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DOWNPATRICK |
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DOWNPATRICK , 23 miles south of Belfast, comes to life during its
nowadays occasional race meetings, but at other times it seems depressed
and rather lethargic, as if awaiting the invigorating kiss of economic
revival. A town of little more than ten thousand people, Downpatrick's
compact size and the proximity of its rich and well-preserved historical
sites makes for an easily negotiable day's visit.
All buses arrive at the bus station (tel 028/4461 2384) on Market Street;
from here it's a half-mile signposted stroll to Downpatrick's Cathedral
and the Hill of Down , at the north of the town. This was once a rise of
great strategic worth, fought over long before the arrival of St Patrick
made it famous. A Celtic fort of mammoth proportions was built here and
was called first Arús Cealtchair , then later Dún Cealtchair (Celtchar's
fort). Celtchar was one of the Red Branch Knights, a friend of the then
King of Ulster, Conor MacNessa, and, according to the Book of the Dun
Cow , "an angry terrific hideous man with a long nose, huge ears, apple
eyes, and coarse dark-grey hair." The Dún part of the fort's name went
on to become the name of the county, as well as the town.
By the time the Norman knight John de Courcy made his mark here in the
late twelfth century, a settlement was well established. Pushing north
out of Leinster, and defeating Rory MacDonlevy, King of Ulster, de
Courcy dispossessed the Augustinian canons who occupied the Hill of Down
to establish his own Benedictine abbey . He flaunted as much pomp as he
could to mark the occasion, and one of his festive tricks was to import
what were supposedly the disinterred bodies of St Brigid and St Columba
to join St Patrick, who was (allegedly) buried here. One of the earliest
accounts of Patrick's life asserts that he's buried in a church near the
sea; and since a later account admits that "where his bones are, no man
knows", Downpatrick's claim seems as good as any.
The Town
Uphill from the centre of town, at the very end of the elegant, spacious
Mall, sits Downpatrick's Cathedral (daily 9am-5pm). The site of the
three graves of Columba, Patrick and Brigid is meant to be just to the
left of the tower entrance and is marked today by a rough granite
boulder, put there around 1900 to cover the huge hole created by earlier
pilgrims searching for the saints' bones. The cathedral built by de
Courcy was destroyed in the fourteenth century, and a new abbey erected
in the early sixteenth century was even more short-lived. Today's
cathedral dates basically from the early part of the last century,
though it incorporates many aspects of earlier incarnations. Its most
unique feature is the private box-pews, characteristic of the Regency
period and the only ones remaining in use in Ireland.
Leaving the cathedral and retracing your steps a little down English
Street, which is crowded with Georgian buildings, you come to the
eighteenth-century jail, now home to the Down County Museum and the St
Patrick Heritage Centre (June-Aug Mon-Fri 10am-5pm, Sat & Sun 2-5pm;
rest of year closed Sun & Mon; www.downdc.gov.uk ; free). The heritage
centre occupies the gatehouse and has a range of displays telling the St
Patrick story, principally through words taken from his autobiographical
Confessions (the short video also provides a handy summary of what the
rest of the peninsula has to offer by way of relics of the saint). The
three-storey Georgian Governor's House in the centre of the walled
courtyard houses a local history gallery, which has regular exhibitions.
The cell block at the back of the enclosure once held the United
Irishman Thomas Russell, who had already survived the 1798 Rebellion but
was found guilty of complicity in Robert Emmett's uprising and was duly
hanged in 1803 from a sill outside the main gate of the jail.
Turn downhill between the jail and the barricaded courthouse and,
inauspiciously tucked behind a secondary school, you'll find the Mound
of Down , a smaller prominence half submerged in undergrowth. It's in
fact 60ft high and inside its outer ditch is a horseshoe central mound
of rich grass. Once a rath, or round hill-fort, it was considerably
altered and enlarged to create a Norman motte and bailey fortification,
with a bretasche (a wooden archery tower) at the centre. Its view of the
Hill of Down clearly displays the attractions the hill had for its
earliest settlers; it's believed by some to be the site of the palace of
the Kings of Ulster.
At the rear of the market car park, the Downpatrick Railway Museum (July
& Aug Sun 2-5pm; £2.50), offers tours of the restored station and
workshops and occasional train rides (details on tel 028/4461 7517). A
little further along the main drag is Downpatrick Race Course , the
second-oldest in Ireland and home to the Ulster National. Nowadays,
meetings happen here relatively infrequently, so it's best to enquire at
the tourist office for dates.
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