Place:Hillsborough, County Down, Northern Ireland

source: Family History Library Catalog

source: Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names

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

Royal Hillsborough, also known simply as Hillsborough, is a village and civil parish in County Down, Northern Ireland, from the city of Belfast. It is within the Lisburn and Castlereagh District Council area. The village is noted for its Georgian architecture. It is home to Hillsborough Castle, the British royal family's official residence in Northern Ireland, and residence of the British Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.

History

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

Before 1661, the townland was known as Crumlin or Cromlin. By 1661, the townland and the settlement within it had been renamed Hillsborough. It was named after English army officer Sir Moses Hill,^[1] and his son Sir Arthur Hill, who built Hillsborough Fort in 1650 to command the road from Dublin to Carrickfergus. The Hill family became the Earls of Hillsborough, then Marquesses of Downshire.

The mansion known as Hillsborough Castle was built in 1770 for The 1st Earl of Hillsborough (he was later created The 1st Marquess of Downshire, in 1789).^[1]

A prominent memorial to The 3rd Marquess of Downshire (1788–1845)—closely resembling Nelson's Column in Trafalgar Square, London—stands to the south of the village and is visible throughout much of the surrounding area.

In 2007, Hillsborough won 3rd place in the Ulster in Bloom large village competition.

In 2021, it was announced that letters patent would be issued granting the village the prefix "Royal", thus officially becoming "Royal Hillsborough", in recognition of Hillsborough Castle, the official royal residence for Northern Ireland. The letters patent came into effect on 20 October that year.

Research Tips