Did you know?

Northern Ireland’s Public Record Office (PRONI) in Belfast holds the most extensive range of private archives in Northern Ireland, with records dating from the 17^th century to present day. PRONI is the main archive for anyone interested in researching their family and local history.
St George’s Market in Belfast is the only remaining Victorian covered market in the city. It is a thriving marketplace which also has a growing reputation as a music and events venue. Market days are Fri 6am-2pm and Sat 9am-3pm.
There are over 25,000 rose bushes in Sir Thomas and Lady Dixon Park in South Belfast. Set in attractive rolling parkland of 130 acres, the rose bushes are set out in a series of circular gardens, each on a different theme. Around the Victorian house is a more conventional planting of exotic trees and rhododendrons.
Antrim Round Tower, Antrim, Co. Antrim, built in the 10^th-11^th century, is one of the finest of its kind in Ireland. It is 28 metres tall and was built as part of a Celtic monastic settlement.
Ireland’s oldest independent brewery is in the 19^th century courtyard of Hilden House, near Lisburn, Co. Antrim.
Old Bushmills Distillery, Bushmills, Co. Antrim, is the world’s oldest licensed whiskey distillery having received its licence to distil in 1608. Sir Thomas Phillips was granted the licence by James 1 of England.
The only surviving water-driven spade mill in Ireland is at Patterson’s Spade Mill, Templepatrick, Co. Antrim. Here you can listen to the hammers, smell the grit, feel the heat and witness the thrill of seeing a traditional spade being made complete with the original hammers, turbine and press.
Tayto Castle, Tandragee, Co. Armagh, where Tayto crisps are made, is over 400 years old and was originally the home of the O’Hanlon clan, one of the most powerful clans in all of Ireland. In 1964 it was one of the first companies to introduce different flavoured crisps, including its famed cheese and onion.
Ireland’s largest collection of ducks, geese and swans can be found at Castle Espie Wildfowl and Wetlands Centre in Comber, Co. Down.
Silent Valley and Ben Crom reservoirs in the Mourne Mountains in Co. Down supply some 30 million gallons of water each day to Belfast and Co. Down.
Slieve Croob in the Mournes is also known as "Mountain of the Hoof". It rises in height to 535 metres and is the source of the River Lagan which rises a short distance from the summit and reaches the sea at Belfast.
The Ulster Folk and Transport Museum, Cultra, near Holywood, Co. Down, has been voted the Irish Museum of the Year as well as the Best Visitor Attraction in Northern Ireland.
More than 200,000 guests visit Belleek Pottery in Co. Fermanagh every year. The company makes fine Parian China that is known worldwide and employs some 600 people.
Navan Fort, near Armagh City in Co. Armagh, a large earthwork of circular plan surrounding the summit of a drumlin, was built in 90's BC. The site, a pagan sanctuary, encloses two monuments on the hilltop, a ring barrow (Iron Age burial site) and a large mound.
Carrickfergus Castle, Carrickfergus, Co. Antrim, dates from the 12^th century and is one of the finest Norman castles in Ireland. It was used as a prison in the 18^th century and as an air raid shelter during the Second World War.
Castle Archdale in Co. Fermanagh was used as a flying base during the Second World War. Evidence of its war history can be seen throughout the country park with flying-boat docks, ammunition dumps and slit trenches. During the war Lough Erne was the most westerly flying-boat station from which aircraft protected the allied convoys from U-Boat threat in the North Atlantic. An aircraft from the base played a key role in the sinking of Bismark, the German battleship.
Marble Arch Caves in Fermanagh date back over 300 million years. The caves were discovered in 1895 by French Speleologist Eduoard Martel and naturalist Lyster Jameson. The caves first opened to the public in 1985.
Gray’s Printing Press in Strabane, Co. Tyrone is the place where John Dunlap, printer of the American Declaration of Independence, and James Wilson, grandfather of President Woodrow Wilson, are said to have learned their trade. John Dunlap was also the publisher of "The Pennsylvania Packet", America’s first daily newspaper.
John Dunlap also played an important role in the American Revolution. He was one of the leading founders of the First City Troop of Philadelphia City Calvary and as captain he went to Trenton and Princeton as bodyguard to George Washington. (It was in this capacity that he would have witnessed the negotiations for the surrender of New York by fellow Strabane man Guy Carleton.) Moreover, he provided generous financial support to the general war effort. Dunlap died on 27th November 1812 and was buried with full military honours at Christ Church, Philadelphia.
The USA’s Flying Eagle emblem was designed by Charles Thomson, who was born at Upperlands, Co. Londonderry. Few Americans who see it on every $1 bill and on the quarters in their purse and pocket know it was the inspiration of an orphan immigrant.
Francis Makemie, regarded as the father of American Presbyterianism, was born in Ulster. The first Roman Catholic Cardinal in the US was John McCloskey whose parents were from Dungiven, Co. Londonderry.
Hillsborough Castle, in Co. Down, where President George W Bush held crucial talks with British Prime Minister Tony Blair, is known as "The Birthplace of the USA". This claim is made because unsuccessful negotiations were held there in the early 1770's between dissident colonists led by Benjamin Franklin and King George’s Colonial Secretary, Wills Hill (Viscount Hillsborough) whose Fort still exists there. It is said that the acrimonious discussions at Hillsborough convinced the Americans that there was no alternative to Revolution. The Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776 followed their return.
Joe Sheridan, the creator of the classic Irish after dinner drink, Irish Coffee, was from Castlederg, Strabane,Co. Tyrone.
Sir Guy Carleton, born in Strabane in 1724, went on to become Military Governor of Quebec and was instrumental in successfully challenging an invasion of Canada by the rebel forces of the American Colonies in 1776. Ironically his opposite number was Donegal man Richard Montgomery. In 1778 Carleton resigned the Governorship only to be brought out of retirement in 1782 to act as Commander in Chief of British Forces in North America. In this capacity he oversaw the surrender of New York to George Washington and the evacuation of British troops from North America.
James Wilson, grandfather of President Woodrow Wilson, was born February 1787 at Dergalt, Co. Tyrone and emigrated to America in 1807, where he married Sion Mills girl Annie Adams. Wilson became editor of a Philadelphia newspaper, The Aurora, and subsequently a member of the Ohio State legislature before finally becoming a senator. The ancestral home near Strabane town still remains.
Sir Hans Sloane, born in Killyleagh, Co. Down, is celebrated for inventing milk chocolate as well as being a physician to royalty and a famous botanist. He began collecting plants and birds eggs on the shores of Strangford Lough and his work grew into a priceless collection which formed the nucleus of the British Museum. Sloane Square, Hans Place and an Underground station were named after him and his statue stands in Physics Garden, Chelsea, London. He was also personal physician to George II.
Harry Ferguson, born near Hillsborough, Co. Down in 1884, was the inventor of the tractor and the Ferguson system which was to change the face of agriculture. He also made the first powered flight in Ireland in 1909 in a monoplane he had built.
John Boyd Dunlop, a successful veterinarian working near Belfast was the first to develop and patent a practical version of the pneumatic tyre.
The Ferguson Irish Linen Company, based in Banbridge, Co. Down, supplies the world’s finest hotels, as well as palaces, embassies and stately homes, including the White House in Washington DC. Established in 1854 by Thomas Ferguson, it stands for the very best in Irish Linen and its products include the exquisite Linen Double Damask.