Town in County Down, Northern Ireland
Newcastle
Percy French sang of mountains sweeping down to the sea. In Newcastle they really do, with Northern Ireland's highest peak ending at a beach.
Key information
- County
- County Down
- Nation
- Northern Ireland
- Population
- about 7,700 (2011 Census)
- Known for
- The Mountains of Mourne, Slieve Donard, Royal County Down Golf Club, seaside promenade
- Famous people
- Percy French (songwriter), C.S. Lewis (holidayed nearby), Old Tom Morris (golf course designer)
About Newcastle
The town where the mountains meet the beach
Most places have a hill somewhere in the distance. Newcastle has Slieve Donard looming right over its rooftops, 850 metres high and the tallest peak in Northern Ireland, with the Irish Sea lapping at its feet. That sharp contrast is the whole story. A wide sandy beach and a Victorian-style promenade sit on one side, and a granite wall of mountains rises on the other. You can finish a summit walk and be eating chips on the seafront within the hour. The town takes its name from a castle built by the Magennis family in 1588 near the mouth of the Shimna River. The castle was later demolished, but the name stuck, and the little harbour town grew up around it.
The song that put the Mournes on the map
In 1896 the songwriter Percy French wrote The Mountains of Mourne, a gentle lament from an Irish labourer in London who misses home. Its line about the mountains sweeping down to the sea is pure Newcastle, and it has been sung in pubs and parlours around the world ever since. The song did more for the area's fame than any tourist board could have managed. Generations of visitors came to see whether the view lived up to the lyric. Most agree it does. C.S. Lewis, who spent time in County Down as a boy and a young man, is often linked with the Mournes as a source of inspiration for the landscapes of Narnia.
A wall that climbs fifteen mountains
Look up from town and you may spot the Mourne Wall snaking over the ridges. It runs for 22 miles and crosses some of the highest summits in the range, Slieve Donard among them. It was built between 1904 and 1922 by the Belfast Water Commissioners to mark off the catchment area for the Silent Valley reservoir. The stone was cut and set by hand, and the builders worked on exposed mountainsides through all weathers. Today the wall is a handy guide for hillwalkers, and walking its length is a classic challenge in the Mournes.
Smugglers, brandy and a mountain path
Long before hikers arrived, the Mournes were busy with smugglers. The Brandy Pad is an old track from the coast through the Hare's Gap, used in the 1700s to carry contraband such as brandy, tobacco and silks inland, away from the excise men. Walkers follow much the same route now, with the Trassey and Glen River valleys on the way. The only contraband these days is a flask of tea. The Slieve Donard name comes from St Donard, a hermit said to have lived on the summit. Ancient cairns still sit near the top.
Golf, dunes and seals
Royal County Down Golf Club, founded in 1889, is one of the most admired links courses in the world. George Baillie laid out the first nine holes in 1889, and Old Tom Morris, the St Andrews legend, later redesigned and extended it to 18. It has hosted the Walker Cup in 2007 and the Irish Open in 2015, and golfers have to play with the Mournes behind every hole. Just along the coast, Murlough National Nature Reserve protects a large dune system, which was the first nature reserve in Northern Ireland, set up in 1967. Seals haul out on the sand in Dundrum Bay, and the heath is full of butterflies. The Slieve Donard Resort, opened in 1898 by the Belfast and County Down Railway, still stands as a grand seaside landmark. The railway reached Newcastle in 1869 and brought day-trippers from Belfast. Its direct Belfast route closed in 1950, and the last line into the town, via Banbridge, closed in 1955.
Forest, film sets and a good place to eat
A few minutes' drive inland, Tollymore Forest Park offers old stone bridges, river gorges and towering conifers. Fans of Game of Thrones will recognise its trees from the series' early episodes. Back in town, the seafront has ice-cream parlours and fish and chip shops, and the local cafés and pubs are always busy with walkers after a day in the hills. Newcastle is also known for its Festival of Flight air show in the past, which brought jets and aerobatics over the bay. The town is small, but few places in the UK pack a mountain, a beach, a championship golf course and a famous song into so short a walk.