a maritime county in the south-eastern part of the province of Ulster, in Ireland; bounded N. by the county of Antrim and Belfast Lough, E. and S. by the Irish Sea, and W. by the county of Armagh. Down comprises 967 square miles, or 612,495 acres; of which 514,180 are arable, 78,317 uncultivated, 14,355 in plantations, 2211 in towns, and 3432 under water.

On the authority of Ptolemy, this county is supposed to have been anciently inhabited by the tribes of the Vinerdi and Volunti, but afterwards formed part of the ancient principality of Ulidia or Dalriada, from which colonies branched into Scotland, where they afterwards united with the Scottish monarchy, and became historically more important than the parent stock. After the arrival of the English, who, under the leadership of the celebrated John de Courcy, overran the district, it was parcelled out among the English families of White, Savage, Riddell, Poer, Sendall, Chamberlain, Russell, Audley, Copeland, &c., descendants of some few of which remain at the present day in the county. Down formed two counties, Newtownards in the north and Down in the south, from the period of the English settlement to the Irish revolt in 1333, when the English settlers were driven into the maritime baronies of Ards, Leckale, and Mourne, of which they in part retained possessions. The remainder of the district fell into the hands of Irish families, the O'Neills of Clanboye, the MacArtans, MacRorys, and MacGinnises, whose possessions, however, reverted to the crown on the attainder of Shane O'Neill, in the latter half of the sixteenth century; but having afterwards submitted to the government, they received back their former estates. In 1602 the O'Neill estates were again forfeited, and granted to Sir Hugh Montgomery and Mr Hamilton, who planted Scottish colonies on the land. The estates of the remaining old Irish and Anglo-Norman families were mostly forfeited in the rebellion of 1641, or subsequently at the Revolution.

The county is now divided into eleven baronies, Ards Lower and Upper, Castlecaugh Lower and Upper, Dufferin, Ivagh Lower and Upper, Kinelearty, Leckale, Mourne, and Newry lordships; these baronies are subdivided into 70 parishes, forming the diocese of Down, which includes all the sea-coast and eastern part of the county, the greater portion of that of Dromore, and the lordship of Newry, which is exempt from episcopal jurisdiction, a privilege which it enjoys from having appertained to a monastery before the Reformation. On the dissolution of the monastery the powers and privileges of the lord-abbot were transferred to the temporal proprietor, Sir Nicholas Bagnall, to whom a patent was granted by Edward VI. "on account of his excellent services as marshal of Ireland." The proprietor of the present patent, the Earl of Kilmorey, is entitled the Lord Abbot, and is ex officio rector of Newry, and, by his vicar-general and surrogate, grants probates of wills, letters of administration, marriage licenses, &c., and transacts the business of an ecclesiastical court, with as full power as that of any other ecclesiastical court in Ireland.

The union workhouses are at Banbridge, Downpatrick, Kilkeel, Newry, and Newtownards. Portions of the county are also included in the neighbouring unions of Belfast, Lisburn, and Lurgan. The net annual value of property rated to the poor is £637,989, and the amount of property valued under the 6th & 7th Wm. IV., cap 84, amounts to £455,697. The county is within the military district of Belfast. There are 24 coast-guard stations, with about 160 men and officers. The assizes are held at Downpatrick, where the county prison and county infirmary are situated. The district lunatic asylum is at Belfast, in the county of Antrim. There are savings-banks at Newry and Hillsborough, with deposits amounting to about £45,000.

The chief towns are as follows:—Downpatrick (pop. 4098), of very ancient foundation, supposed to be the oldest town in Ireland, and a parliamentary borough, situated within a mile of Strangford Lough; Newtownards (pop. 9567), formerly a parliamentary borough, and in the neighbourhood of numerous religious foundations, now a flourishing town, belonging to the Marquis of Londonderry, whose residence, Mount Stewart, is within three miles distance; Banbridge (pop. 3301), the centre of the linen trade of Ulster, standing on a hill on the left bank of the Bann, from which, and the bridge by which it is crossed, the name originated; Donaghadee (pop. 2818), the nearest port to Scotland, formerly a packet-station, now a trading-port and pleasant sea-bathing place; Bangor (pop. 2850), a small ancient seaport, with a good harbour, and fine beach adapted for bathing; Rathfriland (pop. 2053); Portaferry (pop. 2074); and Newry (pop. 13,491, of which number 3875 are in the county of Armagh), a place of considerable trade, and with great natural advantages of situation.

