- Mourne Wall’s Length: The Mourne Wall, built between 1904 and 1922 to enclose a reservoir, stretches 35 kilometres across 15 peaks in the Mourne Mountains.
- Saint Patrick’s Grave: Downpatrick’s cathedral claims to house the grave of Saint Patrick, marked by a granite stone inscribed with a simple cross. Igt was emplaced to prvent people taking soil from the grave as relics.
- Exploris Aquarium’s Rescue: Exploris Aquarium in Portaferry once rehabilitated a seal named Sammy, who became famous for returning to the wild in 1990.
- Silent Valley’s Egyptian Link: Silent Valley Reservoir’s construction in the 1920s used a steam crane nicknamed “Cleopatra” after an Egyptian obelisk’s transport.
- Castlewellan’s Giant Tree: Castlewellan Forest Park contains an Annesley Giant Sequoia, planted in 1856, standing over 40 metres tall.
- Tollymore’s Game of Thrones: Tollymore Forest Park was a filming location for Winterfell scenes in Game of Thrones, featuring its iconic stone bridge.
- Strangford Lough’s Seals: Strangford Lough hosts Ireland’s largest common seal colony, with over 1,500 seals visible at low tide.
- Bangor’s Time Gun: Bangor’s marina has a 19th-century time gun that fired daily at 1 p.m. to help ships set their chronometers.
- Scrabo Tower’s Masonic Roots: Scrabo Tower near Newtownards, built in 1857, was funded by Freemasons to honour a local landlord.
- Killyleagh’s Fairy Tale Castle: Killyleagh Castle, one of Ireland’s oldest inhabited castles, resembles a Loire Valley chateau with its turrets and conical roofs.
Random facts
Antrim – Armagh – Carlow – Cavan – Clare – Cork – Derry – Donegal – Down – Dublin – Fermanagh – Galway – Kerry – Kildare – Kilkenny – Laois – Leitrim – Limerick – Longford – Louth – Mayo – Meath – Monaghan – Offaly – Roscommon – Sligo – Tipperary – Tyrone – Waterford – Westmeath – Wexford – Wicklow
County Down:
Ireland’s county Down offers a mix of historic sites and scenic landscapes, with Downpatrick’s Saint Patrick Centre and cathedral providing insights into Ireland’s patron saint. The Mourne Mountains offer hiking trails with sweeping views, while Strangford Lough provides kayaking and wildlife spotting. Other attractions include the historic Tollymore Forest Park. Down is Ireland’s 12th largest county by size (2,447 square km) and fourth largest by population (553,261). Population peaked at 361,446 in 1841 and reached its lowest point, 204,303, in 1911. In terms of hospitality, Down is Ireland’s 18th most visited tourist county with around 127,000 international visitors per year.
Introduction – Adventure – Anthem – Archaeology – Attractions – Awards – Birdwatching – Camping – Castles – Churches – Contact list – Cycling – Dining – Equestrian – Festivals – Fishing – Folklore – Gardens – Golf – Graveyards – Happening – Haunted – Highest – Hiking – History – Holy Wells – Hotels – Hotels top 8 – Hunting & shooting – Instagrammable – Itineraries – Largest town – Luxury – MICE – Movies – Music – New – Name – Novelists – Off the beaten track – Poets – Pubs – Quotes – Random Facts – Restaurant Awards – Sacred Places – Saints – Songs – Spas – Sports – Sunsets – Sustainable – Things to do – Towns – Video – Villages – Walking – Wanderlist – Weddings – Wild swimming – Writers – 1837 – 1846 – 1852 – 1909 – 1955 – 1980 –
