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Lecale
Lecale (, ) is a peninsula in the east of County Down, Northern Ireland. It lies between Strangford Lough and Dundrum Bay. In the Middle Ages it was a district or ''túath'' in the Gaelic Irish kingdom of Ulaid, then became a county in the Anglo-Norman Earldom of Ulster. Later it became a barony, which was split into Lecale Lower and Lecale Upper by 1851. Its largest settlement is the town of Downpatrick. Other settlements include Ardglass, Killough and Strangford. The peninsula has a high concentration of tower houses. Much of it is part of the 'Strangford and Lecale' Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. History Leath Cathail Leath Cathail is said to consist of the present-day baronies of Lecale Lower and Lecale Upper, and was a subdivision of the ancient kingdom of Ulaid. It gets its name from Cathal, a prince of Ulaid about 700 A.D. who was a descendant of Fiachna, a son of Deaman, a king of Ulaid. Hence, Leath Cathail literally means "Cathal's half of Dál Fiatach" ...
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Lecale Lower
Lecale Lower (named after the former barony of Lecale) is a barony in County Down, Northern Ireland. It lies to the east of the county with Strangford Lough to its north and the Irish Sea to its right. It is bordered by five other baronies: Lecale Upper to the south; Ards Upper to the north-east just across the mouth of Strangford Lough; Dufferin to the north; Castlereagh Upper to the north-west; and Kinelarty to the west. In medieval times the ''Ó Coltair'' (Coulter) sept is noted in the Lecale Lower area, of which the townland of Ballyculter gets its name. The barony of Lecale Lower was created in 1851 when the barony of Lecale was split into two, the other part being Lecale Upper. List of settlements Below is a list of the villages and population centres in Lecale Lower: Villages *Ardglass *Strangford Hamlets * Annacloy * Ballyhornan *Coney Island *Saul List of civil parishes Below is a list of civil parishes in Lecale Lower: *Ardglass * Ballee (also partly in barony of ...
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Lecale Upper
Lecale Upper (named after the former barony of Lecale) is a Barony (Ireland), barony in County Down, Northern Ireland. To its south lies the Irish Sea, and it is bordered by three other baronies; Lecale Lower and Kinelarty to the north; and Iveagh Upper, Lower Half to the west. History The ''Mac Duinnshéibhe'' (MacDunleavy, Dunleavy) sept where a royal dynasty of Dál Fiatach in Ulaid and are noted in this area. John de Courcy in the 12th century would drive them out of Ulaid from where they fled to County Donegal, Republic of Ireland. The Russells of Downpatrick can trace their Norman heritage back to the 12th century having been recorded in the area since Osberto Russell accompanied John de Courcy in 1177 into Ulster. The barony of Lecale Upper was created in 1851 when the barony of Lecale was split into two, the other part being Lecale Lower. List of settlements Below is a list of the towns and villages in Lecale Upper: Towns *Downpatrick Villages *Ballykinler *Dundrum, Co ...
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Downpatrick
Downpatrick () is a town in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is on the Lecale peninsula, about south of Belfast. In the Middle Ages, it was the capital of the Dál Fiatach, the main ruling dynasty of Ulaid. Down Cathedral, Its cathedral is said to be the burial place of Saint Patrick. Today, it is the county town of Down and the joint headquarters of Newry, Mourne and Down District Council. Downpatrick had a population of 11,545 according to the United Kingdom Census 2021, 2021 Census. History Pre-history An early Bronze Age site was excavated in the Meadowlands area of Downpatrick, revealing two Roundhouse (dwelling), roundhouses, one was four metres across and the other was over seven metres across. Archaeological excavations in the 1950s found what was thought to be a Bronze Age hillfort on Cathedral Hill, but further work in the 1980s revealed that this was a much later Rampart (fortification), rampart surrounding an early Christian monastery. Early history Downpatrick ...
