| You can easily follow the story of Patrick Brontė and his family through the buildings that survive within the Brontė Homeland. The Brontė Homeland Drive starts at Drumballyroney Church and School near Rathfriland, ten miles south of Banbridge. It is well signposted along the 10-mile route.
Drumballyroney Church and School (Church Hill Road)
Together Drumballyroney Church and School are known as the Brontė Interpretive Centre. The church were Patrick first preached and the school house where he taught have been restored and now include displays about the Brontė family.
Brontė Homeland Picnic Site, Knockiveagh (Lisnacroppan Road)
The picnic site at Knockiveagh is an ideal place to stop and see the rolling hills where Patrick Brontė grew up with the Mountains of Mourne in the background. The picnic area occupies the ruins of a former shebeen - an illicit drinking house.
Alice McClory's Cottage (Brontė Road)
The cottage was the childhood home of Patrick's mother, Alice McClory. Alice and Hugh used to court secretly and some say they eloped to their wedding in Magherally Church, near Banbridge.
The Birthplace Cottage (Brontė Road)
Little now remains of the family's two-roomed cottage in the fairy glen at Emdale. The remains have been in the care of the Brontė Homeland Trust since 1956.
Glascar School (Glascar Road)
Patrick taught here in the 1790's, although the original schoolhouse was replaced by a more modern building in 1844. He is said to have used enlightened teaching methods to bring out the best in his pupils. He was later dismissed for forming a romantic attachment with one of them.
Opening Times
The Brontė Interpretive Centre is open from Friday until Sunday including bank holidays between 12 noon and 4.30pm from Easter until the end of August. It is also open by appointment at other times.
Location
Church Hill Road, Drumballyroney, Rathfriland, Co. Down BT34 5PH
T: 028 4062 3322
Admission Adult £3.00 & Child/Concession £2.00
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