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County Down
Contae an Dúin
Coontie Doun[1]
Coat of arms of County Down
Motto: Absque Labore Nihil  (Latin)
"Nothing Without Labour"
Location
Map highlighting County Down
Statistics
Province: Ulster
County seat: Downpatrick
Area: 2,448 km2 (945 sq mi)
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. Newry lies partially in Down and Armagh counties, 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

Geography

Mourne Mountains

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.

The mouth of Carlingford Lough from Knockree in south County Down

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.

Places of interest

Settlements

Cities

(population of 75,000 or more at 2001 Census)[9]

Belfast

Large towns

(population of 18,000 or more and under 75,000 at 2001 Census)[9]

Medium towns

(population of 10,000 or more and under 18,000 at 2001 Census)[9]

Small towns

(population of 4,500 or more and under 10,000 at 2001 Census)[9]

Subdivisions

Baronies

Main article: Baronies of Ireland
  • Ards Lower (an Aird Íochtarach)
  • Ards Upper (an Aird Uachtarach)
  • Castlereagh Lower (an Caisleán Riabhach Íochtarach)
  • Castlereagh Upper (an Caisleán Riabhach Uachtarach)
  • Dufferin (an Duifrian)
  • Iveagh Lower, Lower Half[10] (Uíbh Eachach Íochtarach, an Leath Íochtair)
  • Iveagh Lower, Upper Half[10] (Uíbh Eachach Íochtarach, an Leath Uachtair)
  • Iveagh Upper, Lower Half[10] (Uíbh Eachach Uachtarach, an Leath Íochtair)
  • Iveagh Upper, Upper Half[10] (Uíbh Eachach Uachtarach, an Leath Uachtair)
  • Kinelearty (Cineál Fhártaigh)
  • Lecale Lower (Leath Cathail Íochtarach)
  • Lecale Upper (Leath Cathail Uachtarach)
  • Lordship of Newry (an tIúr)
  • Mourne (Múrna)

Parishes

Main article: List of civil parishes of County Down

Townlands

Main article: List of townlands in County Down

Sport

Main article: Down GAA

See also

References

  1. ^ http://www.dcalni.gov.uk/FAQs/FAQs.asp?ba=leid
  2. ^ Crawfordsburn Old Inn website
  3. ^ For 1653 and 1659 figures from Civil Survey Census of those years, Paper of Mr Hardinge to Royal Irish Academy March 14, 1865.
  4. ^ Census for post 1821 figures.
  5. ^ http://www.histpop.org
  6. ^ http://www.nisranew.nisra.gov.uk/census
  7. ^ Lee, JJ (1981). "On the accuracy of the Pre-famine Irish censuses". in Goldstrom, J. M.; Clarkson, L. A.. Irish Population, Economy, and Society: Essays in Honour of the Late K. H. Connell. Oxford, England: Clarendon Press. 
  8. ^ Mokyr, Joel; O Grada, Cormac (November), "New Developments in Irish Population History, 1700-1850", The Economic History Review Volume 37 (Issue 4): 473–488, doi:10.1111/j.1468-0289.1984.tb00344.x, http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/120035880/abstract 
  9. ^ a b c d e f g "Statistical classification of settlements". NI Neighbourhood Information Service. http://www.ninis.nisra.gov.uk/mapxtreme_towns/statistical%20classification.htm. Retrieved 23 February 2009. 
  10. ^ a b c d Neither Upper nor Lower Iveagh is separated into Upper and Lower halfs in ANHI

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.

External links

Counties and cities of Northern Ireland
Counties

Antrim · Armagh · Down · Fermanagh · Londonderry · Tyrone
Cities

Armagh · Belfast · Derry · Lisburn · Newry
Counties of Ireland
Connacht
Ireland counties.jpg
Munster
Leinster
Ulster

Antrim† · Armagh† · Cavan · Fermanagh† · Derry or Londonderry† · Donegal · Down† · Monaghan · Tyrone†
Italics denote non-administrative counties. Brackets denote eponymous cities or non-traditional counties. † denotes counties of Northern Ireland

Travel guide

Up to date as of January 14, 2010

From Wikitravel

County Down is a county in Northern Ireland.

Map of County Down
Map of County Down
  • Ballygowan
  • Ballywalter
  • Greyabbey
  • Hillsborough
  • Kilkeel
  • Killyleagh
  • Millisle
  • Portaferry
  • Rostrevor
  • Warrenpoint

Talk

English is the primary language, although you may find it a challenge understanding as locals talk very fast and have a distinct accent from the rest of Ireland.

