Newry

Mountains obstruct the route from Dublin north along the coast into Ulster, but at Newry there's a gap, so roads (and later a canal and railway) head inland up the valley towards Portadown before swinging east into Belfast. The gap is a U-shaped glaciated valley that deepens into the fjord of Carlingford Lough, so there's also sea access. This was more of a curse than a blessing in the first millennium, since if there was one thing the Vikings enjoyed more than sailing into fjords, it was burning and pillaging the nearby settlements. The Normans put a stop to this, secured the area and founded an abbey. The town remained small until the 18th century when the growth of industry and transport made its position more important.

Ireland was divided into counties, which acquired local government councils in the 19th century, and Newry fell on the boundary of three. West of the river and fjord was County Armagh, east was County Down, and the town hall was symbolically built straddling the river. Five miles south was County Louth, which from 1921 belonged to a separate nation, the Republic of Ireland. Between them lay a higgledy-piggledy, porous and often dangerous border, with the main road checkpoint at Killeen, and for the rest of the 20th century this dominated Newry. There were killings and bombings during The Troubles from 1970, a heavy military presence, and a flight of industry and employment.

Newry is midway between Dublin and Belfast, so you can use either city's airport or ferry port and travel onward by train or bus. By car follow M1 / A1: there's a toll at Drogheda to the south.

The Enterprise Train runs hourly, taking 70 min from Dublin Connolly via Drogheda and Dundalk, and an hour from Belfast via Portadown. Commuter trains between Bangor, Belfast and Portadown extend to Newry in rush hour.

1 Newry railway station is a mile northwest of town centre. The railway comes into the station over the Egyptian Arch Bridge (it's supposed to resemble a pharaoh's head-dress, you'll need to use your imagination) and continues north over the 18-arch Craigmore Viaduct.

Goldliner Bus 238 runs every 20 min from Belfast Grand Central via Hillsborough and Banbridge, taking 90 min to Newry.

Expressway Bus X1 runs from Dublin Busáras and Airport (DUB IATA) to Newry, 90 min, and continues to Banbridge, Sprucefield Shopping Centre near Lisburn and Belfast. It's hourly daytime and every two hours through the night.

Ulsterbus 40 runs every couple of hours from Armagh, taking 50 min.

Ulsterbus 63 runs every couple of hours from Portadown, taking an hour to Newry.

2 Newry Buscentre is on The Mall in town centre.

3 Carlingford Ferry crosses the channel between Greencastle in County Down and Greenore in the Republic east of Dundalk. It sails hourly Apr-Oct 10AM-6PM and the crossing takes 15 min.