As part of our Love Your County series, our focus today is on the Mourne County, home of the 1994 All-Ireland winners.
Sporting moment: All-Ireland champions 1994
Winners of the Sam Maguire on five occasions, the most recent of these victories came in 1994 when defeating Dublin at Croke Park. The 1960s was the golden era of football in the Mourne County with three All-Ireland victories, with many observers believing it was one of the strongest sides to ever grace the game.
That 1994 winning side, which featured many of the team that won three years previous, and winning against a strong Dubs side (they would go on the following year to win themselves). Current manager James McCarten got the all-important goal as Down ran out 1-12 to 0-13 winners on a wet day in the capital.
Visit Hillsborough Castle
The rambling, two-storey late-Georgian mansion was built in 1797 for Wills Hill, the first Marquess of Downshire, and extensively remodelled in the 1830s and ’40s. The insightful guided tour takes in the state drawing room and dining rooms, and the Lady Grey Room where UK Prime Minister Tony Blair and US president George W Bush had talks on Iraq in 2003.
Check out the Railway Museum
A great way of discovering the past. The working railway museum runs steam-hauled trains over a restored section of the former Belfast–Newcastle line. Many things of note to look out for, including the grave of King Magnus Barefoot, a Norwegian king who died in battle in 1103.
