Editing County Down (section)

==Geography==
[[File:Mournes wiki.jpg|thumb|left|Mourne Mountains]]
Down contains two significant [[peninsula]]s: [[Ards Peninsula]] and [[Lecale peninsula]].

The county has a coastline along [[Belfast Lough]] to the north and [[Carlingford Lough]] to the south (both of which have access to the sea). [[Strangford Lough]] lies between the Ards Peninsula and the mainland. Down also contains part of the shore of [[Lough Neagh]]. Smaller loughs include [[Lough Island Reavy]] and Castlewellan Lake near Castlewellan, Clea Lough near Killyleagh, Lough Money and Loughinisland near Downpatrick and, within the [[Mourne Mountains]], [[Silent Valley Reservoir|Silent Valley]] Reservoir, Ben Crom Reservoir, Spelga Dam and Lough Shannagh.

The [[River Lagan]] forms most of the border with County Antrim. The [[River Bann]] also flows through the southwestern areas of the county. Other rivers include the [[Newry River|Clanrye]] and [[River Quoile|Quoile]].

There are several islands off the Down coast: Mew Island, Light House Island and the [[Copeland Islands]], all of which lie to the north of the Ards Peninsula. Gunn Island lies off the Lecale coast. In addition, there are at least seventy islands (several inhabited) along with many islets – or pladdies – in Strangford Lough,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Strangford Lough Area |url=https://sites.google.com/a/belfastguzzi.com/www/Home/moto-guzzi-ulster-rally-09/strangford-lough-area-information |website=Belfast Guzzi |access-date=18 February 2023 |archive-date=18 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230218151234/https://sites.google.com/a/belfastguzzi.com/www/Home/moto-guzzi-ulster-rally-09/strangford-lough-area-information |url-status=dead }}</ref> although folk tradition says there are 365 islands in Strangford Lough, one for every day of the year.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Hands On Nature – Strangford |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/handsonnature/waterways/strangford_loch.shtml |website=BBC}}</ref>

County Down is where, in the words of the song by [[Percy French]], "[[Mourne Mountains|The mountains of Mourne]] sweep down to the sea", and the area around the [[granite]] Mourne Mountains continues to be known for its scenery. [[Slieve Donard]], at {{convert|849|m|0|abbr=on}}, is the highest peak in the Mournes, in Northern Ireland and in the province of Ulster. Another important peak is [[Slieve Croob]], at {{convert|534|m|0|abbr=on}}, the source of the River Lagan.

===Places of interest===
[[File:King John's Castle Carlingford - geograph.org.uk - 985692.jpg|thumbnail|King John's Castle on [[Carlingford Lough]].]]
* [[Saint Patrick]] is reputed to be buried at [[Down Cathedral]] in [[Downpatrick]], reputedly alongside St. Brigid and St. Columcille.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Kearcsadmin|title=St. Brigid's Day|url=http://www.kildarearchsoc.ie/st-brigids-day/|website=County Kildare Archaeological Society|access-date=6 July 2017|archive-date=28 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171128030249/http://www.kildarearchsoc.ie/st-brigids-day/|url-status=live}}</ref>
* [[Saul, County Down]] (from the Irish: Sabhall meaning "Barn") – where Saint Patrick said his first eucharist in Ireland
* The city of [[Newry]] in the south of the county contains St Patrick's ([[Church of Ireland]], 1578), overlooking the city centre from Church street, on the east side of the city, which is considered to be Ireland's first ever [[Protestant]] church.<ref>{{cite web|title=Saint Patrick's Church|url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Saint-Patricks-Church-Newry-Northern-Ireland|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|access-date=6 July 2017|archive-date=12 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180912023135/https://www.britannica.com/place/Saint-Patricks-Church-Newry-Northern-Ireland|url-status=live}}</ref> The [[Newry Canal]] is also the first summit-level canal ever to be built in the [[British Isles]].
* [[Castlewellan Forest Park]].
* [[Cloughmore]] (The Big Stone), a 30-ton Granite boulder lies on the Slieve Martin Mountain Ridge approximately 1000&nbsp;ft. above [[Rostrevor]] village in [[Kilbroney Park]].
* 
* [[Ballynoe stone circle]] is an ancient site dating back approximately 5000 years to the late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age.
* Down is also home to [[Exploris]], the Northern Ireland Aquarium, located in [[Portaferry]], on the shores of Strangford Lough, on the Ards Peninsula.
* The Old Inn in [[Crawfordsburn]] is one of Ireland's oldest hostelries, with records dating back to 1614. It is predated however by Donaghadee's Grace Neill's which was opened in 1611. The Old inn claims that people who have stayed there include [[Jonathan Swift]], [[Dick Turpin]], [[Peter I of Russia|Peter the Great]], [[Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson|Lord Tennyson]], [[Charles Dickens]], [[Anthony Trollope]], former US president [[George H. W. Bush]], and [[C. S. Lewis]], who honeymooned there.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.theoldinn.com/ |title=Crawfordsburn Old Inn website |access-date=1 July 2006 |archive-date=5 July 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060705234111/http://www.theoldinn.com/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
* [[Tollymore Forest Park]] between [[Castlewellan]] and [[Newcastle, County Down|Newcastle]].
* [[Scrabo Tower]], in [[Newtownards]], was built as a memorial to [[Charles Stewart, 3rd Marquess of Londonderry]].
* An area of County Down is known as the Brontë Homeland (situated between [[Rathfriland]] and [[Banbridge]], where [[Patrick Brontë]] had his church.) Patrick Brontë (originally Brunty), father of [[Anne Brontë|Anne]], [[Charlotte Brontë|Charlotte]], [[Emily Brontë|Emily]] and [[Branwell Brontë|Branwell]], was born in this region.

