Historic Sites in County Down

Cathedral Hill in Downpatrick is where much of this list begins. The granite slab marking St Patrick’s reputed grave was laid only in 1900, but the two 12th-century crosses beside it and the 11th-century font inside Down Cathedral are older, and entry is free. Inch Abbey stands roofless by the River Quoile a short way north, with a heritage railway running out to it. Ballynoe Stone Circle and Ballyalton Court Cairn lie a few miles south and east, so one day based in Downpatrick covers five of the twenty-three places here.

The rest are spread wide. Legananny Dolmen sits on the slopes of Slieve Croob above Dromara, three slender uprights under a granite capstone, with the Mournes filling the view. Kilfeaghan Dolmen near Rostrevor asks more of you: parking on a narrow farm lane, then a muddy field on private ground. Further north, Bangor Abbey keeps a 15th-century tower and a 1693 steeple on the site Columbanus left from, and Greyabbey pairs a 12th-century Cistercian ruin and a recreated physic garden with the antique dealers along the village street.

Most of this is open ground and free to walk into. The abbeys and the cathedral hold up in winter; the dolmens and the sunken track down to Ballynoe are better after dry weather. Newry Town Hall, on its bridge over the Clanrye, and the Gillespie column in Comber Square are ten-minute stops rather than outings.