placenames.ie
County

Down

An Dún

Down’s coastal inlets and inland routes connect religious centres, market towns and communities that crossed county boundaries.

Recorded locationDown54.39795° N · 5.90639° WInteractive map supplied by OpenStreetMap.
Approximate recorded location · Logainm.ieOpen in OpenStreetMap ↗

The name

dúnfort

These Irish name elements are associated with this record in the Logainm glossary.

An element’s translation is a clue, rather than a complete explanation of the name. Its form and meaning depend on local history and the full Irish name.

Recorded forms

  • An Dún · Irish · main form · validated name
  • Down · English · main form

Place & story

Coast and neighbouring counties

Lewis’s 1837 account places Down between the Irish Sea, Belfast Lough, Antrim and Armagh. It distinguishes the Ards peninsula east of Strangford Lough from Dufferin on the western side. These are useful geographical relationships: places facing the same lough may belong to different districts, while the water can connect communities as well as separate them. The county’s history cannot be represented by one coastal town alone. [2]

Several centres of authority

The directory discusses Ulidia as an older regional label and describes separate earlier jurisdictions, including Lecale and the Ards. It also records uncertainty about when these were consolidated into the county. Downpatrick’s religious and county-town roles, and Bangor’s abbey and later settlement, belonged to different local histories within the broader county. [2] [3] [4]

Folklore & tradition

Patrick's traditional grave

On the Hill of Down at Downpatrick, a large Mourne granite slab marks what is traditionally regarded as Patrick's burial place. A wreath is laid there on St Patrick's Day. [6]

People & connections

A Newry childhood and a legal career

Charles Russell, later Baron Russell of Killowen, was born in Newry in 1832. His father owned a brewery there; during Charles's childhood the family moved to Killowen on Carlingford Lough. Russell eventually became lord chief justice of England and Wales, holding that office from 1894 until his death in 1900. His local connection is therefore more precise than a county birthplace alone: both an urban commercial household and the lough shore formed part of his early life. His biography also illustrates the movement between Down, Belfast, Dublin and Britain that lay behind many nineteenth-century careers. [7]

Geographic information

Place type
County
County
Down
Coordinates
54.39795, -5.90639 (approximate)
Mapped area
2,498.11 km²
Logainm ID
100012 ↗

People & family history

Census figures refer to the matched historical census area for each year. Boundaries and spellings can change over time.

1926 census

This year is outside the available dataset’s coverage. This does not indicate a population of zero.

Explore this county

Up to 50 places per page, ordered by name.

Sources & further reading

  1. Logainm.ie — Down. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
  2. County Down — A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland (1837) · Samuel Lewis · 1837
  3. Downpatrick — A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland (1837) · Samuel Lewis · 1837
  4. Bangor, County Down — A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland (1837) · Samuel Lewis · 1837
  5. Newry — A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland (1837) · Samuel Lewis · 1837
  6. Down Cathedral · Diocese of Down and Dromore
  7. Russell, Charles · Ronan Keane, Dictionary of Irish Biography
  8. Boundary geometry retains its source attribution and licence in the downloadable geographic record. Map tiles © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2026-09-19. How this page was prepared.