Strangford

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For other uses, see Strangford (disambiguation).

Strangford (from the Old Norse: Strangrfjörthr meaning "sea inlet") is a small village in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is situated across Strangford Lough from Portaferry and is the main base for the Strangford Lough ferry service. It had a population of 474 people in the 2001 Census. Strangford is situated in the Down District Council area.

The village has a small harbour, which is overlooked by rows of 19th century cottages and a fine Georgian terrace. It also has a number of good restaurants.

Despite having the same name, the village (and the wider ward of Strangford) is not in the Strangford parliament and assembly constituency.

1 History
- 1.1 The Troubles
2 Places of interest
3 Flora and Fauna
- 3.1 Flora
4 References
5 External links
6 See also

[edit] History

The name is from the Old Norse Strangrfjörthr, ie Sea Inlet. The Vikings called it ’violent fjord’.

[edit] The Troubles

For more information see The Troubles in Strangford, which includes a list of incidents in Strangford during the Troubles resulting in two or more fatalities.

[edit] Places of interest

Strangford Castle, located near the harbour in Strangford, is a 16th century tower-house with drop hole at roof level to defend the door.
One mile north-west of Strangford on a rocky height overlooking Strangford Lough is Audley's Castle, a small gatehouse type tower house with part of an enclosing bawn built in the 15th century.
Castle Ward is an intriguing mansion built in 1760 in two distinct architectural styles, Classical and Gothic, overlooking Strangford Lough. The property is owned by the National Trust. Castleward is 7 miles from Downpatrick and 1.5 miles from Strangford.

[edit] Flora and Fauna

[edit] Flora

A brown seaweed named Sargassum muticum, originally from the Pacific (Japan) was discovered on the 15th March 1995 in Strangford Lough at Paddy's Point. The plants were well established on mesh bags containing oysters. The bags had been put out in 1987 containing pacific oysters (Crassostrea gigas) imported from Guernsey. This Sargassum is known to be a highly invasive species. ^[1]

[edit] References

^ Boaden, P.J.S. 1995. The adventive seaweed Sargassum muticum (Yendo) Fensholt in Strangford Lough, Northern Ireland. Ir.Nat. J. 25:111 - 113