===Subdivisions===
'''Baronies'''
{{Main|Barony (Ireland)}}
* Ards Lower (from the {{langx|ga|Aird}})
* Ards Upper
* Castlereagh Lower
* Castlereagh Upper
* Dufferin (from the {{langx|ga|Duifrian}})
* Iveagh Lower, Lower Half (from the {{langx|ga|Uíbh Eachach}})
* Iveagh Lower, Upper Half
* Iveagh Upper, Lower Half
* Iveagh Upper, Upper Half
* Kinelarty (from the {{langx|ga|Cineál Fhártaigh}})
* Lecale Lower (from the {{langx|ga|Leath Cathail}})
* Lecale Upper
* [[Lordship of Newry]]
* Mourne (from the {{langx|ga|Múrna}})

'''Parishes'''
{{Main|List of civil parishes of County Down}}

'''Townlands'''
{{Main|List of townlands in County Down}}

===Settlements===
{{Historical populations
|1653|13207
|1659|15183
|1821|325410
|1831|352012
|1841|361446
|1851|320817
|1861|299302
|1871|277294
|1881|248190
|1891|224008
|1901|205889
|1911|204303
|1926|209228
|1937|210687
|1951|241181
|1961|266939
|1966|286631
|1971|311876
|1981|417978
|1991|454411
|2001|489004
|2011|531665
|2021|553261
||footnote=<ref>For 1653 and 1659 figures from Civil Survey Census of those years, Paper of Mr Hardinge to Royal Irish Academy 14 March 1865.</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.cso.ie/census |title=Census for post 1821 figures. |access-date=3 September 2009 |archive-date=9 March 2005 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050309005718/http://www.cso.ie/census/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>[http://www.histpop.org Histpop.org] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160507023856/http://www.histpop.org/ |date=7 May 2016 }}</ref><ref>[http://www.nisranew.nisra.gov.uk/census NISRA.gov.uk] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120217095720/http://www.nisranew.nisra.gov.uk/census |date=17 February 2012 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book
|last=Lee
|first=JJ
|editor-last=Goldstrom
|editor-first=J. M.
|editor2-last=Clarkson
|editor2-first=L. A.
|title=Irish Population, Economy, and Society: Essays in Honour of the Late K. H. Connell
|year=1981
|publisher=Clarendon Press
|location=Oxford, England
|chapter=On the accuracy of the Pre-famine Irish censuses
}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal
  | last1 = Mokyr
  | first1 = Joel
  | author-link = Joel Mokyr
  | last2 = O Grada
  | first2 = Cormac
  | title = New Developments in Irish Population History, 1700–1850
  | journal = The Economic History Review
  | volume =  37
  | issue =  4
  | pages = 473–488
  |date=November 1984
  | url = http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/120035880/abstract
  | archive-url = https://archive.today/20121204160709/http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/120035880/abstract
  | url-status = dead
  | archive-date = 2012-12-04
  | doi = 10.1111/j.1468-0289.1984.tb00344.x
| hdl = 10197/1406
  | hdl-access = free
  }}</ref>
}}

