Northern Ireland Activites and Events

Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland is renowned for its friendly people and natural beauty. Our activities and attractions bring together these qualities in a great package of things to do throughout the region. You can cruise in style in the Fermanagh Lakelands, follow the high roads through the Mournes or cycle casually around the Causeway Coast.  Town and Country Homes can offer you a selection of quality approved bed and breakfasts in Northern Ireland. You can be sure of a warm welcome and kind hospitality while staying at any of our B&B accommodations in Northern Ireland.

You choose the place. You set the pace. If you relish a challenge and have a taste for adventure, or just like fresh air and fantastic scenery, Northern Ireland has all the right ingredients. Whether you like to do your own thing or prefer organised pursuits, the diversity and quality of facilities is superb.

Genealogy
If you've always wondered about your roots, it’s time to mix research and pleasure and come to your ancestral homeland for some digging. It may seem like a needle in a haystack when you consider there are 25 million people of Northern Irish descent in the United States and Canada alone. But you'd be amazed what our professionals can find! With luck, you may be able to go directly to your ancestral home on arrival! While you are tracking down your ancestors, why not stay in a Town and Country Homes bed and breakfast. Our B&B’s offer the ‘personal touch’ and your host can offer a wealth of local knowledge about the area in which you are staying.

Attractions
There's plenty worth seeing in Northern Ireland - wherever you go, our museums, visitor centres, historic and scenic attractions put the emphasis on participation. For instance, our stately homes and history parks aren't just for viewing; visitors can experience life as it was lived in times gone by. Our museums have exhibits you can touch and explore. Even our most famous sights, like the Giant's Causeway, Carrickfergus Castle or the Ulster American Folk Park positively encourage you to 'nosy' around and indulge your curiosity.

Northern Ireland's attractions fall into several categories. Most are ideal for children; they'll never forget the thrill of touching sea life at Exploris Aquarium or pretending they're train drivers at the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum. Come on up, look around, and before you know it, you're getting involved too!

Bushmills Distillery 400 Year Anniversary
In 2008, Bushmills celebrates 400 years of local distilling history…a unique, unbroken whiskey-making tradition still very much alive today at the Old Bushmills Distillery. Just two miles from the spectacular Giant’s Causeway, the distillery lies in an area of outstanding natural beauty which is rich in history and folklore.

At Bushmills, the visitor can observe the craft and skills of making Irish whiskey. The guided tour includes the ingredients and processes, spring water from Saint Columb’s Rill and the finest malted barley, to the art of triple distillation in copper stills and ageing in oak casks. Of course, no visit would be complete without enjoying a complimentary glass of Bushmills whiskey.

Today, Bushmills is a well known name for smooth, distinctive Irish whiskey. The whiskey maturing process takes time, between five and thirty years depending on the blend. Often there are around 171,000 barrels on site maturing. Recent accolades include a review by the New York Times in 2006 describing Bushmills 10 year Malt as “the best Irish whiskey”.

The Giants Causeway
The Giant's Causeway, renowned for its polygonal columns of layered basalt, is the only World Heritage Site in Northern Ireland. Resulting from a volcanic eruption 60 million years ago, this is the focal point of a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and has attracted visitors for centuries. It harbours a wealth of local and natural history.

• Northern Ireland's only World Heritage Site
• Icon of Northern Ireland
• Amphitheatres of stone columns with fanciful names such as the wishing chair, harp and organ
• Geology, flora and fauna of international importance
• Beautiful coastal path extends 11 miles to the Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge
• Wonderful views and coastal scenery
• Guided tours by arrangement for groups of 15+ people

In 2007 the Giant’s Causeway visitor centre received a National Award of Excellence for ‘Best Tour Visit’ by CIE Tours International, for the 5th consecutive year and TripAdvisor announced on 23 June 2008 its inclusion in their Top 10 free attractions in Europe listing.

Visitor facilities – Coast: Shop: Refreshments: Guided tours: Suitable for picnics: Country walk: Programme of events: Access for visitors with disability: Facilities for families: Learning: Dogs welcome on leads: Available for functions.

Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge
A short coastal footpath leads to Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge. On the way, there are wonderful vantage points to stop and take in the natural beauty. The geology, flora and fauna have won Carrick-a-Rede recognition as an area of special scientific interest. Fulmars, kittywakes, guillemots and razorbills breed on the islands close to the rope bridge.
Of course, Carrick-a-Rede also boasts an exhilarating rope bridge experience. Traditionally fishermen erected the bridge to Carrick-a-Rede island over a 23m-deep and 20m-wide chasm to check their salmon nets. Today visitors are drawn here simply to take the rope bridge challenge!
Once you reach Carrick Island, the reward is seeing the diverse birdlife and an uninterrupted view across to Rathlin Island and Scotland. There is only one way off the island - back across the swinging bridge! Don't look down!