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Ardglass
Ardglass () is a coastal fishing village, townland (of 321 acres) and civil parish in County Down, Northern Ireland, in the historic barony of Lecale Lower. It is still a relatively important fishing harbour. It is situated on the B1 Ardglass to Downpatrick road, about to the south east of Downpatrick, in the Lecale peninsula on the Irish Sea. It had a population of 1,668 in the 2001 census, and is located within the Newry, Mourne and Down area. The village is a commuter centre for workers in Downpatrick and Belfast, a seaside resort and a local service centre providing housing and a variety of shops and services largely concentrated in Castle Place, Quay Street, Kildare Street and Bath Street. A Conservation area was designated in Ardglass in 1996, focused on its early 19th century street pattern. The village has eight archaeological sites within the area and another two nearby. There are a number of listed properties located on Castle Place, Kildare Street and The Cresce ...
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Area Of Outstanding Natural Beauty
An Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB; , AHNE) is one of 46 areas of countryside in England, Wales, or Northern Ireland that has been designated for conservation due to its significant landscape value. Since 2023, the areas in England and Wales have also adopted the name National Landscape (). Areas are designated in recognition of their national importance by the relevant public body: Natural England, Natural Resources Wales, and the Northern Ireland Environment Agency respectively. On 22 November 2023, following a review, the AONBs in England and Wales adopted the National Landscapes name, and are in the process of rebranding. AONBs in Northern Ireland did not rename. The name "area of outstanding natural beauty" is still the designated legal term. In place of the term AONB, Scotland uses the similar national scenic area (NSA) designation. Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty enjoy levels of protection from development similar to those of UK national parks, but unli ...
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Killough
Killough ( ; ) is a village and townland in County Down, Northern Ireland. It lies on the Irish Sea shore near Ardglass, five miles southeast of Downpatrick. It is a conservation area notable for its sycamore-lined main street. In the 2001 Census it had a population of 845 people.http://www.ninis.nisra.gov.uk/ NI Neighbourhood Information Service History The townland of Killough appears in the Down Survey as ''Kiltaghlins.'' The owner in 1641 was given as Thomas Cromwell Viscount of Lecale, a direct descendant of Thomas Cromwell chief minister to Henry VIII. The harbour was built in the 18th century by the Wards of Castle Ward house, just outside Strangford. Michael Ward had the straight road from Castle Ward to Killough built in 1740. Ward called the village Port St Anne but that name did not stick. The name ''St Anne's Port'' was also used. After the outbreak of war between Great Britain and France in 1793 the growing of cereals increased in Lecale and Killough, as one o ...
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County Down
County Down () is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It covers an area of and has a population of 552,261. It borders County Antrim to the north, the Irish Sea to the east, County Armagh to the west, and County Louth across Carlingford Lough to the southwest. In the east of the county is Strangford Lough and the Ards Peninsula. The largest settlement is Bangor, County Down, Bangor, a city on the northeast coast. Three other large towns and cities are on its border: Newry lies on the western border with County Armagh, while Lisburn and Belfast lie on the northern border with County Antrim. Down contains both the southernmost point of Northern Ireland (Cranfield Point) and the easternmost point of Ireland (Burr Point). It was one of two counties of Northern Ireland to have a Protestant majority at the time of the United Kingdom Census 2001, 2001 census. The other Protestant-m ...
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Earldom Of Ulster
The Earldom of Ulster was an Anglo-Norman lordship in north-eastern Ireland during the Middle Ages, ruled by the Earls of Ulster and part of the Lordship of Ireland. The Norman knight John de Courcy invaded the Gaelic Irish kingdom of Ulaid in 1177 and conquered most of its territory over the following few years. In 1181 he was made earl palatine of Ulster by Henry II of England. The earldom was the most important Anglo-Norman lordship in the north of Ireland. It covered most of what are now the Ulster counties of Antrim and Down, and briefly extended west to Lough Foyle. Its capital was Carrickfergus Castle. The Earldom of Ulster suffered heavily from the Bruce campaign in Ireland in the 1310s, from which it never recovered. By the 15th century the earldom was restricted to coastal enclaves in County Down and around Carrickfergus, and the title of Earl of Ulster passed to the Crown in 1461. De Courcy's invasion of Ulaid In 1175, after a period of fighting between the N ...
