone houses. A little further south is the restored village of Waringstown with its rebuilt Flemish and Hugenot cottages. There are several places of interest on the road to Dublin - the A1. Hillsborough is a name that is now associated with the Peace Process. It is an attractive small town climbing a hill. At the foot of the Hill is St Malachy's, a fine Gothic revival church. See also Hillsborough Fort, a 17th century castle built to defend this major highway. 7km further south is Dromore with its norman Motte and Bailey and the tiny early 19th century Church of Ireland Cathedral of Christ the Redeemer. The most famous town on the road is Banbridge, an important stop between Dublin and Belfast, It sports one of the world's first underpasses tunnelled under the hill the town stands in 1824 on for the convenience of the Royal Mail coaches. The town spills down to the Bann with riverside gardens and a suspension bridge over the river. City of Armagh This town of about 16 000 people is not one of Ireland's largest, but in a country where religion is so important it has its own unique place. It is the Ecclesiastical Capital. The Church of Ireland St Patrick's Cathedral sits atop the hill in the old town, a medeaval gothic church substantially restored in the 19th century. Below the catholic St Patrick's Cathedral soars heavenward in exhuberant 19th century gothic style with a brilliantly executed interior culminating in a painted wooden vault. The other 'must see' is the Armagh Observatory College Hill, with its Planetarium. If you are interested in the Irish language you may wish to visit the Cardinal Tomas O Fiaich Libary and Archive 15 Moy Road. Armagh County Museum, The Mall East, is a good small museum.. For a bit of variety visit St Patrick's Trian, 40 English Street in the old presbyterian church. There are three themed exhibitions here. One on the development of faith in Ireland, one on the development of Armagh and one a 'Land of Lilliput' based on Gulliver's Travels. Just outside town is Ulster's most important archeological site, Navan Fort, a 6 hectare hilltop enclosure. Armagh Tourist Information Centre 028 3752 1800, 40 English Street. The Market Place Theatre & Arts Centre and Armagh City Filmhouse are side by side on Market Street. Start your search for music at Northern Bar, 100 Railway Street which has a mixture of music styles throughout the week. Coaches to/from Armagh Bus Centre, Lonsdale Road. No train station. North Armagh North of Armagh city there is hill country to the west and lowlands to the east towards Lough Neargh. The hill country, known as Orchard Country - a traditional apple growing area - is an amazing survival of traditional farming and a great advert for all the best virtues of Ulster Protestantism. Every field is well kept and every hedge trimmed. Ardress House, Ardress, is a fine place with a herb garden and nature trails. To the east are the two towns of Portadown and Lugan with the New Town of Brownlee in between - no one locally calls it Craigavon. Portadown was much in the news in the late 1990's because of disputes over marches but is now much more relaxed. Beyond the towns are peaty lowlands leading down to Lough Neagh. The nature reserve and bird sanctuary at Oxford Island is well worth visiting with the sensitively constructed Lough Neagh Discovery Centre with cafe at the water's edge. Peatlands Park, near the county border with Tyrone is rather different. A theme park on Ireland's famous resource. South Armagh A gentle landscape of rolling hills leads southwards towards the brooding form of Slieve Guillion - the mountain of Culculainn. Just west is Ti Chulainn a centre promoting Irish music, culture and language. During the toubles this area was beautiful and deadly. Today the beauty remains and a local tourist association gamely tries to market the attractions of the area - one of which is the healthy local traditional music scene with frequent sessions in Forkill, Mallaghbane and Crossmaglen. Below the hills is Newry. Once protestant this is now a mainly catholic town. Down and Armagh have vied to claim it, to the point where the Town Hall is built on a bridge over the Clanrye River on the county line. The most notable building is the Catholic Cathedral on Hill Street where a plain exterior hides a richly decorated interior. The Newry and Mourne Arts Centre, 1a Bank Parade, has exhibitions of local artists' work, plays and music.
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