Place:Dundrum, County Down, Northern Ireland

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Dundrum is a village and townland in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is beside Dundrum Bay, about 4 miles outside Newcastle on the A2 road. The village is best known for its ruined Norman castle. It had a population of 1,555 people at the 2011 Census.

History

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Norman times

In 1177, the Normans, who had conquered great swathes of Ireland, invaded eastern Ulster and captured territories along its coast. John de Courcy, who had led the invasion, began building Dundrum Castle in the early 13th century on top of an earlier fort, "Dun Rury" (Rudraige), which was a seat for the remaining Ulaid tribes east of the bann river, after the collapse of the kingdom in the 4th century. The castle was to guard the land routes from Drogheda to Downpatrick. In 1203, de Courcy was expelled from Ulster by fellow Norman Hugh de Lacy, 1st Earl of Ulster. Two years later, de Courcy tried to re-take the castle but failed. It was visited by King John in 1210, who spent money for minor works to the castle and paid for a garrison there.

15th Century

Dundrum castle was held by the Earls of Ulster until the 15th century, it was captured by the Magennises of Mourne, a Gaelic clan. In 1517, the Earl of Kildare briefly captured the castle, as did the Lord Deputy Leonard Grey, 1st Viscount Grane in 1538. The castle was surrendered to the English Crown in 1601 by Phelim Magennis, granted to Edward Lord Cromwell and sold to the Blundell family. The Magennises re-took the castle during the Irish Confederate Wars/Eleven Years' War (1641-1653) but lost it to the Parliamentarians ("Roundheads") of the contenders versus the Cavaliers of King Charles I in the simultaneous English Civil War. The Blundells returned after the civil war during the Restoration of the Monarchy and built the house on the south edge of the castle.

19th Century

In 1806, the 3rd Marquess of Downshire engaged engineers to develop the area. They recommended deepening the harbour to allow larger vessels to trade. By 1825 they had completed a new pier over long. From 1866 a new iron screw steamer provided a service to Whitehaven, Cumbria and Dundrum became commercially important for both goods and passenges.^[1] It later lost trade to the deeper harbours of Warrenpoint and Belfast but Dundrum remained a commercial port until 1984.

SS Great Britain

The SS Great Britain ran aground in Dundrum Bay in 1846. There was no loss of life but it took nearly a year to refloat.^[1]

20th Century

In 1967, nearby Murlough became Ireland's first nature reserve.

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