Overview
Annacloy takes its name from the Irish Áth na Cloiche, the ‘ford of the stone’ – the river crossing the village grew up around, long before any bridge carried the A7 over it. It is a small place: a crossroads, a shop and post office, and farms spread through the drumlin country about 3.5 miles north-west of Downpatrick in County Down. The Annacloy River, formed where the Ballynahinch and Glasswater rivers meet near Kilmore, runs past and on to join the Quoile above Downpatrick. Be honest with your time here: most people pass through Annacloy rather than stop, and the reasons to slow down are the fishing and a cluster of much older monuments a few miles off.
There is a neat piece of parish geography in it, too. The village sits in the townland of Rossconor, in the civil parish of Kilmore and the old barony of Kinelarty, while the river separates it from the townland of Annacloy proper – 1,152 acres across the water in the parish of Inch and the barony of Lecale Lower.
The river and the fishing
The Annacloy is a game-fishing river, holding brown trout and runs of sea trout and salmon, and stretches of it have long been managed as public angling water. You need the relevant rod licence and a permit; because access arrangements and seasons change, check the current rules before you travel. It is a modest river – slow and low for much of the year, quicker after rain – and it eventually feeds into the Quoile Pondage below Downpatrick.
A little history
Much of what is remembered about old Annacloy survives because of one man. In the early twentieth century, Edward ‘Ned’ Rea wrote down the births, deaths, marriages and parish doings of Inch, and his notes later inspired a local history of the Annacloy families. Downriver, near Downpatrick, stand the ruins of Inch Abbey, a Cistercian house founded in the late twelfth century by John de Courcy; its gothic arches on the bank of the Quoile are the grander end of the same landscape.
Nearby
The heritage worth the short drive is mostly clustered around Downpatrick:
- Strangford Stone – the tallest megalith in Ireland, on the shore of Strangford Lough.
- Ballynoe Stone Circle – over fifty upright stones, raised between the late Neolithic and early Bronze Age.
- Clough Castle – a twelfth-century Norman motte and bailey.
- Down Cathedral and the Saint Patrick Centre – both in Downpatrick, where Saint Patrick is said to be buried.
Practical information
- Getting there: Annacloy is on the A7 between Downpatrick and Ballynahinch; a car is the easiest way to reach it, though buses run from Downpatrick to the nearby towns.
- Parking: informal spaces near the bridges and river access points; Downpatrick has proper car parks, including Market Street.
- Facilities: little in the village beyond McGraths Mace shop and the post office at the Rann Road and Annacloy Road crossroads (BT30 9AE). Downpatrick, ten minutes away, has the pubs, shops and restaurants; Crossgar is five.
If you have come this far, don’t linger in Annacloy itself – point the car at Ballynoe Stone Circle or Inch Abbey and give the afternoon to them instead.