Downpatrick at dusk

Discover the darker side of Downpatrick's long history on this dusk walk. The county town of Down and ancient home of kings. Home to many Irish legends this tour explores millennia of the town’s dark and bloody history as the sun begins to set.

Meeting in Denvir’s of Downpatrick, Ireland’s oldest coaching inn, you will be introduced to the town like never before. Behind its quiet tranquility lie the echoes of ghosts from the past.  The town was the home of Cealtchair one of the most powerful soldiers in the Red Branch Knights of Irish mythology. His successors the Dál Fiatach would later hold this place and keep the Viking raiders at bay. 

One night in February 1177 a surprise attack was mounted on the fort by John de Courcy and his 300 soldiers. This changed the area forever. Among his army were the ancestors of your guide Duane Fitzsimons.…