Administrative Boundary of Newry, Mourne and Down

About Newry, Mourne and Down

Newry, Mourne and Down is a district council area in Northern Ireland. Covering approximately 2,254 square kilometres of mountains, drumlins, sea loughs, and coastline in the southern part of Northern Ireland, Newry, Mourne and Down had a population of approximately 180,000 at the 2021 Census. The district was created in 2015 by the merger of the former Newry and Mourne District Council and Down District Council. The district encompasses the Mourne Mountains — the highest mountain range in Northern Ireland — the reputed burial site of St Patrick at Downpatrick, the internationally important Strangford Lough marine nature reserve, and the historic canal port of Newry. Downpatrick and St Patrick Downpatrick — the county town of Down — is one of the most sacred sites in Irish Christianity as the reputed burial place of St Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland. Down Cathedral (Church of Ireland) stands on a hill above the town, occupying the site of the monastery founded by St Patrick himself (c. 493 AD); a large granite boulder inscribed "PATRIC" marks the traditional site of St Patrick's grave in the cathedral churchyard. The St Patrick Centre in Downpatrick tells the story of the saint's life and legacy. Also buried at Down Cathedral, according to tradition, are St Brigid and St Colmcille, making the site of unparalleled significance in Irish hagiography. The Mourne Mountains The Mourne Mountains — a compact massif of granite peaks in the southeastern corner of Northern Ireland — contain the highest ground in Ulster, with Slieve Donard (850 metres) the highest peak of all. The Mournes rise dramatically from the sea at Newcastle and the Dundrum Bay, their rounded granite summits creating one of the most recognisable skylines in Ireland. The Mourne Wall — a 35-kilometre dry-stone granite wall enclosing the water catchment area for the Silent Valley and Ben Crom reservoirs — traverses the summits of 15 mountains and was built 1904–1922. C.S. Lewis (1898–1963) grew up in Belfast looking at the Mourne Mountains and drew inspiration from their shape and atmosphere for the fictional landscape of Narnia; he described them as his "first beauty." Tollymore Forest Park and Castlewellan Forest Park provide spectacular walking and cycling in the mountain foothills. Newry and Strangford Lough Newry — the principal urban centre of the district, straddling the border between County Down and County Armagh — was historically a vital route town on the Dublin–Belfast corridor. The Newry Canal (begun 1731, completed 1742) was the first summit-level canal in Britain or Ireland, enabling coal from County Tyrone to be transported by water to the port of Newry. Strangford Lough — a marine inlet of approximately 150 square kilometres — is one of the most important marine nature reserves in the British Isles, its tidal waters supporting outstanding populations of grey seals, common seals, dolphins, and diverse marine invertebrates. GIS and Boundary Data The administrative boundary of Newry, Mourne and Down District Council is available for free download in GeoJSON and KML formats, sourced from the OSNI Open Data portal (Crown copyright 2024). Compatible with QGIS, ArcGIS, Mapbox, and Google Earth, the dataset supports pilgrimage heritage mapping, mountain landscape management, marine conservation research, canal heritage, and demographic analysis across the local authority area.

📍 Administrative boundary of Newry, Mourne and Down county