The population of the county of Down, which Beaufort in 1792, estimated as amounting to 201,500, has been found, according to the parliamentary returns at various periods, to have been as follows:—in 1821, 325,410; in 1831, 352,012; in 1841, 361,446; and in 1851, 320,817.

In 1824–26 the number of children receiving education in 550 schools was 13,456 boys and 8375 girls; the total number amounting to 22,828, of whom 4847 were Protestants of the Established Church, 6120 were Roman Catholics, and 11,615 Dissenters, chiefly Presbyterians; and a remaining number of 411, whose religious persuasion was not ascertained. In 1851, according to the census returns, the state of education of the population, five years old and upwards, was as follows:

| Rural Districts | Civic Districts | Total | Prop. per cent. | Prop. per cent. | |----------------|----------------|-------|----------------|----------------| | Could read and write | 107,597 | 16,731 | 124,328 | 44 | 39 | | Could read only | 81,108 | 11,085 | 92,193 | 31 | 33 | | Could neither read nor write | 61,689 | 7,786 | 69,475 | 24 | 27 |

The diocesan grammar-school of Down, at Downpatrick, is now formed into a joint district school for Down and Dromore.

The Presbyterian form of worship predominates, especially in the towns and low country. In the mountainous part the Roman Catholic religion prevails to a great extent. In 1834 the population, divided according to their religious persuasion, was ascertained to consist of 27,662 Churchmen, 98,961 Presbyterians, 3530 other Protestant Dissenters, and 58,405 Roman Catholics.

Previous to the union with Great Britain, Down returned fourteen members to the Irish parliament; two for the county at large, and two for each of the boroughs of Bangor, Downpatrick, Hillsborough, Newry, Newtownards, and Killilieagh. Since the union it has been represented by four members, two for the county, one for Downpatrick, and one for Newry, the Reform act having made no change in the number or distribution of the representatives.

So far as inequality of surface is essential to scenic beauty, this county, presenting every variety of plain, hill, and mountain, has strong claims to it. The plains are chiefly confined to the vicinity of rivers, the hills occupy the greater portion of the surface, and the mountains are accumulated together in one immense mass in the southern barony of Mourne. Slieve Donard, the highest summit of the Mourne mountains, is 2796 feet above the level of the sea, and, excepting Lugduff in Wicklow and several summits near Killarney, it is not exceeded in height by any other mountain in Ireland.

The Mourne Mountains and their subordinate branches give rise to the four principal rivers. The Bann (lower) rises near the Irish sea, and flows north-eastward by Banbridge and Portadown into Lough Neagh; the Lagan rises on the northern declivities of the Slieve Croob mountains, four miles south of Ballinahinch, and flowing in various directions to the boundary of the county, continues its course through an eminently beautiful country to Belfast; the Annacloy, or Ballinahinch river, rises near Hillsborough, and discharges its waters into the southern extremity of Strangford Lough, about a mile below Downpatrick; the Newry Water is an insignificant stream, except where it is affected by the influence of the tide, and would be unworthy of notice but that it is the commencement of a water communication by canal with Lough Neagh. The Newry navigation or canal, which was the first completed in Ireland, opens a water communication with the counties of Antrim, Armagh, Derry, Down, and Tyrone; and, by means of the Ulster Canal (which connects Lough Erne and Lough Neagh), Cavan, Fermanagh, and Monaghan export and import their merchandise through the port of Newry.

