Millisle

If you like the beach, you'll love Millisle - this little village has rightfully earned the reputation as a much-loved bucket-and-spade destination for generations of happy families.
The beach is extensive, affording the opportunity to enjoy long walks along the soft sandy shoreline. The shore is popular with wind-surfers and kite-surfers, and is a great place to exercise your dog, your horse, and your children.
Building sandcastles is'nt compulsary - but it should be.
The beach is serviced by an equally extensive carpark, with an excellent children's play park and a community garden adjacent to the village.
On the north side of the village is the Millisle Lagoon Beach, a natural seawater lagoon, ideal for swimming. There is also a large open air pool located next to the beach. Along with a jetty, slipways and rockpools, there is plenty of exploring to be done in and around Millisle Lagoon.
There is a good selection of shops and places to eat and drink just a short stroll from the beach.

Places worth visiting nearby

Ballycopeland Windmill - a fascinating experience for all ages: explore a unique historical monument in full working condition. Ballycopeland Windmill is the only remaining working windmill in the world with a complete and fully-functioning Hopper Roller Reefer sail system. It was built in the late 18th or early 19th century and was operational until the First World War.
Please check the What's On calendar for special events at the windmill.
Windmill Road, Millisle, County Down BT22 2DS

Ballycopeland Presbyterian Graveyard - The congregation was organised in 1773 in association with the Anti-Burgher Secession Synod, taking with them some families from the Millisle congregation. The oldest recorded date of death is 1849. The graveyard slopes markedly towards the sea and is very wild, with foundations of the old church barely detectable.

Ballyrolly Farm - Ballyrolly Farm outside Millisle was used to house over 300 Jewish refugee adults and children from 1938 to 1948 - limited access. In May 1939, Barney Hurwitz, Leo Scop and Maurice Solomon of the Regugee Aid Committee leased a derelict farm close to Millisle village.  At any one time, up to eighty people, including children, lived and worked on 'The farm', as it became known.  Between 1938, when the first adults and children arrived and its closure in 1948, the farm was home to well over 300 people. 

Eden Pottery - Best known for sponge-printed design, our pottery is on the Ards Peninsula , in the Northern Irish countryside . We use traditional methods to hand craft and decorate, making every piece unique. When you visit our gallery, you will find our Pottery Cafe, where you can create your own masterpiece with specially cut sponge shapes in the Paint-Your-Own Studio. You can complete your visit with home-made cakes and coffee.
visit the Eden Pottery website

Ganaway Activity Centre - Ganaway Training and Activity Centre is situated conveniently in an area of outstanding natural beauty in the quiet countryside between Millisle and Ballywalter in the Ards Peninsula of County Down overlooking the Irish Sea. We offer a wide range of activities for children and adults in a safe environment under the supervision of qualified instructors. As well as our outdoor activity area we also have a large indoor area with a wide choice of indoor and outdoor facilities.
visit the Ganaway Activity Centre website

Jewish Safe Haven Memorial Garden - Safe Haven is the name of the Holocaust Memorial Garden in the grounds of Millisle Primary School and a safe haven is what the Millisle community provided for many Jewish refugees during the Second World War. A small group of Jewish children came to Millisle from Germany, Austria and Czechoslovakia having been rescued from their homes after their parents had been imprisoned bythe Nazis.  This transportation to safety in Britain and Ireland became known as the Kindertransport.  In May 1939, Barney Hurwitz, Leo Scop and Maurice Solomon of the Regugee Aid Committee leased a derelict farm close to Millisle village.  At any one time, up to eighty people, including children, lived and worked on 'The farm', as it became known.  Between 1938, when the first adults and children arrived and its closure in 1948, the farm was home to well over 300 people. 

Newtownards Shooting Club, Carrowdore - We have military grade outdoor ranges spanning form 50 metres to 100 metres. These ranges are fully equipped to handle small-bore and full-bore rifles. We have a wide range of targets and score-charts to meet the demands of even the most accurate shooters. Our outdoor ranges are covered so that shooting can commence in all weather, 50 metres and 100 metres. Indoor ranges can be used all year round. We have a comprehensive range of firearms and ammunition available.
visit the Newtownards Shooting Club website

Old Templepatrick Graveyard, Millisle - This is on the seaward side of the road from Donaghadee to Millisle, one mile north of Millisle. Nothing is known of the history of the site and all traces of a church have disappeared, but there was a well on the seaward side of the graveyard known as St Patrick's Well and there is a tradition that St Patrick once landed here. There is also a small "watch-house" in the centre of the graveyard. There is no local burial register but the Donaghadee Parish registers which still survive date from 1771. The graveyard is densely packed with well-preserved slate stones. Most of the inscriptions prior to 1800 were copied in Memorials of the Dead VIII, 518 and IX, 41 and 454 but only the parts referring to deaths before 1800. There are 190 of these stones . The oldest date of death recorded is 1678.

Woburn House and Lisneven - At the southern end of the beach is a large house. Woburn House was originally a stately home built between 1797 and 1830 by John Gilmore Dunbar, a wealthy industrialist and mill owner. The home was used as a summer residence until 1846 when it was inherited by George Orr Dunbar, twice Minister of Parliament for Belfast. George and his wife, Isabella carried out significant improvements, adding the South Wing which includes the tower. Isabella’s father, Lord Beresford, Archbishop of Armagh lived in the house for a while and built Carrowdore Church at his own expense. During the Second World War the house was used as a convalescent home for injured soldiers while the family were still in residence in another part of the estate. Due to large death duties, the family were forced to sell the house and a significant proportion of the estate to the Ministry of Finance in 1949. In 1956 the building became an open Borstal housing around 130 boys aged 16 -21. At the height of ‘The Troubles’ in the late 1970s a more secure Closed Borstal came into operation and a new Secure Young Offenders facility for boys of school age - Lisnevin - was built on the site, having a separate entrance on the Drumfad Road. The Lisnevin complex closed in the 1980’s when the new facility at Hydebank opened. In 1980 Woburn House became a Prison Officer Training Centre housing facilities including a dog training centre, a gym and the Northern Ireland Prison service private collection of records and memorabilia. The building is open to the public once a year on European Heritage Open Day.