Fodor's Expert Review Down County Museum
With the transfer of the 1,100-year-old Mourne granite High Cross as the centerpiece of an elaborate extension, this museum, housed in an 18th-century jail, has gained serious cachet. The Downpatrick High Cross had stood in front of nearby Down Cathedral since the late 19th century, but had suffered deterioration through weather damage—never mind the Viking pillagers—and has been moved permanently indoors. The original location of the intricately patterned cross, carved around AD 900 as a "prayer in stone," is believed to have been the early medieval monastery on the Hill of Down. The extension houses a display, Raising the Cross in Down, alongside two new galleries reflecting the maritime and agricultural history of the area. Elsewhere, look into the small cells in the jail along a narrow whitewashed corridor. The other main exhibition is Down through Time, while frequent photographic exhibitions and artwork are on display in other rooms. Behind the building, a short... READ MORE
With the transfer of the 1,100-year-old Mourne granite High Cross as the centerpiece of an elaborate extension, this museum, housed in an 18th-century jail, has gained serious cachet. The Downpatrick High Cross had stood in front of nearby Down Cathedral since the late 19th century, but had suffered deterioration through weather damage—never mind the Viking pillagers—and has been moved permanently indoors. The original location of the intricately patterned cross, carved around AD 900 as a "prayer in stone," is believed to have been the early medieval monastery on the Hill of Down. The extension houses a display, Raising the Cross in Down, alongside two new galleries reflecting the maritime and agricultural history of the area. Elsewhere, look into the small cells in the jail along a narrow whitewashed corridor. The other main exhibition is Down through Time, while frequent photographic exhibitions and artwork are on display in other rooms. Behind the building, a short signposted trail leads to an example of a Norman motte and bailey known as the Mound of Down or "Dundalethglas." A large egg-shape enclosure, this is one of Northern Ireland's most impressive earthen fortifications and may have been a royal stronghold of the Dál Fiatach, the dynasty that ruled this part of County Down in the first millennium AD. The Cathedral View Tearoom serves homemade lunches and snacks.
READ LESS