Lakes, properly so called, are numerous, but insignificant in extent. Strangford Lough, with its numerous islands, old castles, abbeys, and ornamented shores, is a spacious gulf extending ten miles northwards into the land, and affording a secure roadstead to large vessels in its interior. Strangers, however, are unwilling to have recourse to it, on account of the rapid current of the tide, which rushes through the narrow strait between Portaferry and Strangford at the rate of eight or ten miles an hour, which, with sunken rocks and shoals, renders the navigation dangerous. This gulf is studded with numerous islands, some beautifully wooded, others affording rich pasturage. Bangor, Kilkeel, and Ardglass, have each a harbour for fishing-boats and small craft. An artificial harbour was constructed at Donaghadee for the accommodation of the packet-boats to Scotland; but the introduction of steam navigation has rendered it comparatively useless. Near the coast of the Ards, a long narrow peninsula between Strangford Lough and the sea, are the Green Island, Bird Island, and Burr Island; and at the entrance of Carrickfergus Bay is a group of three, called the Copeland Islands, upon the lesser of which stands a lighthouse. There is also a lighthouse at Haulbowline Rock off Carlingford Bay, one at Ardglass Harbour, one at St John's Point near Ardglass, and another on a sunken reef called the South Rock, near the northern entrance of Strangford Lough. At the northern extremity of the county is Belfast Lough; and on the south, dividing Down from Louth, is Carlingford Bay or Lough—a highly picturesque marine inlet, forming a perfectly safe harbour of refuge, but obstructed by a bar at its entrance.

The mineral springs found here are of two qualities, sulphuro-chalybeate and purely chalybeate. The most celebrated of the former kind is at the foot of Slieve Croob Mountain, which rises to the height of 1800 feet—about two miles from Ballinahinch. In appearance, taste, and effects, it strongly resembles the waters of Aix-la-Chapelle. It is used both externally and internally, and has been found peculiarly effective in scrofulous affections. The town is much frequented in summer by invalids. Chalybeate springs are numerous, and widely scattered through the county. On the sea-coasts are many places admirably adapted for sea-bathing and summer residences. Dundrum, on the bay of the same name, is a small retired watering-place, owned by the Marquis of Downshire; Ardglass, formerly one of the chief seats of trade in Ulster, and a parliamentary borough, is delightfully situated, and, besides being the chief fishing port on this coast, ranks high as a bathing place; Holywood, on the eastern shore of Belfast Lough, is much frequented; Warrenpoint, at the head of Carlingford Lough, is much frequented by the inhabitants of Newry; Newcastle, on Dundrum Bay, is also a fashionable marine summer residence; Kilkeel, close by the open coast and backed by the Mourne Mountains, is a thriving town and agreeable bathing place; but above all others in attraction is Rosstrevor, which is not exceeded in beauty of situation by any place in Ireland. "Were such a bay lying upon English shores," says Mr Thackeray in his Irish Sketch-Book, "it would be a world's wonder; perhaps if it were on the Mediterranean or the Baltic, English travellers would flock to it in hundreds.

The predominating soil is a loam of little depth, in most places intermixed with considerable quantities of stones of various sizes; but differing materially in character according to the nature of the subsoil. Clay is mostly confined to the eastern coast of the Ardes, and to the northern parts of Castleargh. Of sandy soil the quantity is small; it occurs chiefly on the sea-coasts, especially near Dundrum. Moor grounds are mostly confined to the skirts of the mountains. Bogs, though frequent, are scarcely sufficient to form a supply of fuel to the population. There are several quarries of fine sandstone. The best is that on Scrab Hill, near Newtownards, where a very close-grained, clear-coloured, and hard and durable stone is raised. Limestone is not very general. The quarries of Kilwarlin afford flags of large dimensions, varying in hue from a clear stone colour to a brownish red; the former being superior in beauty and hardness. Slates are raised in several parts, inferior to the Welsh in lightness and colour; large blocks of a yellowish magnesian limestone are found near Holywood. This kind, however, is inferior to the white species as a manure. Near Comber, on the shores of Strangford Lough, is a very hard and sparkling kind of reddish granular limestone. But the greatest magazine of this rock is in the vicinity of Moira. It is supposed to be a continuation of that bed which is perceptible, with little interruption, from Magilligan in Londonderry, round the headlands of Antrim, to the range of mountains that lie north of Lisburn, whence turning westward, it is lost in the acclivities that border the Lagan between Moira and Magheralin. Here the stone lies very near the surface. It is found in horizontal strata intermixed with chert, in some cases in layers, in others in detached pieces of different form and size, containing various kinds of shells and other marine exuviae. Granite occurs in many places in detached masses, but the great body of it is confined to the southern and western regions, chiefly in the Mourne Mountains, where it differs in mineral character from the Wicklow granite, in containing hornblende and felspar of a reddish colour. Though it is here the prevailing rock, it does not wholly exclude the schist or slate, which is often seen in contact with it. In the granite of Slieve Donard, the highest of the Mourne Mountains, crystals of topaz and beryl are found. Indications of lead have been discovered near Castlewellan, Killough, Newtownards, and Warrenpoint; and traces of copper in the Mourne Mountains near Rosstrevor.