====Cities====
(population of 75,000 or more at 2001 Census)<ref name="NI">{{cite web | title=Statistical classification of settlements | work=NI Neighbourhood Information Service | url=http://www.ninis.nisra.gov.uk/mapxtreme_towns/statistical%20classification.htm | access-date=23 February 2009 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100217122433/http://www.ninis.nisra.gov.uk/mapxtreme_towns/statistical%20classification.htm | archive-date=17 February 2010 | url-status=dead }}</ref>
* [[Belfast]] – the eastern suburbs of the city lie partly in County Down but mainly in [[County Antrim]]

====Large towns====
(population of 18,000 or more and under 75,000 at 2001 Census)<ref name="NI"/>
* [[Bangor, County Down|Bangor]] (officially a city)
* [[Dundonald, County Down|Dundonald]]
* [[Lisburn]] – the eastern suburbs of the city lie partly in County Down but mainly in County Antrim (officially a city)
* [[Newry]] – in counties Armagh and Down, divided by the [[Newry River|Clanrye River]] (officially a city)
* [[Newtownards]]

====Medium towns====
(Population of 10,000 or more and under 18,000 at 2001 Census)<ref name="NI"/>
{{flatlist|
* [[Banbridge]]
* [[Downpatrick]]
* [[Holywood, County Down|Holywood]]
* [[Carryduff]]
}}

====Small towns====
(Population of 4,500 or more and under 10,000 at 2001 Census)<ref name="NI"/>
{{flatlist|* [[Ballynahinch, County Down|Ballynahinch]]
* [[Comber]]
* [[Donaghadee]]
* [[Dromore, County Down|Dromore]]
* [[Kilkeel]]
* [[Newcastle, County Down|Newcastle]]
* [[Saintfield]]
* [[Warrenpoint]]}}

====Intermediate settlements====
(Population of 2,250 or more and under 4,500 at 2001 Census)<ref name="NI"/>
{{flatlist|
* [[Ballygowan]]
* [[Castlewellan]]
* [[Hillsborough, County Down|Hillsborough]]
* [[Killyleagh]]
* [[Moira, County Down|Moira]]
* [[Portaferry]]
* [[Rostrevor]]
* [[Saintfield]]
* [[Waringstown]]
}}

====Villages====
(Population of 1,000 or more and under 2,250 at 2001 Census)<ref name="NI"/>
{{flatlist|* [[Annahilt]]
* [[Annalong]]
* [[Ardglass]]
* [[Ballywalter]]
* [[Crossgar]]
* [[Drumaness]]
* [[Drumbeg, County Down|Drumbeg]]
* [[Dundrum, County Down|Dundrum]]
* [[Gilford, County Down|Gilford]]
* [[Greyabbey]]
* [[Helen's Bay]]
* [[Kilcoo]]
* [[Kircubbin, County Down|Kircubbin]]
* [[Magheralin]]
* [[Millisle]]
* [[Moneyreagh]]
* [[Portavogie]]
* [[Rathfriland]]}}

====Small villages or hamlets====
(Population of less than 1,000 at 2001 Census)<ref name="NI"/>
{{flatlist|
* [[Atticall]]
* [[Annsborough]]
* [[Ballela]]
* [[Ballyhalbert]]
* [[Ballyhornan]]
* [[Ballykinler]]
* [[Ballynoe, County Down|Ballynoe]]
* [[Bryansford]]
* [[Burren, County Down|Burren]]
* [[Cabra, County Down|Cabra]]
* [[Carrowdore]]
* [[Clough]]
* [[Cloghy]]
* [[Crawfordsburn]]
* [[Donaghcloney]]
* [[Dromara]]
* [[Gilnahirk]]
* [[Groomsport]]
* [[Hilltown, County Down|Hilltown]]
* [[Killinchy]]
* [[Killough]]
* [[Lawrencetown, County Down|Lawrencetown]]
* [[Leitrim, County Down|Leitrim]]
* [[Listooder]]
* [[Loughbrickland]]
* [[Loughinisland]]
* [[Mayobridge]]
* [[Saul, County Down|Saul]]
* [[Scarva]]
* [[Seaforde]]
* [[Sheeptown]]
* [[Strangford]]
}}