Guide to County Down in Ireland

County Down

County Down is one of the nine counties that form the province of Ulster and one of six counties that form Northern Ireland. The county has an area of 2,448 km2 making it the third largest Northern Irish county. The estimated population is approaching 500,000 which makes County Down easily the second most populated county in the North behind Antrim.

The county town is Downpatrick, but the largest town is Bangor. The only whole city totally within the county boundaries is Newry, although east and parts of south Belfast as well as south Lisburn lie on County Down soil. The county is also the home of Hillsborough Castle, a two storey Georgian mansion, which is used for State occasions and government meetings.

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.

County Down´s other main towns are Banbridge, Holywood, Ballynahinch, Carryduff, Comber, Donaghadee, Dromore, Dundonald, Kilkeel, Newcastle, Newtownards and Warrenpoint.