The Borough of Ards is located in the east of Northern Ireland, approximately 7 miles from our capital city Belfast. Ards covers roughly 375 kilometres sqaured and is home to around 75,000 people. The largest town in the Borough is Newtownards, where the administrative headquarters of Ards Borough Council are situated.

 

 

Ards is dominated by Strangford Lough - the largest sea inlet in the United Kingdom. Strangford Lough is also the biggest marine nature reserve in the UK and enjoys special area of conservation and special protection area for birds status. The Lough is home to an exceptional variety of over 2,000 marine species, the largest breeding population of common seals in Ireland and many migrating birds from all over the world. People can get up close to Ireland's largest collection ducks, geese and swans in their natural habitat at the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust at Castle Espie near Comber.

 

 

Ards is dotted with many notable and historic buildings. Scrabo Tower, built in the 18th century as a lasting memorial to the 3rd Marquis of Londonderry for his benevolance during the famine, dominates the entire area and offers spectacular views of Strangford Lough and beyond. Mount Stewart, on the east shore of Strangford Lough, is the ancestral home of the Londonderry family. Known for its world class gardens, Mount Stewart was once home to Lord Castlereagh, an architect of the Act of Union.

 

Set in Conway Square, the Town Hall is Newtownards' focal point. The Square is also home to a statue of Newtownards' favourite son Col Blair "Paddy" Mayne, a distinguished and decorated soldier and sportsman. The Ards has been home to many war heroes including Sir Robert Rollo Gillespie, Captain George James Bruce and Lt Edmund De Wind, and the area's special conncetion to the Battle of the Somme in 1916 is commerated at the Somme Heritage Centre on the outskirts of Newtownards. The Ards is an area steeped in Ulster Scots culture and heritage. 2006 is the 400th anniversary of the settlement of County Antrim and County Down including Ards by the Scots James Hamilton and Hugh Montgomery. They and the 10,000 mainly Presbyterian Lowland Scots who travelled across the North Channel with them transformed the east of Ulster into an industrial powerhouse and inspired the Virginia Plantation of 1607 and the Plantation of Ulster in 1610. Many of the landmarks that make up modern Ards like Newtownards Priory, the Market Cross and several churches were the handiwork of Hamilton and Montgomery. Ards is also renowned for its Christian Heritage sites such as Nendrum outside Comber, Grey Abbey and Movilla Abbey in Newtownards.

 

 

Ards is an excellent location for all manner of leisure pursuits including sailing, fishing, equestrianism, flying and golf.