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Dál Fiatach
Dál Fiatach was a Gaelic Ireland, Gaelic dynastic-grouping and the name of their territory in the north-east of Ireland, which lasted throughout the Middle Ages until their demise in the 13th century at the hands of Normans in Ireland, Normans. It was part of the over-kingdom of Ulaid, and they were its main ruling dynasty for most of Ulaid's history. Their territory lay in eastern County Down. Their capital was Dún Lethglaise (Downpatrick) and from the 9th century their main religious site was Bangor Abbey. Description The Dál Fiatach are claimed as being descended from Fiatach Finn, Fiatach Finn mac Dáire, a legendary King of Ulaid and High King of Ireland, and are thought to be related to both the Voluntii and Darini of Ptolemy's ''Geographia (Ptolemy), Geographia''. They are also perhaps more directly related to the pre-historic Dáirine, and the later Corcu Loígde of Munster. Kinship with the Osraige is also supported, and more distantly with the Dál Riata. The Ulaid ...
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Dundrum Castle
Dundrum Castle, a ruin standing over the town of Dundrum, County Down, Northern Ireland. It was constructed by John de Courcy, sometime near the beginning of the 13th century, following his invasion of Ulster. The castle, built to control access into Lecale from the west and south, stands on the top of a rocky hill commanding fine views south over Dundrum Bay and the Mourne Mountains, the lands west towards Slieve Croob and the plains of Lecale to the east. The Castle is a State Care Historic Monument in the townland of Dundrum, in Newry, Mourne and Down District Council area, at grid ref: J4047 3700. Origins and ownership De Courcy's original castle may have had defences of earth and timber, but the stone curtain wall of the upper ward was probably built at the beginning of the 13th century. As with other early enclosure walls, there were no towers, but defence was assisted by covered walks along the outside wall-head. An early timber hall may have stood near the keep, wh ...
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Ulaid
(Old Irish, ) or (Irish language, Modern Irish, ) was a Gaelic Ireland, Gaelic Provinces of Ireland, over-kingdom in north-eastern Ireland during the Middle Ages made up of a confederation of dynastic groups. Alternative names include , which is the Latin form of , and , Irish for 'the Fifth'. The king of Ulaid was called the or . Ulaid also refers to a people of early Ireland, and it is from them that the province of Ulster derives its name. Some of the dynasties in the over-kingdom claimed descent from the Ulaid, but others are cited as being of Cruithin descent. In historical documents, the term Ulaid was used to refer to the population group of which the was the ruling dynasty. As such, the title held two meanings: over-king of the Kingdom of Ulaid and king of the Ulaid people, as in the . The Ulaid feature prominently in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology. According to legend, the ancient territory of Ulaid spanned the whole of the modern province of Ulster, excludin ...
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Dundrum Bay
Dundrum Bay (Old Irish ''Loch Rudraige'') is a bay located next to Dundrum, County Down, Northern Ireland. It is divided into the Outer Bay, and the almost entirely landlocked Inner Bay. They are separated by the dune systems of Ballykinler to the north and Murlough to the south. Tides Dundrum Harbour is a small, sheltered harbour located at the head of Dundrum Bay on the northeastern coast of Ireland, roughly midway between Carlingford and Strangford Loughs. Positioned within a tidal estuary, it provides a secure anchorage near the old town quay. However, access requires careful navigation due to a shifting sandbar at the entrance and a narrow estuary channel. The harbour is best suited for shallow-draft vessels and should only be approached on a rising tide, in calm sea conditions, and with clear visibility. Approaching the bay during onshore winds is hazardous, as strong in-draughts and heavy seas can trap vessels. Southerly winds, in particular, make the estuary impassable ...
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