Portaferry & Strangford Lough Areas
County Down,
Northern Ireland
Offers over £495,000
View Oyster Shell Cottage at Rodgers & Browne's
website
or Call +44 28 9042 1414 |
Oyster Shell
Cottage
Located at 11
Lough Shore Road, Portaferry, Co Down BT22
1PD - Oystershell is perfectly situated for those who wish to live or
relax by Strangford Lough
in unspoilt countryside but require
convenient access to towns, cities
and airports. There are
livery facilities nearby and the Strangford
Lough area is renowned for sailing, golf, fishing
and scuba diving, as well as coastal and
countryside walks and abundant wildlife.
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Distances & Travel Times by Road
(source: Google Maps)
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Portaferry
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1.7 miles, 7 mins
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Belfast City Centre
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29
miles, 51 mins
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George
Best Belfast City Airport
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28
miles, 47 mins
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Belfast
International Airport
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44
miles, 1 hr 20 mins
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Bangor
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24
miles, 42 mins
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Newtownards
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19 miles, 35mins
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Dublin
Airport
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103
miles, 2hrs 15 mins
(plus ferry time 8 mins appx)
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Strangford Lough and Portaferry |
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Wildlife
Strangford Lough
is a haven for wildlife and a birdwatchers
paradise.
The Lough is a Marine Nature Reserve
with over 100
small islands and 150 miles of shoreline.
There are some 2000 species of marine plants
and animals.
Killard
Point, a nature reserve at the mouth of the
Lough, is an unspoilt landscape with
wildflowers and birdlife. The area has a unique variety of
orchid found nowhere else in Ireland.
Strangford Lough is an
internationally-important breeding ground
and over-wintering site for birdlife including thousands of Brent geese.
There are breeding colonies of Common and
Grey seals, curlews, oyster catchers,
guillemots, herons
and cormorants.
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Portaferry
village
At the southern end of the
Ards Peninsula,
the village of Portaferry has a population
of just over 2,500. Facilities include two
small supermarkets, butchers, green grocer,
convenience store, hairdresser, churches,
several pubs,the
Portaferry Hotel
and two restaurants. The village is home to
the
Portaferry Marina
and
Northern Ireland's aquarium,
Exploris. The
Strangford Car Ferry
provides a convenient link across the Lough to the neighbouring
village of Strangford which has three
restaurants and two Norman tower houses. Operating on a half-hourly basis, the crossing time is about
eight minutes. Both Portaferry and
Strangford have relaxed
and
friendly atmospheres. Strangford has three
restaurants.
History
The Vikings gave Strangford its name -
Strong Fjord. There are remains of
Norman tower houses, abbeys, monasteries
including Greyabbey and Movilla abbey. The National Trust
properties of
Mount Stewart
and
Castle Ward,
are
both close to Portaferry. Across the
Lough from Oystershell Cottage is Killyleagh
Castle, the oldest inhabited castle in
Ireland.
The
Strangford
Lough area has over 400 archaeological features
spanning thousands of years of history, from
castles and Norman tower houses to medieval fish traps and hilltop raths (fortified
farms).
Sailing & Watersports
There are seven yacht and sailing clubs
around Strangford Lough providing facilities
for vessels ranging from large cruising
yachts and motor cruisers to day sailers and dinghys. Regular
regattas are held in addition to weekly
races, often timed to take advantage of the
long Irish Summer evenings. The Lough
is a convenient base for both sail and
powerboats to explore the Irish Sea coast
and the magnificent cruising grounds of
Scotland's West Coast.
Schools
Portaferry has
both an Integrated and state primary school
and a secondary school.
Children also attend schools on
the Ards Peninsula and in Downpatrick. The
area's proximity to Belfast's airports
provides convenient access to boarding
schools throughout the United Kingdom.
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