Saul () is a

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

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 ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

, within the

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

of Saul and Ballee. The villages lies to the east of

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 sai ...

and has strong links with Saint Patrick. It is claimed that when Saint Patrick arrived in Ireland in 432, strong currents swept his boat through the Strangford Lough tidal narrows and he landed where the Slaney River flows into the lough. The local chieftain, Dichu Mac Trichim, was converted and gave him a barn (Old Irish ''saball'', hence the placename) for holding services. Allegedly, Saint Patrick died in Saul Monastery on 17 March 461 and is buried in nearby Downpatrick. Nearby is a hill known as St. Patrick's Shrine with a large statue of the saint at the top.Meehan, pg. 212. The modern "Saint Patrick's Memorial Church" is built on the reputed spot of this building and includes a replica

round tower A fortified tower (also defensive tower or castle tower or, in context, just tower) is one of the defensive structures used in fortifications, such as castles, along with defensive walls such as curtain wall (fortification), curtain walls. Castle ...

. Saul has expanded closer into Downpatrick with new estates being built such as Saul Meadows, Saul Acres and Saul Manor. The village has a soccer club and

Gaelic football Gaelic football (; short name '')'', commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA, or football, is an Irish team sport. A form of football, it is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score ...

club St Patrick's GAC, formed in 1928.A recent revival of hurling and camogie began in 2022 after 30 years since it was last played in Saul.

Civil parish of Saul

The civil parish is in the historic

barony Barony may refer to: * Barony, the peerage, office of, or territory held by a baron * Barony, the title and land held in fealty by a feudal baron * Barony (county division), a type of administrative or geographical division in parts of the British ...

of Lecale Lower and contains the following settlements: *Saul

Townlands

The civil parish contains the following townlands: * Ballinarry * Ballintogher * Ballynagarrick * Ballysugagh * Ballywoodan * Carrowcarlin * Carrowvanny * Castle Island * Gores Island * Green Island * Hare Island * Launches Little Island * Launches Long Island * Lisbane * Lisboy * Portloughan * Quoile * Ringbane * Russells Quarter North * Russells Quarter South * Salt Island *Saul * Shark Island * Walshestown * Whitehills

References

{{coord, 54, 20, 38.13, N, 5, 40, 28.29, W, region:GB, display=title Townlands of County Down

Civil parish of Saul

Townlands

See also

References