Down

County Down is a county on the south-east coast of Northern Ireland, facing the Isle of Man and the English coast across the Irish Sea. The county is characterised by the Mourne Mountains in the south, a compact granite range that rises dramatically from the coast and includes Slieve Donard, the highest peak in Northern Ireland at 850 metres, which supposedly inspired C.S. Lewis's Narnia. The northern part of the county is a fertile drumlin landscape dotted with lakes, while the Ards Peninsula and Strangford Lough, one of the largest sea inlets in Ireland and an internationally important nature reserve, dominate the east. Downpatrick, the county town, contains the reputed burial site of Saint Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland.