Editing Downpatrick (section)

==Places of interest==
[[File:The Down Arts Centre (geograph 2853261).jpg|thumb|right|200px|The [[Down Arts Centre]], located in the former Downpatrick Town Hall]]
[[File:Inch abbey near Downpatrick - geograph.org.uk - 740083.jpg|thumb|right|200px|[[Inch Abbey]]]]
[[File:Quoile Castle, geograph.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Quoile Castle, near Downpatrick]][[File:O&K No. 1, Downpatrick Station.JPG|thumb|200px|[[Steam locomotive]] [[Orenstein & Koppel|O&K]] [[CSÉT Shunting Locomotives|No. 1]] operating at the [[Downpatrick and County Down Railway]]]]
*[[Ballyalton Court Cairn]] is a [[Court cairn|single court grave]] situated on a rock outcrop by the roadside {{convert|0.5|mi|km}} from Ballyalton village, which is {{convert|2.25|mi|km}} east of Downpatrick, at grid ref 531 448.<ref name="EE">{{cite book | last=Evans, E| year=1966 |title=Prehistoric and Early Christian Ireland. A Guide | publisher=BT Batsford | location=London | pages=93–94}}</ref>
*[[Ballynoe stone circle]], a large circle of over 50 closely spaced upright stones, surrounding a mound which, when excavated, was found to contain two [[cist]]s in which cremated bones were found, is only 2.5 miles (4&nbsp;km) south in the hamlet of [[Ballynoe, County Down|Ballynoe]]. The site is near the disused railway station, reached by a long footpath off the main road, at grid ref: J481404.<ref>{{cite book | last=Department of the Environment for Northern Ireland| year=1983 |title=Historic Monuments of Northern Ireland | publisher=HMSO | location= Belfast | page=88}}</ref>
*The [[Down Arts Centre]], located in the former Downpatrick Town Hall, is an events venue in the town.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://artscouncil-ni.org/news/arts-council-of-northern-ireland-helps-launch-down-arts-centre|title=Arts Council of Northern Ireland helps launch Down Arts Centre|date=19 June 2012|newspaper=Arts Council Northern Ireland|access-date=5 June 2021|archive-date=18 March 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150318203036/http://www.artscouncil-ni.org/news/arts-council-of-northern-ireland-helps-launch-down-arts-centre|url-status=live}}</ref>
*Down County Museum is located on the Mall in English Street in Downpatrick and was formerly the old Down County Gaol.  It was built between 1789 and 1796 at the behest of the County Grand Jury of Down under the supervision of Marquess of Downshire, the Earl of Hillsborough and the Hon Edward Ward, and was designed by architect Charles Lilly. The building served for a time as a barracks for the South Down Militia. It is famously where, at its gates, United Irishman [[Thomas Russell (rebel)|Thomas Russell]] was hanged in 1803.
*[[Downpatrick Racecourse]] is located on the Ballydugan Road on the outskirts of Downpatrick. Horse racing has been held at Downpatrick under the charter of [[James II of England]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Magee |first1=Joan |title=Horse racing at the Flying Horse |journal=Lecale Review |date=2019 |volume=17 |page=36}}</ref>
*[[Downpatrick and County Down Railway]] is Ireland's only full-sized heritage railway. Built on the [[Belfast and County Down Railway|BCDR]]'s former line to Belfast, it links the town with [[Inch Abbey]] and various other places of historical interest. The railway houses Ireland's largest collection of [[Victorian Era|Victorian]] carriages, eight [[Diesel Locomotives of Ireland|diesel locomotives]], three [[Steam Locomotives of Ireland#preserved|steam engines]], and several [[Multiple Unit|railcars]].
*[[Inch Abbey]], a large, ruined [[Cistercian]] monastic site featuring early [[Gothic architecture]], is 0.75 miles (1.2&nbsp;km) north-west of Downpatrick on the north bank of the [[River Quoile]] off the main road to Belfast, at grid ref: J477455.
*The [[Lecale peninsula]] covers an area of some {{convert|78|sqmi|km2}} between Downpatrick and [[Dundrum, County Down|Dundrum]]. It is an area of historical and geographic significance.
*The Mound of Down or Rathkeltair is one of the major earthworks of Ulster, situated on the NW edge of Downpatrick, it is a good example of an [[Iron Age]] defensive earthwork in the middle of which a Norman [[Motte and Bailey]] was built by [[John de Courcy]] after his defeat of Rory Mac Donlevy in 1177.  Some believe that it was the residence of [[Celtchar]] mac Ulthechair, the legendary Iron Age hero of the Ulster Cycle. It seems to have become the administrative centre of the Kings of [[Dál Fiatach]] by the early Christian period.
*[[File:St Patricks Centre.tif|alt=St Patricks Center Downpatrick|thumb|St Patricks Centre Downpatrick with the Tara Brooch Statue and Down Cathedral]]St. Patrick Centre is the only permanent exhibition in the world dedicated to the patron saint of Ireland. As a nonprofit educational organisation offers of reconciliation in Northern Ireland, thousands of children each year and the ongoing cross-border and international youth programs.
*[[Quoile Castle]] is a ruined 16th-century [[tower house]], just off the main road from Downpatrick to [[Strangford]], at grid ref: J4963 4701.
*[[Struell Wells]] is a set of four [[holy well]]s 1.5 miles (2.4&nbsp;km) east of Downpatrick (grid ref: J513442).<ref>{{cite book | last=Department of the Environment for Northern Ireland| year=1983 |title=Historic Monuments of Northern Ireland | publisher=HMSO | location=Belfast | pages=113–114}}</ref> The wells date from before the time of [[Saint Patrick]], and even today are used for people seeking cures.<ref>{{cite book |author1=Donnelly, JP  |author2=Donnelly, MM| year=1980 |title=Downpatrick and Lecale. A Short Historical Guide | pages=42–43}}</ref>
*The Eclipse cinema, now an [[Omniplex Cinemas|Omniplex]], opened in 2009.<ref name="Rooney">{{cite journal |last1=Rooney |first1=Colm |title=Cinema in Lecale, 1917–2023 |journal=Lecale Review |date=2023 |issue=21}}</ref> The first cinema in Downpatrick was the Pavilion on St Patrick's Avenue in 1917,<ref name="Rooney"/> followed by the Grand on Market St in 1935.<ref name="Rooney"/>
*[[Lough Money]] is about three miles from the town.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://wildswim.com/lough-money|title=Lough Money – Wild Swim Map|work= Outdoor Swimming Society}}</ref> A [[rainbow trout]] fishery is maintained there for anglers.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/articles/angling-lough-money|title=Angling at Lough Money|work=nidirect|date=8 December 2015|access-date=29 May 2016|archive-date=1 July 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160701224218/https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/articles/angling-lough-money|url-status=live}}</ref>
*Saul Church is approx. 3 miles from the town, built in 1932 to commemorate St Patrick's first church in Ireland.

The cathedral features in the US sitcom "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia".