Castlewellan

Castlewellan Irish: Caisleán Uidhilín Castlewellan
Castlewellan village, from the "Peace Maze"
Location within County Down
Population	2,782 (2011 census)
District	Newry, Mourne and Down
County	County Down
Country	Northern Ireland
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	CASTLEWELLAN
Postcode district	BT31
Dialling code	028
UK Parliament	South Down
NI Assembly	South Down
List of places UK Northern Ireland Down 54°16′01″N 5°55′59″W / 54.267°N 5.933°W / 54.267; -5.933

Castlewellan (from Irish Caisleán Uidhilín 'Hugelin's Castle') is a small town in County Down, in the south-east of Northern Ireland close to the Irish Sea. It is beside Castlewellan Lake and Slievenaslat mountain, 11 miles (18 km) southwest of Downpatrick. It lies between the Mourne Mountains and Slieve Croob. It had a population of 2,782 people in the 2011 census.^[1]

Castlewellan has a wide main street which runs through two main squares lined with chestnut trees. The town was designed by a French architect for the Annesley family. The Annesley family did not always own the land as they bought it from the Maginess family, then owners of what is now Castlewellan Christian Conference Centre and Castlewellan Forest Park. Castlewellan is unique within Ireland due to its tree-lined squares both in the old town (upper square) and new town (lower square) as well as its very wide main street.^{[citation needed]} The old market house in the upper square was built in 1764 and now houses the public library.^[2]