Lisburn factfile

How to get to Lisburn
Just southwest of Belfast in the Lagan Valley, Lisburn is located off the M1 motorway and the A1 main road that connects Belfast to Dublin.

Shopping in Lisburn
Lisburn is awash with shopping potential, from the pedestrianised Bow Street and newly extended Bow Street Mall to Lisburn Square, set in an open square of Georgian and Victorian buildings. Nearby are the country markets in the Courthouse in Hillsborough, a wealth of antique shops in Ballinderry and Lambeg, plus the out-of-town Sprucefield Centre and Sprucefield Park malls.

Eating and drinking in Lisburn
Diners and drinkers are extremely well catered for in and around Lisburn, with a wide range of pubs, bars, cafés and restaurants catering to every taste and budget.

Lisburn's claim to fame
Lisburn is known as the birthplace of the Irish linen industry, which was established at the end of the eighteenth century by Presbyterian Scots and Huguenot settlers. Explore the history of the time at the Irish Linen Centre & Lisburn Museum, especially in the Flax to Fabric Exhibition.

How Lisburn got its name
Lisburn was founded in the early seventeenth century as "Lios na gCearbhach", which means the fort of gamesters, or gamblers. The anglicised name of Lisnagarvey is still much used throughout the area.

Famous people from Lisburn
Engineer Harry Ferguson invented the Ferguson three-point linkage system for his Ferguson tractors, which are still used in almost every tractor made today. He was also responsible for the Grand Prix-winning four-wheel-drive P99 F1 car driven by Stirling Moss.

Arts and culture in Lisburn
Lisburn's rich history has endowed the place with an equally rich cultural heritage, spanning the visual arts, music, song, dance, poetry and performance. Besides the Gaelic or Irish language that informs the region's history, there is also an Ulster Scots tradition dating from three centuries ago when the London government encouraged Scots to purchase land and settle in Ulster.

Famous landmarks in Lisburn
The Giant's Ring, which is about 5,000 years old, is an earthwork over 200 metres in diameter, surrounded by a bank of gravel and boulders with five entrances and a megalithic chamber near the centre.

Things to see and do around Lisburn
Besides the linen museum, Lisburn is home to Hillsborough Village, a pristine example of Georgian architecture, and Hillsborough Castle, now the official residence of the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.

Sports and leisure in Lisburn
From rugby, football and cricket, to golf, fishing, walking and cycling, the area in and around Lisburn lacks nothing for the active visitor.

Lisburn Leisure Park boasts one of the largest leisure pools in Northern Ireland.