Downpatrick

The area of Downpatrick (Dún Phádraig - fortress of Patrick) has been populated since the Stone Age. On the hill, where today the cathedral arises, there already was a fortress in very early times, as records from Roman time (2^nd century AD) prove. From the 7^th century on the clan Dál Fiatach ruled from here, until they were driven away by the Norman John de Courcy in the 12^th century. During the centuries to follow there were again and again fights between the Irish clans and the Anglo-Normans, which continued in the fights between Catholics and Protestants.