• One of Northern Ireland's best-loved attractions
• Rocky island connected to the cliffs by a rope bridge
• Exhilarating coastal path experience
• Stunning views of Rathlin and Scottish islands
• Site of Special Scientific Interest: unique geology, flora and fauna
• Fantastic bird-watching
• Children's discovery trail for 8 -14 year olds
• Guided tours by arrangement for groups of 15+ people
• Viewing platform suitable for visitors with disabilities
• Dogs not permitted to cross bridge

The Navan Centre in Armagh
Visit the Navan Centre, which interprets one of Ireland's most important ancient monuments, Navan Fort. This was the royal seat of the Kings of Ulster and the province's ancient capital. Start your tour in the 'Vanished World' of lost myths, travel into the 'Real World' of archaeology and then enter the 'Other World' to hear the legends of the Ulster Cycle. Visit the Iron Age/Early Christian period dwelling and, through Living History interpretation, learn about that way of life. Audio Visual presentation is available in Irish, German, Spanish, French & Italian. Finally, walk the path of history to the great Ancient Seat of Kings, Navan Fort.
Website: www.visitarmagh.com
Email: navan@armagh.gov.uk

Londonderry – The Walled City
The first name for this ancient city was Daire Calgach, meaning 'oak grove' which is still an apt description as there are sturdy oak trees scattered across the city.  It’s an old city with a young heart. Londonderry’s population is one of the youngest in Europe: sixty per cent of city dwellers are under thirty-nine. This youthful profile gives the place optimism and enthusiasm which is evident by the thriving creative arts and music scene.
Derry has an industrial, rugged and scarred cityscape indicative of its querulous past. The city can trace its roots back 1,450 years to the days of the early Christian church in Ireland. It’s a small city and easy to walk around. There are great walking opportunities along the walls and up the steep streets which lead to The Diamond, where Austin’s, on the corner, is the world’s oldest department store. From the walls, the visitor can view the distant past and witness the forward looking present. The city acknowledges its tumultuous past with exhibitions and re-enactments of painful episodes but prefers now to walk forward, bringing all its conflicting interests together.

Bruised by many battles, harsh social and economic decline, and more recent strife, Londonderry is a city with something to show. Over 1,450 years’ of history has bequeathed five museums, notable medieval, Georgian and Victorian architectural features, two cathedrals and several different names. Colm Cille began a settlement here in 546, founding a religious order and building a monastery on a hill. Saint Augustine’s Church now stands on the same hill. This church was built in 1872 and is still an active Parish in the Church of Ireland. Saint Columb’s Cathedral commemorates the Saint’s mission. This is the oldest building in the city. Completed in 1633, this was the first cathedral built in the British Isles after the Reformation. The original foundation stone is still there along with a stone from an earlier twelfth century, Columban church. Later features added to the cathedral include intricate, Victorian stained glass windows and marble memorials to clergy and benefactors of the cathedral. In the North and South aisles, hang military flags from regiments once connected to the city.
Visitors are often impressed by the City’s medieval walls. Still intact and retaining the original gateways, this is the best preserved walled city in Ireland. The settlement of Scottish and English Protestants in Derry was part of the Plantation of Ulster. This was a deliberate settlement of skilled townspeople, loyal to the English crown and parliament throughout Ulster. The walls were built between 1613-1618 to defend the wealth and prosperity of settled English and Scottish planters from marauding Irish clans. Guilds from the City of London financed the walls, hence the origins of the name Londonderry which is still used today.

The Maiden City title is derived from the unconquered walls’ status. The walls were never broken, withstanding several sieges, most notably the siege which lasted from December 1688 until July 1689. Thirteen quick thinking young apprentices locked the city’s gates against approaching Jacobite invaders. The besieged city dwellers defended against the onslaught and held out until food and relief arrived by boat at Shipquay Gate. Today the Apprentice Boys’ Association has 10,000 members who re-enact and perpetuate the action of those thirteen apprentices. The Memorial Hall is open and keeps a small collection of remnants and artefacts from the Siege, treasured by the Association.
For an overview of the city’s history and evolution, all is explained in The Story of Derry at the Tower Museum. This permanent exhibition is the city’s journey through many centuries from its geological origins through its Christian, maritime, emigration, economic and more recent vociferous political events.  An Armada Shipwreck: La Trinidad Valencera is another permanent exhibition presenting a collection of objects salvaged from La Trinidid Valancera which sank off Donegal in 1588.

Within the Walled City, the visitor soon learns about the city’s contentious past.  There is another aspect of life within the walls: a progressive, dynamic arts environment where new writing, film and dramatic arts flourish. The Verbal Arts Centre, Nerve Centre and The Playhouse are venues for artistic expression by local and international writers, singers, dancers and theatre groups. The pretty craft village is another example of the city’s progressive arts scene where artists create hand-crafted jewellery and crystal gifts.

