Bradshaw's Handbook (Old House) by Bradshaw George

Author:Bradshaw, George [Bradshaw, George]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Bradshaw’s Descriptive Railway Hand-Book of Great Britain and Ireland
ISBN: 9781908402455
Publisher: Osprey Publishing
Published: 2012-03-20T00:00:00+00:00

BELFAST AND COUNTY DOWN.

Belfast to Newtownards & Downpatrick.

Down, a maritime county, bounded east and south by the Irish sea, returns two members. Its surface is extremely irregular; in some parts mountainous and hilly, in others level and flat. The highest mountain is Slieve Donard, which rises 2,800 ft. above the level of the sea. Woods and forests are found in various parts, and taken as a whole, the county may be considered both productive and beautiful. There are several mineral springs here, but the chalybeats ones are the most numerous. The principal employment of the inhabitants is in making of linen and muslin; the bleaching is carried on to a considerable extent on the banks of the river Bann.

Passing KNOCK, DUNDONALD, and COMBER the latter of which has an old castle, Druidical remains, and a church, built on the site of an old abbey. Fairs, January 14th, April 5th, June 28th, and October 19th, we arrive at

NEWTOWNARDS, a town of muslin weavers and embroiderers, belonging to the Londonderry family, at the head of Lough Strangford, which is a lagoon full of islands, with nothing notable about it except Grey Abbey. “Will Watch, the bold smuggler,” flourished at Newtownards.

At Bangor, 5 miles north of Newtownards, a pretty bathing place, in the mouth of Lough Belfast, is the castle of Lord Bangor. The name is derived from the Bean choir or white (i.e. stone) church, built here in the 12th century, when stone churches were more uncommon, instead of the wooden buildings attached to an ancient monastery here. Ballyleidy belongs to the Lord Dufferin; the Dowager Lady Dufferin is a grand-daughter of Sheridan, and the author of a beautiful poem. Crawfordsburn, seat of the late Sharman Crawford, Esq., the great advocate of tenant-right; here there is a customary charge of £5 to £20 an acre, paid by the incoming tenant to his predecessor, for the good will as it were, on the ground of improvements. Most of the people in the lowlands of this county are of Scottish descent. The railway is new open to Donaghadee harbour, whence a submarine telegraph was laid down in 1853, across to the Scottish coast. In front of the harbour are the Copeland Islands, near which, before a lighthouse was built, the Enterprise sunk in 1801; she was loaded with dollars, a part of which was afterwards recovered by Bell in his diving apparatus.

Retracing our steps to the junction at Comber, we pass on, via BALLYGOWAN and SAINTEIELD to BALLYNAHINCH and the city of

DOWNPATRICK.

A telegraph station.

MARKET DAY.—Saturday. FAIRS.—First Saturday in each month.

Situated on the river Quoile, in a valley, at the south-west corner of Strangford Lough, has a population of about 5,000, and returns one member to. parliament. The Cathedral contains the tomb of Lord Kehany; the window at the east end is worth notice.

Belfast to Holywood.

Passing SYDENHAM and TILLYSBURN, we arrive at

HOLYWOOD.

A telegraph station.

HOTEL.—Power’s.

MARKET DAY.—Saturday.

FAIRS.—Every three months.

HOLYWOOD, or Hollywood, is a pretty bathing place on the Lough, 5 miles from Belfast, where the Irish Presbyterians signed the Solemn League and Covenant, 1644.

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