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Downpatrick
Scots: Dounpatrick
Irish: Dún Pádraig
Downpatrick  Downpatrick shown within Northern Ireland
Population	10,316 (2001 Census)
District	Down District
County	County Down
Country	Northern Ireland
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	DOWNPATRICK
Postcode district	BT30
Dialling code	028
Police	Northern Ireland
Fire	Northern Ireland
Ambulance	Northern Ireland
EU Parliament	Northern Ireland
UK Parliament	South Down
NI Assembly	South Down
List of places: UK • Northern Ireland • Down

Downpatrick

As the largest town in the Lecale area, Downpatrick is a commercial, recreational and administrative centre for the locality and serves as a hub for the nearby towns and villages. Within an hour drive of Belfast, the location serves as a commuter town for a large number of people. The town has a number of primary and post-primary schools educating students from all over the east Down area.

Downpatrick is characterised by the rolling drumlins that are a feature of the Lecale area and a legacy of glaciation during the Pleistocene, the Down drumlins themselves are underlaid by Ordovician and Silurian shales and grits. It also has the distinction of being the lowest place on the island of Ireland, with the marsh surrounding the north east of the town recorded as being 1.3 ft (0.4m) below sea level.^{[citation needed]} Downpatrick is approximately 22 miles (35 km) from Belfast with a regular bus service.

a

Pre-history

An early Bronze Age site was excavated in Downpatrick on the Meadowlands housing estate, revealing two round houses. One measured over four metres in diameter and contained a hearth in the centre, while the other round house was over seven metres across.^[1]

Downpatrick is one of Ireland's most ancient and historic towns. It takes its name from a dún (fort), which once stood on the hill that dominates the town and on which Down Cathedral stands. Ptolemy, about the year AD 130, includes it (in latin) as Dunum in his list of towns of Ireland. The old name of the town was Rath Celtair named after the fictional warrior of Ulster called Celtchar (in modern Irish: Cealtachair) who resided there and who fought alongside Ulster King Conchobar mac Neasa and is mentioned in the Ulster Cycle and, in particular, the Táin Bó Cuailgne . The name was superseded by the name Dún Lethglaise then Dún Dá Lethglas which in turn gave way, in the 13th century, to the present name of Dún Phádraig (anglicised as Downpatrick) - from the town's connection with the patron saint of Ireland.

Saint Patrick was reputedly buried here in 461 on Cathedral Hill, within the grounds of Down Cathedral. His grave is still a place of pilgrimage on St Patricks Day (17 March each year). The Saint Patrick Visitor Centre in Downpatrick is purpose-built to tell the story of St Patrick.

County Down was the ancient centre of the Dál Fiatach lands, and the chief royal site and religious centre of the Dál Fiatach was at Downpatrick.

In 1137, St. Malachy after resigning as Archbishop of Armagh, separating the two dioceses and appointing another as Bishop of Connor, became the Bishop of Down. He administered the diocese of Dún dá leth glas (Down) from Bangor and introduced a community of Augustinians (canons) to Dún dá leth glas dedicated to St. John the Evangelist and repaired and enlarged Down Cathedral.

After having received a grant of Ulster from King Henry II of England, Norman Knight, John de Courcy set out from Dublin in early 1177 to take possession of it. He marched north to with a force of 20 knights and 300 men and reached Downpatrick four days later. Downpatrick was an open ecclesiastical town of the old type and the invaders rode in and surprised it in the small hours of February 2. De Courcy attacked the fortress and administrative centre of Rath Celtair (the Mound of Down), defeating and driving off Rory MacDonlevy (Ruaidhri Mac Duinnshleibhe), King of the Dál Fiatach.

In 1183, John de Courcy brought in some Benedictines from the abbey of St. Werburgh in Chester (today Chester Cathedral) in England and built a cathedral friary for them at Downpatrick. This building was destroyed by an earthquake in 1245.^[2]

In 1260 Brian O'Neill, King of Tír Eoghain (Tyrone) and who had been acknowledged as High King of Ireland by Hugh O’Conor of Connacht and Tadhg O’Brien of Thomond marched to Downpatrick, a centre of English settlement, and, allied with a Connacht force under Hugh O’Conor, fought the foreigners in the Battle of Down. The battle took place outside the city of Down and O'Neill, 8 Connacht lords and many others died.

Great scholar, poet, bishop and Franciscan theologian Aodh Mac Aingil (real name Aodh Mac Cathmhaoil) was born outside Dún (Downpatrick) in 1571.

