County Down - Towns

Portaferry has a beautiful site on the east side of the entrance to Strangford Lough. The long, low waterfront of cottages, terraces, pubs and small shops is best appreciated from the car ferry which takes you crabwise across the narrows to Strangford village in barely five minutes.

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From the square at Rathfriland on top of a steep hill, five streets with stepped terraces fall away sharply on all sides. Before the combustion engine, the cheery residents usually walked home, getting out of their traps and carts to spare the ponies. The town has a mid-week variety market in the square and 3 livestock sale days a week. During the nineteenth century potato famine, the market house (1770) was used as a soup kitchen though Rathfriland was spared the worst, since cereals as well as potatoes were grown locally. Four substantial Presbyterian churches are testimony to past differences of opinion. The old Quaker meeting house is now a scout hall, and the small shop with pointed windows on the first floor was originally the town's Methodist chapel. A very prominent funnel shaped water tower occupies the high point in the riverless town, near the site of a sixteenth century Magennis castle, now vanished. This part of County Down has distinguished connections with pioneer Canada. The intrepid Catherine O'Hare, mother of the first European child born west of the Rockies was herself born in Rathfriland in 1835. She and her husband, Augustus Schubert, joined 200 Overlanders who went west in search of gold, and blazed the trail for the Canadian Pacific Railway. Rathfriland has not yet erected a memorial to this remarkable woman, though in Kamloops city park British Columbia is named after her, and Armstrong also has a monument.

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The road into Rostrevor winds past a tall granite obelisk erected in memory of Major General Robert Ross. He was commander of a small British force which captured Washington in 1814 after unexpectedly defeating the Americans at Bladensburg. Palm trees and mimosa flourish in the mild climate of Rostrevor. There are oak trees in the square, nice old houses, and a long seafront.

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Saintfield, on the northerly point of the Down District, has become a desirable place to live due to its quality of life and easy commuting distance with Belfast. The town has been a regular winner in the Ulster and Britain in Bloom competitions which have involved the entire community. Evidence of its charm can be seen by the colourful fragrant displays of flowerbeds, windowboxes and hanging baskets.

Saintfield has several welcoming little tea rooms and eating places, traditional village pubs and curio and antique shops.

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