Portaferry
Portaferry is a small town in County Down, Northern Ireland, at the southern end of the Ards Peninsula, near the Narrows at the entrance to Strangford Lough. It is well known for the annual Galway Hookers Regatta, a local fishing boat race, and the Exploris Aquarium, Northern Ireland's premier marine life center. It also hosts its own small marina, the Portaferry Marina. Commercial fishing for clams and king prawns and the farming of oysters and mussels takes place within the confines of Strangford Lough. It rose to prominence in the 17th century as one of the Ulster ports. The town's industrial activities include agriculture, fishing, and tourism. Famous historical sites include Portaferry Castle, a small tower house overlooking the harbor and built in the 16th century. The Portaferry area is popular with local and foreign tourists for its beauty, history, wildlife and other visitor attractions such as angling, wildfowling and birdwatching. Strangford Lough is the largest sea inlet in the British Isles, and Portaferry is Northern Ireland's first Marine Nature Reserve, as well as being renowned as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and Special Scientific Interest, with six National Nature Reserves within its reaches. Over 2000 species of marine animals have been found in the Lough and internationally important flocks of wildfowl and wading birds converge there in winter. The Lough is also the most important site in Ireland for breeding common seals. Sports such as hurling, the world's fastest field sport, and diving are very popular in Portaferry.
Portaferry is a small town in County Down, Northern Ireland, at the southern end of the Ards Peninsula, near the Narrows at the entrance to Strangford Lough. It is well known for the annual Galway Hookers Regatta, a local fishing boat race, and the Exploris Aquarium, Northern Ireland's premier marine life center. It also hosts its own small marina, the Portaferry Marina. Commercial fishing for clams and king prawns and the farming of oysters and mussels takes place within the confines of Strangford Lough. It rose to prominence in the 17th century as one of the Ulster ports. The town's industrial activities include agriculture, fishing, and tourism. Famous historical sites include Portaferry Castle, a small tower house overlooking the harbor and built in the 16th century. The Portaferry area is popular with local and foreign tourists for its beauty, history, wildlife and other visitor attractions such as angling, wildfowling and birdwatching. Strangford Lough is the largest sea inlet in the British Isles, and Portaferry is Northern Ireland's first Marine Nature Reserve, as well as being renowned as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and Special Scientific Interest, with six National Nature Reserves within its reaches. Over 2000 species of marine animals have been found in the Lough and internationally important flocks of wildfowl and wading birds converge there in winter. The Lough is also the most important site in Ireland for breeding common seals. Sports such as hurling, the world's fastest field sport, and diving are very popular in Portaferry.