Get in

Most visitors will arrive in Belfast City Airport or Belfast International at Aldergrove. While 'George Best City Airport' is right in the city, the International is 20 miles away by Motorway, so plan your transportation accordingly.

Get around

There is a limited bus service between several towns in County Down, but many must connect in Belfast.

The best way to see around is to hire a car, as distances are far too great for cycling.

See

The Ards Peninsula has many 'typical' Northern Irish towns which are interesting to travel around.

Do

Visit the Mourne Mountains. Trek the mountain paths for nice rivers and a great view over Newcastle towards the top. Alternatively, drive around them for wonderful scenery (on a good weather day) and quaint mountain walls before reaching Silent Valley and looping back around the other side.

This article is an outline and needs more content. It has a template, but there is not enough information present. Please plunge forward and help it grow!

Genealogy

Up to date as of February 01, 2010

From Familypedia

County Down  view Community messages
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County Down
Contae an Dúin
Coontie Doun[1]
Coat of arms of County Down
Location
centerMap highlighting County Down
Statistics
Province: Ulster
County Town: Downpatrick
Area: 2,448 km²
Population (est.) 516,000

County Down, (Contae an Dúin in Irish - meaning the Fort) is one of the nine counties that form Ulster and one of six counties that form Northern Ireland. The county forms an area of 2,448 km² (945 square miles). It lies in the province of Ulster. The estimated population in 1992 was 416,600, a more recent approximation puts it at about 516,000. The county town is Downpatrick, and the largest town is Bangor.

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

The county borders County Antrim to the north, the Irish Sea to the east and County Armagh to the west.

Contents

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 Copeland Island (together, the Copeland Islands), all of which lie to the north of the Ards Peninsula. Gun Island lies off the Lecale coast. In addition there are a large number of small islands in Strangford Lough.

Mourne Mountains

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 848 metres (2,796 feet), is the highest peak in the Mournes and the highest in Northern Ireland. Another important peak is Slieve Croob, at 532 metres (1,775 ft), the source of the River Lagan.

See also:

Places of interest

An area of County Down is known as Brontë Homeland (situated between Rathfriland and Banbridge, where Patrick Bronte 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. Newry is also the home of the first summit-level canal ever to be built in Ireland or Great Britain.

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 Bush, and C. S. Lewis, who honeymooned there.[2]

External links

Footnotes

  1. ^ http://www.dcalni.gov.uk/FAQs/FAQs.asp?ba=leid
  2. ^ Crawfordsburn Old Inn website

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.
Counties of Ireland
Connacht

Galway (Galway City) · Leitrim · Mayo · Roscommon · Sligo
Munster

Clare · Cork (Cork City) · Kerry · Limerick (Limerick City) · Tipperary (North Tipperary • South Tipperary) · Waterford (Waterford City)
Leinster

Carlow · Dublin (Dublin City • Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown • Fingal • South Dublin) · Kildare · Kilkenny · Laois · Longford · Louth · Meath ·
Offaly · Westmeath · Wexford · Wicklow
Ulster

Cavan · Donegal · Monaghan · Antrim · Armagh · Down · Fermanagh · Londonderry · Tyrone
Italics denote non-administrative counties  ·  (Parentheses) denote eponymous cities or non-traditional counties


This page uses content from the English language Wikipedia. The original content was at County Down. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with this Familypedia wiki, the content of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons License.

This article uses material from the "County Down" article on the Genealogy wiki at Wikia and is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike License.

Simple English

County Down
Contae an Dúin
Coontie Doun[1]
Location
[[Image:|200px|centerMap highlighting County Down]]
Statistics
Province: Ulster
County Town: Downpatrick
Area: 2,448 km²
Population (est.) 516,000[needs proof]

County Down, (Contae an Dúin in Irish - meaning the Fort) is one of six counties that form Northern Ireland, and one of the nine counties of the ancient province of Ulster

The county forms an area of 2,448 km² (945 square miles). The estimated population in 1992 was 416,600, a more recent approximation puts it at about 516,000.[needs proof] The county town is Downpatrick, and the largest town is Bangor.

References

  1. ↑ http://www.dcalni.gov.uk/FAQs/FAQs.asp?ba=leid

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.

Other websites

[[Template:FULLPAGENAME: Northern Ireland shire|v]] • [[{{TALKPAGENAME:Template:FULLPAGENAME: Northern Ireland shire}}|d]] • [{{fullurl:Template:FULLPAGENAME: Northern Ireland shire|action=edit}}e]
Counties of Northern Ireland
Antrim Template:· Armagh Template:· Down Template:· Fermanagh Template:· Londonderry Template:· Tyrone

Retrieved from "http://yak.rapint.com/wiki/County_Down"







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