The land is very unequally portioned out amongst the inhabitants; the number of holdings in 1853 not exceeding 1 acre in extent being 1793, and those above 1 acre 29,289, of which 5000 were between 1 and 5 acres, 12,568 between 5 and 15, 7259 between 15 and 30, 2879 between 30 and 50, 1296 between 50 and 100, 297 between 100 and 200, 59 between 200 and 300, and 21 above 500 acres each in extent. There are many landed proprietors, mostly resident, each of whom holds large tracts in his own hands. Under these is a numerous tenantry of small holders, from whose dependents they are entitled to rank as an agricultural community with the proprietors of the soil, to the holders of a few acres who depend on their manual labour for the support of their families. The great bulk of the population is orderly and industrious. Their dwellings are better constructed and furnished than those of a similar class in most other parts of Ireland. The processes of agriculture, owing in a great degree to the example set by the resident gentry, are as skilfully carried on as in any part of Ireland. The crops chiefly cultivated are wheat, rye, barley, oats, peas, flax, and potatoes. Barley is extensively grown, particularly in the light soil of Leacale. Green crops are also in general use. Much attention is paid to the culture of grass, particularly on the borders of the larger rivers, where extensive tracts of fine meadow land are annually enriched by the overflowing of the banks with deposits of the finer particles that would wash down from the higher grounds. The extent of land under crops in 1853 was 268,100 acres; viz., corn beans, and peas, 174,204; potatoes, 42,085; turnips, mangold-wurzel, carrots, and other root crops, 28,126; cabbage, vetches, and other green crops, 3553; flax, 26,957; and meadow clover and rape, 33,375 acres. The mean rate of produce per acre exceeds the average of productivity for all Ireland in beans, peas, potatoes, turnip, mangold-wurzel, and cabbage; the cereal crops of the county being below the average. The total produce of corn, beans, and peas in 1853 was 118,958 tons, or 823 lbs. per head of the population; the average for Ireland being 706 lbs.; of potatoes 2,452,075 barrels were grown in 1853, averaging 151 barrels per acre, or 1 barrel above the general average. In this county, facilitated for the purpose of ascertaining the condition of the farms in the 32 counties of Ireland, Down stands number six on the list; and in another as to the comparative condition of the road sides, this county appears third in order, and therefore may be considered as one of the best cultivated and least neglected in Ireland.

Horned cattle are principally reared for dairies, and therefore the same attention to figure and flesh is not paid as in some other agricultural districts. The resident gentry are, however, laudably anxious in the improvement of their respective stocks. The breed of horses is also an object of much attention, and some of the best specimens of the breed are to be seen in the county. A native breed of sheep, a small hardy race, is confined to the mountains. Of this breed are well made and finely woolled. The various other kinds of sheep have been much improved by judicious crosses from the best British breeds. Hogs are reared in great numbers, chiefly for the Belfast market, where the large exportation occasions a constant demand for them—hams of very superior quality being prepared from them in that town. Rabbits also form a part of farm stock in the sandy southern tracts.

In 1841 the live stock of the county consisted of 31,174 horses and mules, 70,601 horned cattle, 23,530 sheep, 59,427 pigs, 279,696 head of poultry, and 260 asses; the estimated value of all being £1,171,917, while in 1852 on 29,555 holdings there were 31,453 horses, 1330 mules and asses, 119,309 cattle, 45,958 sheep, 54,254 pigs, 9702 goats, 402,963 head of poultry, of the total value of £1,163,308.

