Ardglass, the headquarters of the herring fishery. The
chief industries in the county generally are linen manufacture and
bleaching, and brewing.

_Communications._--The Great Northern railway has an alternative branch
route to its main line by Portadown, from Lisburn through Banbridge to
Scarva, with a branch from Banbridge to Ballyroney and Newcastle. Newry
is on a branch from the Dublin-Belfast line to Warrenpoint on
Carlingford Lough. The main line between Lisburn and Portadown touches
the north-western extremity of the county. The eastern part of the
county is served by the Belfast & County Down railway with its main line
from Belfast to Newcastle to Dundrum Bay, and branches from Belfast to
Bangor, Comber to Newtownards and Donaghadee, Ballynahinch Junction to
Ballynahinch, and Downpatrick to Ardglass and Killough. The Newry Canal
skirts the west of the county, and the Lagan Canal intersects the rich
lands in the Lagan valley to the north.

_Population and Administration._--The population (219,405 in 1891;
205,889 in 1901) decreases slightly. The population in 1891 on the area
of the county before the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898 was
224,008, for in this case the figures for part of the county borough of
Belfast were included. This is worth notice from the comparative point
of view, since, whereas emigration to foreign ports is considerable, a
large portion of the moving population travels no farther than the
metropolis of Belfast. About 39% of the population is of the
Presbyterian faith, about 31% Roman Catholic, among whom, as usual,
education is in the most backward condition; about 23% are Protestant
Episcopalians.

The following are the principal towns:--Newry (pop. 12,405), Newtownards
(9110), Banbridge (5006), Downpatrick (2993; the county town), Holywood
(3840), Gilford (1199), Bangor (5903), Dromore (2307), Donaghadee
(2073), Comber (2095) and Warrenpoint (1817). Other small towns are
Portaferry, Rathfryland, Killyleagh, Kilkeel, Ballynahinch, Dundrum, a
small port, and Hillsborough, near Dromore, where the castle is the seat
of the marquesses of Downshire. There are several popular
watering-places on the coast, notably Newcastle, Donaghadee, Ardglass
and Rosstrevor. On the shore of Belfast Lough are many pleasant
residential villages and seats of the wealthy class in Belfast. The
county is divided into fourteen baronies, and contains sixty-four
parishes. The assizes are held at Downpatrick, an