The mountain ranges of Mourne, Cooley, and Gullion, beckon you to explore their splendour on foot, bicycle or horseback, on a variety of looped walks and cycle paths. Local adventure centres offer you rock climbing, abseiling canoeing, kayaking, sailing and windsurfing in the waters of Carlingford Lough and the Irish Sea. You can charter Lough cruises for angling, or bird-watching. Day coach trips are available to the historical and scenic sites and routes. If its golf you want, there are ten golf courses, parkland and links in the region.

The area has been awarded the prestigious “European Destination of Excellence” an imprimatur to the visitor of quality and a real cultural experience. Carlingford Lough is a shallow sea lough, which forms part of the border between Northern Ireland and the
Republic of Ireland . The inner lough is dominated by shallow waters and underlying muddy sand beds, with large areas of intertidal mud and sand flats exposed at low tide. The outer mouth of the lough (Cranfield to Greenore) presents deeper waters with a navigable channel, and an underlying mosaic of boulders, cobbles, pebbles and gravels, forming small scattered islands and reefs. The lough is of international and national importance for overwintering, passage and breeding seabirds, waders and waterfowl, which feed, roost and nest on the loughs intertidal flats and islands.

The region owes its striking landscape to a combination of the underlying geology and the surface processes that have sculpted these rocks over the millions of years since their formation. The upland areas are all underlain by igneous rocks: Slieve Croob is formed of rocks belonging to the Newry Igneous Complex that was emplaced as the ancient Iapetus Ocean closed; the other areas in the Carlingford Lough region are underlain by granite and gabbro that date back to a period during the opening of the North Atlantic Ocean. The magmas intruded earlier rocks, including sandstone, shale, and limestone, which tell some of the geological history of the region back to 440Ma (million years), a period of time that represents around a tenth of the age of the Earth itself . These rocks have been baked and altered close to their contacts with the igneous intrusions.

Carlingford Lough was originally very shallow (

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text disable_pattern=”true” align=”left” margin_bottom=”0″]Taaffe’s Castle is situated in the beautiful medieval town of Carlingford and is located what is now currently located at the centre of the Village. It was mostly likely to have been built at the start of the 16th century as a fortified townhouse and a trading depot , But when it was built it was most likely a Shoreline Merchant House where deliveries from the sea where stored and collected. Now try to imagine the original shore line coming to the base of the building. It must have been very convenient for the merchant who lived here, The merchants could have loaded or unload their wares on or off a small boat which would bring the goods to and from a larger ship anchored in deeper waters out in the harbour. This tower house was a very popular style of building amongst the merchant and upper classes of towns all around Ireland, it was easily defended and its height meant that you could have a lot of living space in a small area, it allowed for the construction of substantial buildings on small burgage plots. But Taaffes Castle had more space than most because at the corner of the building there is a number of projecting stones which are the remains of a brawn wall. Brawn walls enclosed an open area around the tower house which usually contained a garden and wooden buildings and outhouses. They are normally found around similar buildings in the country, However it is quite unusual to find one of these in an urban setting.The Taaffe’s were a powerful family and later they became the ‘Earls of Carlingford’ in 1661. Their appointed Earldom is the most likely reason to why the Merchant House was referred to as property of the Taaffes, However there is evidence that it was constructed before their earldom was secured. There is no actual evidence to say the Merchant house was the direct property of the Taaffe Family. Carlingford’s strategic position on the east coast of Ireland along with Carrickfergus and Dundalk, made it a vital trading port. This trade led to Carlingford’s relative prosperity between the 14th and early 16th centuries. It even received five Royal charters for trading — the first in 1326 by King Edward II and the last in 1619 under King James I. The increased trade encouraged the rich mercantile class to build such buildings as ‘The Mint’ as well as ‘Taafee’s Castle’. The following centuries were however not as prosperous for the town after the Cromwellian Conquest of 1649 and the Williamite Wars of the 1690s. By 1744 Carlingford was described as ‘in a state of ruin’ and the following century saw the disappearance of the prosperous herring shoals in the lough. This charming town has recently ‘bounced back’ as a top tourist destination due to it’s spectacular setting, wonderful pubs and medieval architecture.

The goods would have been stored in the vaulted basement located in the building and the living quarters and offices would have been in the floors above.

The building was actually constructed in two phases, the older portion was the tower house which featured most prominently and it was built in the early 1500’s. It still has many of the original windows while the ground floor entrance to the basement has been altered. The annex appears to be much younger than the tower but it was only added on about 50 years later to provide more spacious living quarters. The present windows are later insertions and gave it its more recent appearance. The building was probably owned by the Earl of Carlingford, Nicholas Taaffe, who was killed while fighting on King Jame’s side at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690. The Locals may likely have called the building Taaffes Castle by association but there is no evidence to suggest Taaffes were ever in the building.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Carlingford Oysters

Oysters and Carlingford are synonymous, the people of Carlingford have been harvesting oysters since medieval times and there are several references by historians and scholars of bygones passed referring to them. Oyster, from the Latin oslrea, is the name generally understood to signify the species of Ostracean bivalve, called Oslrea edulis, which is one of a numerous genus, characterised by an inequi- valve shell, composed of two irregular lamellate valves, of which the convex or under one adheres to rocks, piles, or the shell of any other individual. The animal is unprovided either with a byssus or a foot : — it is the best flavoured of its class of Mulusk, and has, consequently, been always much esteemed. Vast oyster beds in Carlingford are artificially formed, and attended to with great care, at the estuary of the Carlingford Lough and many other localities, where the temperature of the water is somewhat raised, by a mixture of salt and fresh, in which they best thrive.
It’s one of the largest employers in the region and on average ten tonnes of these famed sea delicacies are shipped both nationally and internationally every week from one of Ireland’s smallest villages.

Oyster Farming is most certainly a labour of love and requires great skill and knowledge to ensure that the oyster seedlings grow to their fully matured age in which they are ripe enough so that they can be shipped to anxiously awaiting customers worldwide. As the Oyster grows it can filter up to 55 litres of seawater per day, it utilises filtering as a means to get all the nutrients it requires. As Carlingford oysters live on the water of the lough, the water that flows from Slieve Foy and the Mourne mountains provides it with unique assortment of nutrients which provides the Carlingford oyster with its distinguishable crisp flavour . After three years the oyster is ripe and ready for sale. At the point it is carefully prepared for the market. Only the very best get to be sold to the public.

 In the History Books

Carlingford has always been a famed location for both its beauty, culture and its Oyster farms,  In one edition of the Dublin Penny Journal the following was said;

We think our wood-cut well calculated to catch the eye of a Dublinian. For lives there man, woman or child, in our good city, that has not heard of Carlingford, though but few have seen it. Carlingford – so renowned for its delicious oysters – oysters known as well to the poor mendicant who is tasked to crush their shells, as to the rich merchant who gobbles down their delicious insides – oysters as far superior to every other testaceous creature that open its bivalve to the tide, as to an Englishman is plum-pudding when compared with flummery – oysters, that give luxurious suppers to man, and open his heart as the knife opens the shell! In vain may the Parisian boast of his Carcale, the Londoner of his Colchester, or even our western shores of their green-finned Burrin, exquisite Pooldoody, or delicious Lisadill – who dare compare them to a rale Carlingford? Ye Aldermen of Dublin, and all who have experienced night after night the indescribable delights of a feast of oysters, and a flow of punch, come and give us all due credit for presenting you with a picture of that dear spot from whence your delights do come, and for giving “a local habitation and a name” to the birth-place of what your souls desire!