Kilbroney Park facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Kilbroney Park |
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| Páirc Chill Bhrónai | |
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Park entrance
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| Type | Public park |
| Location | Near Rostrevor, County Down, Northern Ireland |
| Created | 1977 |
| Operated by | Newry, Mourne and Down District Council |
| Status | Open year round from 9 am |
Kilbroney Park (Irish: Páirc Chill Bhrónai) is a beautiful park located near Rostrevor in Northern Ireland. It was once a large country estate. Famous writers like William Makepeace Thackeray and Charles Dickens visited here. It might have even inspired the magical land of Narnia for C. S. Lewis!
Even Queen Elizabeth II and her sister Princess Margaret spent holidays here when they were kids. The park has been managed by the Newry, Mourne and Down District Council since 1977. It has a fun play area, tennis courts, and a cafe. Kilbroney Park is home to many old and special trees. One of them is "Old Homer," a holm oak tree. It was even voted Northern Ireland's Tree of the Year in 2016. A giant rock in the park is linked to the legend of the giant Finn Mac Cool.
Park History
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Kilbroney Park was first called The Meadow. It was part of the Ross Family's big estate in Rostrevor. Their house, The Lodge, was built in 1716. A famous member of this family was General Robert Ross. He was a British Army officer during the Napoleonic Wars. He was known for destroying parts of the White House in the War of 1812.
The Ross family planted many trees that were not native to the area. These include redwood, Monterey pine, holm oak, ash, sycamore, and cherry trees. In 1850, Colonel Roxburgh bought the park. It is believed that writer William Makepeace Thackeray visited around this time. He was very impressed by the landscape. He said that if the estate were in England, it would be seen as "a world's wonder."
In 1863, Colonel Roxburgh sold the estate to Stratford Canning, 1st Viscount Stratford de Redcliffe. He was a diplomat and a smart person. He added a zoo, an aviary (a large bird cage), and an arboretum (a place for trees). Canning was friends with the writer Charles Dickens, who often visited the estate.
A relative of Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon (who later became Queen to King George VI) inherited the estate in 1919. The future Queen Elizabeth II and her sister Princess Margaret spent their holidays here in 1937. The Queen is said to have remembered the park well years later. During the Second World War, the estate was used as a camp for German prisoners of war.
Later, the writer C. S. Lewis visited Kilbroney. His visit might have helped him imagine the land of Narnia. The poet Seamus Heaney also visited the park. The Bowes-Lyon family sold Kilbroney to the local council in 1977. The old house was taken down in 1980. There was a plan to build houses on part of the land. But local people protested, and the plan was stopped. Today, Newry, Mourne and Down District Council owns Kilbroney Park. It is open to everyone as a public park.
What to See and Do
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Kilbroney Park is located off the A2 Shore Road. You can walk to the park's entrance from Rostrevor. The park has a two-mile forest drive. This drive leads to a car park. From there, you can see amazing views of Carlingford Lough and the Mourne Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
The park has a children's play area, tennis courts, and a cafe. There is also a place for tourist information. The park opens at 9 am. You can find two caravan parks on site. There is also a mountain bike trail for cyclists. A special walking trail is themed around Narnia.
About 1,000 feet (300 m) above Rostrevor is the Cloughmore Stone. This is a huge 30-tonne rock. It was left behind after the ice age. Local stories say that the Irish giant Finn Mac Cool threw the stone. He was in a fight with a Scottish giant. The Scottish giant is said to have created Lough Neagh. He did this by scooping earth from the ground. When he missed Finn Mac Cool, this earth landed in the Irish Sea. It then became the Isle of Man.
Kilbroney Park is part of the larger Rostrevor Oak Forest. This is an old forest and a special nature reserve. It has many types of plants and trees. You can find oak, ash, hazel, sycamore, and douglas fir. There are also ferns, wild garlic, primroses, and bluebells. Some rarer plants and trees grow here too. These include wood avens, the hard shield fern, giant fir, and eight monkey puzzle trees. There are also twelve redwoods, planted between 1880 and 1890. Other plants include toothwort, bird's nest orchids, and wood fescue.
Some trees are very famous. There is a 500-year-old sessile oak. You can also see a 200-year-old Monterey pine. A 200-year-old Turkey oak is said to be the most photographed tree in the park.
Old Homer: The Famous Tree
"Old Homer" is a 200-year-old Quercus ilex (holm oak) tree. You can find it near the park's entrance at Fairy Glen. This tree is famous because it grows at a 45-degree angle from the ground. This makes it easy and fun for children to climb! Many local people have loved this tree for generations.
This evergreen tree is almost 12 feet (3.7 m) around its trunk. It has special "snakeskin" bark. One of its big branches was recently supported to stop it from falling. Old Homer is also linked to folk music. It is a place where performances happen during the park's "Fiddler's Green" event. The ashes of Scottish folk singer Danny Kyle were even scattered under this tree.
Old Homer was entered into the Northern Irish Tree of the Year competition in 2016. It won the competition, getting more than half of all the votes! The prize money of £1,000 was used for good things. It helped to buy plaques for other historic trees in the park. It also helped create a book about the trees. And 400 young trees were bought and planted across the park by schoolchildren. Because it won in Northern Ireland, Old Homer was entered into the European Tree of the Year competition in 2017. It received 7,101 votes and came in sixth place out of 16 trees.
Images for kids
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Park entrance
