The Bloody Bridge.

The Bloody Bridge is situated about two miles south of the town of Newcastle on the road to Annalong, it takes its name from an event which took place during the 1641 rebellion in Ireland.

Tradition relates that a group of Protestant prisoners captured in Newry were being taken to Newcastle to be exchanged for Irish prisoners held in Newtownards, when the leader of the Irish possibly Con Mageniss heard that the Irish prisoners had been hanged, the Protestant prisoners were all killed.

The Bloody Bridge river runs to the sea in a deep valley, which is largely the result of glacial erosion of the last Ice Age.

There is a path along The Bloody Bridge River leading to a relatively easy route to Slieve Donard, you can leave your car in a park on the seaward side of the road. On a clear day magnificent views of Dundrum Bay and the Isle of Mann can be enjoyed as you make the accent.

This part of the County Down coast was much favoured by smugglers in times past, the Brandy Pad begins its route through the mountains to Hilltown, brandy wasn't the only commodity carried silk, tea, sugar, spices, tobacco and leather were among the contraband transported on pack animals under cover of darkness.