Historic Environment
Mount Cres
Downpatrick
Down
BT30 6AT

Contact

Phone:
028 9082 3207
Email:

Additional information

Open to the public:

Yes, entry is free (Sometimes public access is restricted due to works for example. Check before you visit)

Grid reference:
J4825044980
SM number:
DOW 037:028

About Mound of Down

Known as the Mound of Down, Dundalethglas, English Mount and Rathkeltair, this is one of the major earthworks of Northern Ireland, consisting of an egg-shaped enclosure, defined by a steep bank and wide outer ditch. The original entrance is on the south side away from the marsh. In the south-east part of the interior is a high, U-shaped mound with its own surrounding ditch. The large earthwork is probably a pre-Norman enclosure, a royal headquarters of the Dál Fiatach, reused as the site of an Anglo-Norman castle mound of the late 12th century, but the mound was either unfinished or later altered for artillery. The cathedral is built on a similarly fortified hill close by. 

Other historic places you can visit:

Mound of Down
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