Today I am in a quiet corner of Strangford Lough, in the townland of Ballyabundant.
Both sheep and cattle graze together on Ballyabundant’s hills.
But the local pub is named after a different animal altogether.
Cottages are built in an unusual style here, with grass instead of the thatch used elsewhere in Ireland.
The townland name comes from the Irish Baile Bunanna. Linguists are divided on the meaning of the second element of the name.
“Bunanna” could refer to the way in which the houses are built into the base of the hill.
Or it could refer to the local micro-climate, which warms the soil, allowing the farmers of Ballyabundant to harvest crops that don’t often thrive in Northern Ireland.
Unfortunately, the lush growth from the mild climate has obscured the townland name on the local signposts.
Ballyabundant can also be hard to find on the PLACENAMESNI website, Griffith’s Valuation and other historical records, but I’ve tracked down some reliable information on how to get there and back again.
READ ON, KNOWING THAT I FIRST POSTED THESE PHOTOS OF BALLYABUNDANT ON 1st APRIL 2016.
Are you having trouble finding Ballyabundant? The place really exists, and I spent a day there in November 2014, but it’s a long way from County Down.
The truth is that I was in New Zealand, visiting the set created for the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit movies. The guided tour is a lot of fun, and I will simply send you to their website for all the details: Click here for the link to Hobbitontours.com.
A few more photos from that trip are on my other “Distant Drumlin” blog: click here for the link.
And what about the bananas? Well, they are home-grown, but not from County Down. A few years ago I had a temporary home in India, and these bananas grew in my Bangalore garden. Again, the bananas featured on my Distant Drumlin blog: here is the link to a post about the banana harvest.
more information
Which townlands border Ballyabundant?
To the north, Ballybaggins and Tullynahobbit.
To the west, Ballybilbo and Kiltolkien.
And if you think I’m travelling east to photograph Mordor, forget it.
Townlands of Ulster 
Brilliant! And much better than the Guardian’s effort…
http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/apr/01/exclusive-royal-family-considering-dramatic-brexit-intervention
Sent from my iPhone
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Thank you!
You know what I should have written? A post suggesting that the EU was going to ban townlands.
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Actually, the Remain campaign has said that the whole idea of townlands could be under threat if the UK exits the EU. Meanwhile the Leave campaign has said that, in the event of Brexit, more funding would obviously be available for townland development and promotion. This could include setting up links with other townland-like concepts around the Commonwealth, which to-date has been prevented by the European Court of Justice.
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With that funding, we could arrange tours for readers of this website, to the sunnier Commonwealth regions. A twinning ceremony between Ballyabundant and Matamata?
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Lovely! Are those first two photos from Ireland or the Shire?
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Well spotted! http://wp.me/P5bCHH-At
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Haha April Fools??
Spotted that this was Hobbiton in NZ straight away – visited there last Nov & loved it!
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Yes, an April Fool.
I’m so pleased that you’ve been to Hobbiton too. It’s a delightful place. Just like the town of Matamata, and the whole of New Zealand, really.
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[…] to reality today, after the April Fool, as I explore the townland of Tullynakill in County […]
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