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Nestling at the foot of the Mourne Mountains lies the seaside town of Newcastle, its name was derived from the Magennis castle that once stood just south of the Shimna river possibly on or near the site now occupied by Newcastle Library, Felix Magennis, Lord of Iveagh built the castle around 1588 to guard the ford of The Shimna River.In the 1892 Newcastle received an economic boost when a railway line from Downpatrick reached the town, bringing visitors on day trips from all around the country.

All that remains of an era only remembered by the older residents of the town is the former railway station, which now houses a shopping center. Another legacy the railway company left was a large red brick hotel they built close to the station. The hotel aptly named the Slieve Donard, after the highest of the Mourne mountains that hang over the town, that Percy French sang of in his song 'The Mountains of Mourne', which sweeps down to the Irish sea. The town also sports an internationally recognized Golf links,'The royal county Down'.