Four main thoroughfares are shown converging on a town plan of 1724, namely, English Street, Scotch (now Saul) Street, Barrack (now Scotch) Street, and Irish Street. Topography limited expansion of the town and so the basic early 18th century street plan continued largely unchanged until 1838 when Church Street was built, followed by Market Street in 1846.

The condition of the town was greatly improved in the 18th century by a land-owning family named Southwell. The first Edward Southwell was responsible for building a shambles in 1719 and encourage paving of the streets which started in in 1727. Importantly, in 1717 he built a a quay and grain store at Quoile Quay, thereby, contributing to the economic expansion of the town. The second Edward Southwell was responsible for building, in 1733, one of the most beautiful examples of a Georgian charity school and almshouse, Southwell School, Downpatrick.

Down County Infirmary was established in a house in Saul Street in October 1767, and remained there for seven years until it was moved to Barrack Lane (now Fountain Street) where the former Horse Barracks, was purchased, in 1774, for £150 for use as the Infirmary. It was used until the new Infirmary (now the Downe Hospital) was opened in 1834.

In June 1778, John Wesley, the founder of Methodism famously preached both in the new preaching house in Downpatrick and in The Grove beside the ruins of Down Cathedral which he called a "noble ruin".

On 21 October 1803, co-founder and leader of the United Irishmen, Thomas Russell, "the man from God knows where", was hung outside Downpatrick Goal for his part in Robert Emmet's failed rebellion of the same year. Thomas Russell is buried in the graveyard of the Anglican parish Church of Downpatrick, St Margaret's, in a grave paid for by his great friend, Mary Ann McCracken sister of leading Belfast United Irishman Henry Joy McCracken.

For more information see The Troubles in Downpatrick, which includes a list of incidents in Downpatrick during The Troubles resulting in fatalities.

Ballyalton Court Cairn is a single court grave situated on a rock outcrop by the roadside 0.5 miles (0.80 km) from Ballyalton village, which is 2.25 miles (3.62 km) east of Downpatrick, at grid ref 531 448.^[3]

Ballynoe Stone Circle, a large circle of over 50 closely-spaced upright stones, surrounding a mound which, when excavated, was found to contain two cists in which cremated bones were found, is only 2.5 miles (4 km) south in the hamlet of Ballynoe. The site is near the disused railway station, reached by a long footpath off the main road, at grid ref: J481404.^[4]

Downpatrick Racecourse, is located on the Ballydugan Road on the outskirts of Downpatrick. Horse racing has been held at Downpatrick under the charter of James II of England.

Inch Abbey, a large, ruined Cistercian monastic site featuring early Gothic architecture is 0.75 miles (1.2 km) north-west of Downpatrick on the north bank of the River Quoile off the main road to Belfast, at grid ref: J477455.

The Lecale peninsula covers an area of some 78 square miles (200 km²) between Downpatrick and Dundrum. It is an area of historical and geographic significance.

The Mound of Down or Rathkeltair is one of the major earthworks of Ulster, situated on the NW edge of Downpatrick it is a good example of an Iron Age defensive earthwork in the middle of which a Norman Motte and Bailey was built by John de Courcy after his defeat of Rory Mac Donlevy in 1177. Some believe that it was the residence of Celtchar mac Ulthechair, the legendary Iron Age hero of the Ulster Cycle. It seems to have become the administrative centre of the Kings of Dál Fiatach by the early Christian period.

Quoile Castle is a ruined 16th century Tower house, just off the main road from Downpatrick to Strangford, at grid ref: J4963 4701.

Struell Wells is a set of four holy wells 1.5 miles (2.4 km) east of Downpatrick (grid ref: J513442).^[5] The wells date from before the time of Saint Patrick, and even today are used for people seeking cures.^[6]

As of 2009, an Eclipse Cinema was opened here

26.6% were aged under 16 years and 16.0% were aged 60 and over

48.5% of the population were male and 51.5% were female

86.8% were from a Roman Catholic background and 11.9% were from a Protestant background

5.1% of people aged 16–74 were unemployed.^[8]

Downpatrick is situated at the junction of the A7 (Downpatrick to Saintfield and Belfast) road, the A25 (Downpatrick to Newry and Dublin) road and the A2 coast road. Whilst there are no rail services in Downpatrick, Ulsterbus provides bus services to and from the Downpatrick Bus Station.

