Hillsborough County Down
Hillsborough in County Down is one of the finest and most completely Georgian small towns in Northern Ireland, a planned estate town of the eighteenth century whose Georgian square, courthouse, fort and parish church and the nearby Hillsborough Castle, the official Northern Ireland residence of the British Royal Family, create one of the most complete and most elegant historic urban ensembles in Ulster. The town's combination of the Georgian architecture and the political significance of the castle makes it one of the most historically important and most scenically refined small towns in the province.
Hillsborough Castle, the official residence in Northern Ireland of the Secretary of State and the Royal Family, has been the setting for some of the most significant political events in Northern Irish history, including the meetings that contributed to the peace process agreements of the 1990s. The castle and its gardens were opened to the public in 2019 following a major restoration programme, providing access to the state rooms and the beautiful parkland gardens for the first time in the castle's history.
The Georgian square of Hillsborough, with its courthouse, the Church of Ireland parish church and the surrounding terraces of Georgian houses, provides one of the finest examples of a planned Georgian town in Ulster and the combination of the architectural quality and the political history makes Hillsborough one of the most rewarding and most complete heritage visits in County Down.