Ring of Gullion Heritage Coach Tours

Itinerary
This is a typical itinerary for this product

Stop At: Derrymore House, Bessbrook, Newry BT35 7EF Northern Ireland

Now owned by the National Trust,

the thatched property was built in

the late 1700s by Isaac Corry. Corry

was the local Member of Parliament

for Newry for 30 years and was also

Chancellor of the Exchequer for the

old Irish Parliament in Dublin. He built

Derrymore House on land left to him

by his father. It was described by Sir

Charles Coote as ‘without exception,

the most elegant summer lodge I

have ever seen’. The house is set in

over 100 acres of beautiful parkland

and woodland. This was laid out by

John Sutherland, who was a follower

of the renowned landscape architect

Capability Brown.

Duration: 5 minutes

Pass By: Craigmore Viaduct, Kidds Road Bessbrook, Newry BT35 6LF Northern Ireland

This 18 arch viaduct, opened in 1852,

is one of the most impressive railway

structures in Ireland. It sweeps across

the valley of the Camlough River,

carrying the Belfast to Dublin railway

line. The highest arch rises to 126

feet, making Craigmore Ireland’s

highest viaduct.

Craigmore Viaduct was designed

by the Scotsman Sir John MacNeill.

Pass By: Bessbrook Library, 22 Church Road, Bessbrook BT35 7AQ Northern Ireland

Bessbrook dates from 1845, when the

mill in Bessbrook was purchased by

the Quaker Richardson family. They

built the village as we see it today

in order to provide accommodation

for the mill workers. The village was

a social experiment based on the

Quaker philosophy of the ‘three Ps’:

no public house, no pawn shop, and

consequently no need for police.

Pass By: Ballykeel Dolmen, Ballykeel Rd, Mullaghbawn BT35 9UA Northern Ireland

This elegant

dolmen, set on the edge of a terrace

ringed by low rugged hills, is known

locally as the Hag’s Chair.

Stop At: Annaghmare Court Tomb, Crossmaglen Northern Ireland

Annaghmare Court Tomb is one the best preserved examples of

its type, with many of its features

preserved in situ after they were first

revealed during excavation in 1963-

64.

Duration: 20 minutes

Stop At: Crossmaglen Tourist Office, O Fiaich House 25-26 O Fiaich Square, Crossmaglen BT35 9HG Northern Ireland

Crossmaglen is a small picturesque town in South Armagh with a population of approximately one and a half thousand people. The Irish translation is Crois Mhic Lionnáin, which literally means ‘Lennon’s Cross’. It is suggested that it is named after an Owen Lennon who lived here in the eighteenth century and who is famed as the owner of a shebeen, an illegal ale house.

The focal point of Crossmaglen is Cardinal O’Fiaich Square, named after a local priest who became Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland. The square has an area of five acres and is said to be the largest square on the island of Ireland.


Duration: 1 hour

Stop At: Moyry Castle, Kilnasaggart Rd, Crossmaglen Northern Ireland

This seventeenth century campaign

fort overlooks the Moyry Pass, the

valley known as the ‘Gap of the

North’. It has always been the main

direct north-south route in eastern

Ireland. In the days of the Fianna

legends, the men of Ulster sallied

forth through this valley to harry the

tribes of Leinster.

Duration: 20 minutes