Downpatrick

Encyclopedia : D : DO : DOW : Downpatrick

Downpatrick (in Irish: Dún Phádraig, ie Patrick's fort) is a town in County Down in Northern Ireland, about 33 km south of Belfast. It had 10,316 inhabitants in the 2001 Census. Downpatrick is where the local council, Down District Council has its headquarters.

Many of the town's inhabitants work in Belfast. The town has suffered higher than average unemployment rates over the years. There has been under investment in the town in terms of industry. The town has a number of primary and post-primary schools. Children come in from all over east Down to these schools.

Contents

1 History
2 Places of interest
3 Transport
4 Sport
5 People
6 2001 Census
7 References
8 External links
9 See also

History

Downpatrick is one of Ireland's most ancient and historic towns. It takes its name from a dún (fort), which once stood on the hill that dominates the town and on which the cathedral stands. Ptolemy about the year AD 130 includes it as Dunum in his list of towns of Ireland. The old name of the town was Rath Celtair. It was superseded by the name Dun-leth-glas which in turn gave way in the 13th century to the present name of Downpatrick - from the town's connection with the patron saint of Ireland.

Saint Patrick was reputedly buried here in 461 on Cathedral Hill, within the grounds of Down Cathedral. His grave is still a place of pilgrimage on St Patricks Day (17 March). The St Patrick's Centre [link] in Downpatrick is purpose-built to tell the story of St Patrick.

Places of interest

Down County Museum [link] is located in the restored 18th century County Gaol of Down, the museum's exhibitions tell the story of the people of County Down from earliest times to today.
Close to the museum is Down Cathedral which began as a Benedictine monastery built in 1183. Major restoration was carried out in the 18th century and it still contains many of the original features. The Cathedral is built on the Hill of Down, one of the holiest Christian sites in Ireland. Its graveyard contains the traditional burial place of the three greatest Irish saints: Saint Patrick, Saint Bridget and Saint Colmcille.
Nearby is the Down Civic Arts Centre [link] which is also run by Down District Council.
Downpatrick is also the home of the Downpatrick & County Down Railway, which is the only Irish Standard Gauge heritage railway (i.e., it possesses its own line) in Ireland, and continues to run steam trains on restored tracks.
Close to Downpatrick is Ballynoe Stone circle, a Megalithic monument where a 100 ft stone circle encloses an ellipse of stones and a prehistoric burial mound. Dated to around 2000 BC. It is thought Ballynoe was begun in the Stone Age.
Struell Wells [link] near Downpatrick is strongly associated with St Patrick but with no documented history until 1306. It consists of a group of healing wells and bath houses in a secluded rocky valley.
Inch Abbey [link] was a substantial Cistercian Abbey and is now in ruins, but the east end of the church, with its early English lancet windows, chapter house and refrectory remains. It is situated near Downpatrick, off the A7 road to Crossgar.
Downpatrick is the reputed gravesite of the Viking King Magnus III of Norway, also known as Magnus Barefoot or Magnus Barelegs.

Transport

Downpatrick is situated at the junction of the A7 (Downpatrick to Saintfield) road, the A25 (Downpatrick to Newry) road and the A2 coast road. Whilst there are no rail services in Downpatrick, Ulsterbus provides bus services to and from the Downpatrick Bus Station.

Sport

Downpatrick is home to the Russell Gaelic Union (Gaelic Athletic Association - GAA club) and Downpatrick Cricket Club which have their own club grounds. Downpatrick has several other clubs that use the facilities of the Downpatrick Leisure Centre such as the Lecale Amateur Swimming Club and the East Down Athletics Club. Downpatrick has many football teams such as the Celtic Bhoys, the Shamrocks, Rossglass and Patracian, along with many other teams in the area who participate in the Downpatrick Youth League.

People

The rock band Ash are from Downpatrick.
Ian Mitchell from the band Bay City Rollers was born in Downpatrick.

2001 Census

Downpatrick is classified as a Medium Town by the [NI Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA)] (ie with population between 10,000 and 18,000 people). On Census day (29 April 2001) there were 10,316 people living in Downpatrick. Of these:

26.6% were aged under 16 years and 16.0% were aged 60 and over
48.5% of the population were male and 51.5% were female
86.8% were from a Catholic background and 11.9% were from a Protestant background
5.1% of people aged 16-74 were unemployed.

For more details see: [NI Neighbourhood Information Service]

References

[Culture Northern Ireland]