Down Ireland

Down, a county of Ireland, in Ulster, 42 m. long and 34 broad; bounded E by the Irish sea, W by Armagh, NW by Antrim, and S by Carlingford bay and the ocean; divided into 60 parishes, and sends 4 members to parliament. Copper and lead are found; also are black marble susceptible of a high polish, slate, coal, freestone, and crystals. The Mourne Mountains in the south of the county form one of the most beautiful areas in Ireland. The Rowallane Gardens hold an excellent collection of plants, one of the best in Ireland. Bangor, County Down is a major seaside resort.

Down (Bed and Breakfasts, Down, Ireland) was the first area in the north to be captured by the Normans, when John de Courci marched north from Dublin with 300 or so men in 1177. They were soon assimilated and the region retained its largely Gaelic character until the seventeenth century when, even though the area was not formally included in the Plantation of Ulster, there was a large influx of English and Scottish settlers. Presbyterians and members of the Church of Ireland now constitute about two-thirds of the population. Under the organizational reforms carried out in Northern Ireland in 1973, the county ceased to exist and was divided into various smaller administrative units. Identification with the old county continues in the daily lives of the people.

The Main Surnames of Down (Hotels, Down, Ireland) are Campbell, McAleavey, Hamilton, O\‘Neill, McCartan, Dodds and Gilmore

The chief towns include Belfast, Ballymena, Antrim, Lisburn, Newry, Downpatrick, Kilkeel, Banbridge, Bangor, Newtownards and Larne.

Unlike other parts of Ireland this area has a tradition of emigration, in the main to North America, which stretches back to the 17th century. This steady stream of Ulstermen and women were largely Presbyterians. Emigration on a large scale became commonplace in the first half of the 18th century. County Down was less badly affected by the Great Famine than many other counties. One of its effects was a large exodus from the rural areas to the city of Belfast, part of which is in County Down. The population of Down (Holiday Cottages, Down, Ireland) in 1841 was 368,000. In 1851 this had been reduced by approximately eleven percent.

The Ulster Historical Foundation is designated by the Irish Family History Foundation to provide a genealogical research service for the counties of Antrim and Down (Self Catering, Down, Ireland) (including the City of Belfast) in Northern Ireland. The Ulster Historical Foundation offers a full service to enquirers. In addition to having access to civil records of birth, death and marriages, valuation and tithe records the Ulster Historical Foundation is in the process of computerising the following church records:

Roman Catholic records commencing in 1798

Church of Ireland records commencing in 1637

Presbyterian records from 1675 and

Non-Subscribing Presbyterian records from 1757.

In all a total of 1.5 million records relating to the area have been computerised at the Centre and the computerisation of records continues. The Centre also has access to all records held at the Public Records Office of Northern Ireland.

Posted on April 15th, 2008 under Genealogy. Tags: bangor, campbell, downpatrick, gaelic, Genealogy, john de curci, kilkeel, larne, mourrne mountains, rowallane gardens, ulster historical foundation. RSS 2.0 feed. Leave a response, or trackback.