Belfast’s Titanic Heritage
Begin your own voyage of discovery at the Ulster Folk & Transport Museum near Holywood, to see the Titanic Exhibition. On the way there from Belfast, you will pass her birthplace, Harland & Wolff Shipyardwhere her keel was laid in 1909. Belfast Lough was where her sea-trials were conducted. On April 2, 1912 she sailed away, with thousands of people waving from the Lough shores.

The Folk Museum holds 75,000 negatives in its Harland & Wolff Collection including hundreds of Titanic plates made by Belfast photographer R.J.Welch; reproductions of some are available in postcard and book form. Her tableware and bed linens, with the White Star emblem, were made in what is now the Belfast Linen Industry Conservation area around Bedford Street. A large table by the Belfast furniture-makers Gilbert Logan Ltd, is said to have been finished too late for her maiden voyage and is now in the Belfast Harbour Commissioners Office at Corporation Square.

The most enduring monument to her disastrous end is the Titanic Memorial in the grounds of Belfast City Hall. Guided tours of this majestic Edwardian building (which was completed shortly before Titanic was started) give insights to the affluence and optimism of the city at that time. In Comber, east of Belfast, you will find memorials to Thomas Andrews, Titanic’s chief designer, who choose to perish with the ship he knew “down to the last rivet”. In Bangor, there is a memorial to John Simpson, the ship’s surgeon, in the Abbey graveyard.

County Fermanagh and the Lakelands
Lough Erne, the jewel in Fermanagh's crown, is the perfect location for watersports; from fishing to waterskiing and cruising to canoeing this magnificent lake has it all. For the all round activity enthusiast there's plenty to keep you occupied - caving, walking, cycling and horse-riding to name but a few.

For the golf fanatic among you, look no further, We have a fabulous range of golf courses for all strengths and abilities. The much anticipated Lough Erne Golf Resort with its Nick Faldo designed course (opening 2008) is one of the most exciting developments in Irish Golf.
Base yourself in one of our fine accommodation establishments. From four star luxury hotel resorts to cosy country B&Bs or fabulous lake shore self-catering. Home to world famous attractions such as Belleek Pottery and Marble Arch Caves European Geopark as well as three exquisite National Trust properties, it really won't take you long to discover why so many people come year after year to this truly unforgettable Lakeland County.

Northern Ireland Events

Belfast Proms in the Park
Date: 13th September 2008
Proms in the Park will be held this year in the grounds of Belfast’s City Hall. The event, hosted by Noel Thompson, will produce world renowned sounds of much loved classical music pieces. The concert will also be broadcast live on BBC Radio Ulster.

Auld Lammas Fair
Date: 25th – 26th August 2008
Ireland's oldest traditional market fair. Horse trading, street entertainment and market stalls attracts thousands of people to Ballycastle. Sample the local specialities - "dulse" a dried edible seaweed, and the deliciously sweet chewy toffee "yellow man", made from a closely guarded secret recipe.
Website: www.moyle-council.org
E-mail: lammasfair@moyle-council.org

Hillsborough International Oyster Festival
Date: 31st August 2008 – 6th September 2008
The Oyster Festival has been featured on Transworld Sport and John Craven’s Countryfile as well as all the local television channels and is now widely regarded as one of Ireland’s premier events.

The 16th annual Hillsborough Official World Oyster Eating Festival kicks off on Thursday 4th September 2008 with the Canadian Open Boat Race on Hillsborough Lake. New for this year we welcome the Irish tug of war team who are the world champions, as well as teams from Ulster Rugby and The Belfast Giants. Entries are welcome from any tug of war team who feel up to the challenge! Also in the village there will be a fashion show sponsored by Debenhams in the Festival Marquee as well as the Northern Ireland heats of the World Oyster Championship in the Plough Hospitality Marquee. These heats are open to all, so come along and see if you can beat the official world record of 233 oysters in 3 minutes held by local man Colin Shirlow.

Friday sees the ‘Rat Pack’ themed Gala Ball in the Festival Marquee featuring a spectacular evening’s entertainment and surprise acts to accompany a superb gourmet dining experience. So if you fancy yourself as Deano, Ol’ Blue Eyes or Sammy Davis Jnr come along and enjoy a fun packed spectacular evening. Tickets are limited to 400 so its first come first served.

Saturday sees the highlight of the festival, The 16th Annual Official World Oyster Eating Championship attracting over 12,000 people to the village of Hillsborough. There will be lots to see and do all day with plenty for everyone, from street entertainment to suit all ages to lots going on in the Festival Marquee. On Saturday evening there will be a fantastic barbeque with a live band performance in the Festival Marquee. As well as this all the local hostelries will be running their own special events to support the festival.

Sunday sees the very popular Super Dreamcar Sunday event organised by the wonderful Plum Tyndall of RPM fame. This provides a great opportunity to see, touch and photograph some of the world’s best known supercars including Ferraris, Aston Martins and Porsches. For a small fee you can even get a spin in one as a passenger.
Website: www.hillsboroughoysterfestival.com

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