Downpatrick railway station on the Belfast and County Down Railway, opened on 23 March 1859 and Downpatrick Loop Platform opened on 24 September 1892. Both closed on 16 January 1950. Downpatrick Racecourse Platform had opened on 8 March 1893, but closed in September 1949.^[9]

Bunscoil Naomh Pádraig

Convent of Mercy Girls' Primary school

Downpatrick Primary School

Down High School Prep. Department

St Brigid's Primary school

St Colmcille's Primary school

St Patrick's Boys' Primary school

Post-primary schools

De la Salle High school - Boys' High School

Down High School - Grammar School

Black Water High School - Integrated High School

St Mary's High school - Girls' High School

St Patrick's Grammar School (known locally as "The Red High") - boys' grammar school (mixed in upper school)

Further and higher education

South Eastern Regional College ( Downpatrick Campus ) - the local campus of the regional further and higher education college

Media

Down Democrat - now defunct

Down Recorder - established 1836

People

Ann Breen, a country singer, is from Downpatrick. She is often referred to as "The Star Of The County Down".

Lynn Doyle, the pseudonym of the humorist & playwright Leslie Alexander Montgomery, was born in Downpatrick on 5 October 1873 (died 18 August 1961). He was part of the Ulster Literary Theatre movement and is most famous for his Ballygullion series of 20 books which fondly caricatured Northern Ireland village life. Interestingly he chose his pseudonym after seeing a large tin of linseed oil in a paint shop, initially signing "Lynn C. Doyle" but later dropping the "C.".

Dr. Maurice Hayes, the former Northern Ireland Ombudsman, Chairman of the Ireland Funds and Taoiseach-appointed Senator in Seanad Éireann, was born and still lives in Downpatrick. He has written a memoir about growing up in the town titled Black Puddings with Slim. He served as town clerk of Downpatrick in the 1960s, succeeding his father in the role.

The rock bands Ash and Relish are from Downpatrick.

Paul Mahon, guitarist of rock band The Answer is from Downpatrick.

James Heatley, drummer for rock band The Answer lives in Downpatrick.

Ian Mitchell from the band Bay City Rollers was born in Downpatrick.

David Healy, the Northern Ireland and Fulham striker was born in Downpatrick.

The comedian Colin Murphy hails from Downpatrick.

Patrick Kielty attended (St. Patrick's Grammar) school in Downpatrick.

Miles Kington journalist, musician and broadcaster born in Downpatrick.

Thomas Russell the United Irishman co-founder who took part in the Irish Rebellion of 1798 and Robert Emmet's failed rebellion of 1803 was gaoled and executed at Down County Gaol by hanging on October 21, 1803. His memory is honoured by the local GAA club being named after him.

Sport

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Gaelic games

Downpatrick is home to RGU Dún Phádraig GAC. The Russell Gaelic Union was formed by an Englishman a Scotsman and an Irishman: Willie King, Alex McDowell and Willie Byrne respectively, in the county town in the early 20th century.^{[citation needed]} The team traditionally wears green and white hoops. Downpatrick has had mixed fortunes over the years but has still managed to produce excellent county footballers such as Ray McConville,William Walsh, Conor Deegan, Barry Breen and Ben Collins, all of whom won All-Irelands with Down.

Soccer

Downpatrick's most prominent team is Downpatrick F.C., which competes in the Northern Amateur Football League. There are, however, numerous other clubs associated with the town, and others from surrounding areas. These include Rossglass County and Ballyvange. There are also many youth teams such as the Celtic Bhoys, the Shamrocks, Rossglass and Patrician, who, along with many other teams in the area, participate in the Downpatrick Youth League. Downpatrick is home to one of the biggest Irish branches of the Manchester United Supporters' Club, the Downpatrick Manchester United Supporters' Club, which was founded in 1993.

Snooker and billiards

Downpatrick is also the home of the Downpatrick and District Snooker and Billiards League. Many of the local towns compete in the highly successful leagues. Teams from Downpatrick, Newcastle, Ballynahinch, Crossgar, Drumaness and Ballyalton strive to be the best in the local district.

Other sports

Downpatrick Cricket Club and Downpatrick Golf Club have their own club grounds. The town also has its own tennis club Downpatrick Tennis Club.Downpatrick has several other clubs that use the facilities of the Down Leisure Centre (run by Down District Council) such as the Lecale Amateur Swimming Club and the East Down Athletics Club.