Newtownards is a town in County Down, Northern Ireland. It lies at the most northern tip of Strangford Lough, 10 miles (16 km) east of Belfast, on the Ards Peninsula. It is in the civil parish of Newtownards and the historic baronies of Ards Lower and Castlereagh Lower. Newtownards is in the Ards and North Down Borough. The population was 29,677 in the 2021 Census.
County Down is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It covers an area of 961 sq mi (2,490 km2) and has a population of 552,261. It borders County Antrim to the north, the Irish Sea to the east, County Armagh to the west, and County Louth across Carlingford Lough to the southwest.
Donaghadee is a small town in County Down, Northern Ireland. It lies on the northeast coast of the Ards Peninsula, about 18 miles (29 km) east of Belfast and about six miles (10 km) south east of Bangor. It is in the civil parish of Donaghadee and the historic barony of Ards Lower. It had a population of 6,869 people in the 2011 Census.
Ards was a local government district in Northern Ireland with the status of borough. It was one of twenty-six districts formed on 1 October 1973, and had its headquarters in Newtownards. It was merged with neighbouring North Down on 1 May 2015 to form the new Borough of Ards and North Down. Other towns in the defunct Borough included Portaferry, Comber, and Donaghadee, and the population of the area was 78,078 according to the 2011 census.
MV Princess Victoria was one of the earliest roll-on/roll-off ferries. Completed in 1947, she operated from Stranraer, Scotland, to Larne, Northern Ireland, initially by the LMS until 1 January 1948 and thereafter by LMS's successor British Railways. During a severe European windstorm on 31 January 1953, she sank in the North Channel with the loss of 135 lives. This was then the deadliest maritime disaster in United Kingdom waters since World War II. For many years it was believed that 133 people had lost their lives in the disaster. However, research by a local historian, Liam Kelly, identified two other victims—Gordon Wright and Thomas Saunders—who had not been identified as there had been no passenger list at the time.
Belfast Lough is a large, intertidal sea inlet on the east coast of Northern Ireland. At its head is the city and port of Belfast, which sits at the mouth of the River Lagan. The lough opens into the North Channel and connects Belfast to the Irish Sea.
Groomsport is a suburb of Bangor in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is on the south shore of Belfast Lough and on the north coast of the Ards Peninsula. Groomsport has a population of 3,005 people according to the 2011 Census. It is part of the Ards and North Down Borough.
Belfast Lough Yachting Conference (BLYC) is a group that encompasses all the yacht clubs on Belfast Lough and Larne Lough.
Cockle Island Boat Club is located in Groomsport, County Down, Northern Ireland, on the south shore of Belfast Lough
The Royal Ulster Yacht Club is located in Bangor, County Down, Northern Ireland, on the south shore of Belfast Lough.
County Antrim Yacht Club is a yacht club located in Whitehead, County Antrim, Northern Ireland on the north shore of Belfast Lough
Events from the year 1794 in Ireland.
Ards Lower, alternatively known as North Ards, is a barony in County Down, Northern Ireland. It lies on the northern half of the Ards Peninsula in the north-east of the county, with the Irish Sea to its east and Strangford Lough to its south-west. It is bordered by two other baronies: Ards Upper to the south; and Castlereagh Lower to the west.
Straandlooper is an animation studio and video game developer based in Donaghadee, Northern Ireland. They developed the episodic video game for iPhone, Hector: Badge of Carnage which is based on their character Hector: Fat Arse of the Law. Straandlooper is notable for being Northern Ireland's first animation studio to produce a television series for the international market. As a video game developer, they are notable for being the first company where Telltale Games took on a publishing role, rather than a directing role. Telltale funded the development of the final two episodes of Hector: Badge of Carnage and published all three episodes on additional platforms, in addition to iOS.
PS Slieve Donard was a United Kingdom passenger paddle steamer that in different periods of her history was also called PS Albion and HMS Albyn. Albion is the name she bore the longest and may be the one by which she is better known in England. Slieve Donard was her original name and the one by which she will be best known on the island of Ireland.
PS Slieve Bearnagh was a United Kingdom passenger paddle steamer that in later years was called HC5. J&G Thomson launched her in 1893 or 1894 for the Belfast and County Down Railway (B&CDR). In 1912 she was sold to D&J Nicol of Dundee. Around the end of the First World War she served with the Royal Navy as hospital carrier ship HC5. She was scrapped in 1923.
Fraser Street Halt is a closed railway station in Belfast which was part of the Belfast and County Down Railway system.
Ballymena Football Club was a football club from Ballymena, County Antrim, Northern Ireland that was founded in 1928, but dissolved in 1934 following expulsion by the Irish League for making payments to amateurs. It holds the distinction of having won the Irish Cup in its first ever season.
