tourist attractions hillsborough

Hillsborough Castle is an 18th century historic house, built in the 1770's by Wills Hill, first Marquis of Downshire. It is now the official home of the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.
The castle is open to visitors on Saturdays during the months of May & June. You can also take a stroll around the magnificent gardens....

A fine artillery fort, 270 feet square and with spear-shaped bastions at the corners, was built here by Colonel Arthur Hill around 1650 to command the road from Dublin to Belfast and Carrickfergus. It stands on the site of an Early Christian period rath, the circular ditch of which has been left open in the central grassed area of the fort. In the min 18th century, the Hill family transformed the north-western gatehouse entrance into a two-storey 'gothick' fort or castle for the entertainment...