Manufactures, of which linen is the staple, are carried on largely in the neighbourhood of Belfast and Newry, and several of the smaller towns have risen to importance as places of manufacture. The finer fabrics of linen are the chief articles of manufacture. In 1850 there were eleven flax mills in the county employing 4352 persons. The woollen manufacture is confined to a coarse cloth wrought solely for home consumption.

The fisheries are by no means so extensive or flourishing as the greatest extent of coast would warrant. Belfast market is chiefly supplied from Carrickfergus, yet fish of every description abound on the coast of Down. The three districts of Downpatrick, Strangford, Newcastle, and Carlingford comprise 139 miles of maritime boundaries, having, in 1853, 1468 registered fishing vessels, employing 4642 men and boys. Shoals of herrings frequently go up to Strangford Lough, but these are not so much esteemed as those caught in the open seas. Smelts are taken in large quantities at the entrance of the same lough. Shell-fish abound along the rocky shores, particularly in the neighbourhood of the Copeland Islands. Oysters of superior quality are dredged at Ringhaddy, Carlingford, and elsewhere. The oyster beds extend in vast numbers over the shallow banks that stretch out before Holywood.

Several remains of antiquity, coeval with the rudest ages of society, are to be found in this county. At Slidderyford, near Dundrum, is a group of pillar stones, consisting of ten or twelve, from eight to ten feet in height, forming a circle. A remarkable cairn, on the summit of Slieve Croob, is nearly eighty yards in circumference at the bottom and fifty at the top, forming a platform, on which several cairns of various heights and dimensions are erected. Another cairn near the village of Anadorn was found to cover a cave containing ashes and a number of human bones. Several cromlechs or altars so called, also exist, the most remarkable of which is in the Giant's Ring, on the summit of a hill between Lisburne and Belfast. It is composed of an unbroken ring of seven feet long by six and a half broad, resting in an inclined position on several rude pillars from two to three feet high. It stands nearly in the centre of an inclosure about one-third of a mile in circumference, formed of a rampart of earth about twenty feet high, sloping on each side, and broad enough at the top for two persons to ride abreast. Near Downpatrick is a rath or mound of earth three quarters of a mile in circumference, its exterior consisting of three artificial ramparts, the largest of which is thirty feet broad. In its vicinity are the ruins of Saul Abbey, said to have been founded by St Patrick; and Inch Abbey, founded by Sir John de Courcy in 1180. The number of monastic ruins is also considerable. The most ancient and celebrated is the Abbey or Cathedral of Downpatrick, supposed to have been founded by St Patrick soon after his arrival here in 432, and said to contain his remains, together with those of the other favourite saints of the Irish, St Columba and St Brigid. It was restored in 1790, when the adjoining round tower was taken down. Beneath the foundations of the round tower a wall was found to proceed to the main building of the abbey. Street, or as it is sometimes called, St Patrick's Wells, to the east of Downpatrick, merits notice from its connection with former religious observances. These wells are four in number, each covered by a stone vault, and having the water conveyed from the others by subterranean aqueducts.

Great numbers of people from various parts of Ireland resort to this place on Midsummer eve, and on the Friday before Lammas, to perform religious ceremonies, chiefly consisting of penances, and to obtain relief from bodily complaints. The ruins of many castles, particularly upon the coast, still remain. Amongst these the most remarkable is Greencastle, built on an island in the barony of Mourne, by De Burgo Earl of Ulster, and intended to maintain a communication between the English settlers in this county and those in the county of Leith. This castle was considered of much importance; and in consequence of the rapid assimilation of manners and the sympathy usually found to exist between the natives and the descendants of settlers, no person but one of English birth was permitted to be its constable.

fine feathers on the breasts of several birds, particularly of the duck kind. That of the eider duck is the most valuable. These birds pluck the down from their breasts and line their nests with it. Three pounds of this down may be compressed into a size scarcely larger than one's fist; yet it is afterwards so dilatable as to fill a quilt five feet square. That found in the nests, and termed Rice down, is most valued; being much more elastic than that plucked from the dead bird.