Hillsborough

Market town in County Down, Northern Ireland, 20 km/12 mi southwest of Belfast; population (2001) 3,300. It mainly functions as a commuter settlement for Belfast. Hillsborough was developed by a family named Hill in the 17th century, and still retains much of its original character, with a number of fine Georgian buildings. The mansion, built in 1760 for the Hills, became the official residence of the governors of Northern Ireland, and is now the local base for the UK secretary of state for Northern Ireland. Near Hillsborough is a 17th-century star-shaped fort built for Col Arthur Hill.

Kilwalin Moravian church near Hillsborough has a model of the ancient Greek battlefield of Thermopylae in its grounds. At Moira village, 11 km/7 mi to the west of Hillsborough, a conflict took place in 637 between the high king of Ireland and the king of Ulster, as recounted in a poem by Samuel Ferguson.