Rostrevor nestles beneath
the Mourne Mountains on the shores of Carlingford Lough, the
town is renowned for its mild climate and beautiful scenery,
it is a popular destination for tourists. 
Bridge street runs beside the river Rostrevor.
On the far side of the bridge a footpath runs upstream beside
the river to the fairy glen where the river runs through a tunnel
of mature oak, sycamore and beech trees growing on banks festooned
by wild flowers, on a summer day with the sunlight penetrating
the canopy, reflecting on on the water as it cascades over the
rocks, it is easy to understand why the place came to be called
The Fairy Glen.
During the sixteenth century
Rostrevor was called Castle Rory or Castle Roe, after Rory Maginness
who built a stronghold on the shores of Carlingford Lough. The
Maginness lands around Rostrevor came into the hands of the
Trevor family Viscounts of Dungannon. The Trevor's castle was
built between the years 1611-12 possibly on Sea Point and replaced
the Maginness castle.
The name Rostrevor is said
to come into use in 1618 when Rose youngest daughter of Sir
Marmaduke Whichchurch married Trevor, viscount of Dungannon.
The Ross family purchased much of the Rostrevor area in the
eighteenth century.
The above information seen in conflict with the explanation
at the top of the page.
On the
steep slopes of Slievemartin 1,597 ft (487 Meter's) is Rostrevor
Forest a national nature reserve. A path on the eastern side
of the reserve wends its way to 
Cloughmore
a great stone left behind by an Ice Age glacier it stands on
a spur of the mountain about 900 ft (274 Meter's) above sea
level. Local legend has it that the giant Finn MacCool threw
it from Carlingford mountain
4 miles away across the Lough. (See also the Giants
Causeway)
North of Rostrevor along
the Kilbroney river are the remains of a church on the site
of a 6th century monastery founded by the patron saint of seafarers,
St. Bronagh. A bronze hand bell found in a hollow wall of Kilbroney
church is said to have been St Bronagh's,
it is now on the alter of Rostrevor Roman Catholic church. The
remains of Kilbroney church visible today are
those of a fifteenth century
parochial church.
In the graveyard are many
old gravestones, one of these commemorates the Irish giant Patrick
Murphy born 15th June 1834 on a farm near the Cassey Water,
he is said to have been eight feet one inch (2.464 M) tall,
well proportioned and handsome. It is thought that at this time
Patrick was the tallest man in the world.
He joined a travelling circus
and when in Marsilles, 
France he unfortunatly
caught smallpox and died at an early age, his remains were later
brought back to County Down and interred at Killbroney. In November
2006 the Killowen
Historical Sociey, dressed one of their members as Patrick,
towering above all present he launched their book 'Lost in the
Mists of Time'
Along the coast road to
Warrenpoint a 100 ft obelisk was erected in 1826 to one of Rostrevor's
most famous sons Major General Robert Ross he was born at Carrickbawn
now Rostrevor house. He led troops who captured Washington and
burnt the White House during the war of 1814. He was subsequently
killed in the advance on Baltimore, and was buried in Halifax
Nova Scotia.
You can explore the area
around Rostrevor in more detail on the Killowen Historical Society
website.
Read about Rostrevor
from Samuel Lewis' Topographical Directory of Ireland (1837)
