Down

Historic county of southeastern Northern Ireland; area 2,448 sq km/945 sq mi. The principal towns and cities are Downpatrick, Bangor, Newtownards, Newry, and Banbridge. The northern part of the county lies within the commuter belt for Belfast, and includes part of the city of Belfast, east of the River Lagan. Down is a largely lowland county, although the south is dominated by the Mourne Mountains, the highest point of which is Slieve Donard (852 m/2,796 ft), the highest point in Northern Ireland. Administrative responsibility for the county is held by the councils of Down, Castlereagh, North Down, Banbridge, Ards, and Newry and Mourne.

The coast at Dundrum Bay, where the mountains rise abruptly, is sandy, but elsewhere the Down coastline is mainly low and rocky. In the east the county is penetrated by the long sea inlet Strangford Lough, a noted habitat for birds and grey seals. There are a number of fortifications and early ecclesiastical remains in the county, including the prehistoric Giant's Ring earthwork; Legananny Dolmen, a Stone Age monument; the well-preserved tower house Audley's Castle; and the 5th-century Nendrum Monastery on Mahee Island in Strangford Lough. St Patrick is reputed to have landed in Ireland at Saul in 432, and there are a number of pilgrimage sites in the surrounding area commemorating this event, including holy wells and a modern memorial church. Also in the area are Grey Abbey, a Cistercian foundation dating from 1193; Mount Stewart House and Gardens, the 18th-century former home of the Marquess of Londonderry, noted for its statues and carvings dating from the early 20th century; Castle Ward, an 18th-century house; and the Strangford Stone, 10 m/33 ft high, erected on the shores of Strangford Lough on Midsummer's Day, June 1999, to mark the millennium. The Ulster Folk and Transport Museum is at Holywood.

Killyleagh was the birthplace of Hans Sloane (1666–1753), whose natural history and antiquities collection were an important basis for the collections of the British Museum, London. The Reverend Patrick Brontë (father of the Brontë sisters) was born at Ballynaskeagh in 1777. The last battle in the north-east between the United Irishmen and British troops took place near Ballynahinch in 1798. The town of Hillsborough was the site of the signing of the Anglo-Irish Agreement in 1985.

Down

Administrative region in the southeast of Northern Ireland, serving an area in the centre and some of the southeastern coast of County Down; area 649 sq km/251 sq mi; population (2001, Down District Council) 63,800. The towns under the council's remit include Downpatrick, Newcastle, Kilcoo, Ballynahinch, and Strangford. The principal sources of employment include agriculture, local government, hospitals, tourism, and retail.