I have lived most of my life close to Stormont but it's only since I had children and dogs of my…read moreown that I have really discovered what a great place this is. Stormont Estate is a huge expanse of grass and trees, making it perfect for somewhere to go to let off steam and get some fresh air. You can walk the dogs, play football, go for a run and let's not forget that you can fit in a bit of culture by walking up to look at Carson's statue and the Parliament Buildings, where our very own assembly sits. It's exactly one mile from the main gates to the statue so you can congratulate yourself afterwards on how far you have walked. There is a fantastic play park with the grounds which is one of the best in Northern Ireland and there are toilet facilities there as well as in the estate itself. These things are important when you have small kids. Bring a picnic and make a day of it in summer and in winter bring your sled/tray and join the crowds screaming their way up and down the slopes. Stormont is also popular with cyclists and even though it's used for so many different activities, I've never seen a collision yet. Just a couple of pieces of advice - at 5pm ish, watch out for traffic on the road which goes through the middle of the estate as all those over-worked civil servants race home. On second thoughts, make that 4pm. Also, the area just inside the gates is a minefield of dog poo so don't let the kids go unsupervised until you are well inside the gates.

Beautiful. Didn't…read moreget to go on a tour of Stormont, but it was incredible to see from the outside. We did a hop on hop off tour and had a lot of fun. Really recommend it.

Belfast City Hall is the city center district and located in a business area, but with expanding…read moreresidential and entertainment. Plenty of shops, restaurants, bars, churches, and historical locations surrounding the city hall. Inside is very beautiful layout architecture with a beautiful dome plus plenty of glass windows artwork. Inside the surrounding garden within, there are: Titanic Memorial Garden, Korea War Memorial, Victoria Memorial, Boer War Memorial Royal Irish Riffles, and couple statues on the other side plus city ground for you to seat and admire the city hall.

This was a beautiful building, inside and out. I loved the stained glass windows and…read morearchitecture! There were many different rooms to explore, with museum-like pictures and information to view. The toilets are free!

Carrickfergus Town Hall is a Grade B listed building which was built in 1779 and was originally the…read moretown's courthouse and gaol. It took on it's current use of Town Hall in 1935. The town hall hosts many events throughout the year, a diverse mix such as school poetry reading competitions, blood donation point, tea dances, charity sales, etc. The building itself is impressive and a focal point in the town centre, albeit not in as nice a way as it used to, given the fact that somone made the decision to paint it bright yellow!

We visited with grandkids who only wanted to run demonically around the grounds oblivious to Wu flu…read moreand its adverse impacts on life so we cheerfully obliged. Antrim castle and gardens are fabulous to see. Historically the castle was built by Sir Hugh Clotworthy and his son, Sir John Clotworthy, between 1610 and 1662. The name Clotworthy derived from Clotworthy near Wembworthy, Devon, England. As the surname suggests Sir Hugh and family weren't Irish natives, rather they gained land in Ireland in the Plantation of Ulster under the reign of James 1. Sir Hugh was a prominent politician during the Civil War. In 1660 he was created Baron Loughneugh (i.e. Lough Neagh) and Viscount Massereene in the Peerage of Ireland, with remainder to his son-in-law Sir John Skeffington, 4th Baronet, of Fisherwick, the husband of his daughter the Hon. Mary Clotworthy, and in default thereof to his heirs general. Plantation is another term for colonisation and some half a million acres of land was handed over to settlers (planters) by the king. The settlers were mostly from Southern Scotland. The colonists were required to be Protestant, English-speaking, and loyal to the king in short not Irish. Imagine today taking half a million acres of Alaska and gifting the land deeds to Canadians. Anyway, back to today, with the effects of plantation still ever present and the Ulster Scots language on the playground fixtures the gardens feature a 17th century Anglo Dutch water garden, one of only three in the British Isles. They are over 410 years old with beautiful features such as the Large Parterre, Her Ladyship's Pleasure Garden and Yew Tree Pond. Within the heart of the gardens is the unique Clotworthy House also created by Clotworthy descendants the Massereene family. So it's not just a house and garden on the shore of Lough Neagh it's living history and part of the political fabric of a complex, scarred divided statelet. If you want an hour or two of serenity you'll find it here unless of course you happen to get close to our grandkids.

I did not know that Antrim had a castle, motte, walls, and a fairly extensive park. The kept that…read moreone quiet! Or maybe I just wasn't listening... Either way, we just so happened to stumble across the grounds, having come out the High Street side of Castle Mall (ahhh, that explains the name!) and dandered over to an interesting looking gate lodge type building. There was nothing to suggest what this area was, so we took a walk down a path, under an over-pass (graffitied to the max), and appeared in an open green space. I noticed a sign, and went over to look. Reference was made to a motte (so, that's what the huge mound was in front of us...), walls (the gatelodge etc) and castle. Oooh! Where was this castle?! Well apparently all that remains of it is a wall tower, which is really a shame, as I had been hoping for a proper, full-sized castle. Oh well. Unfortunately, grey clouds were looming over us, and rain was threatening, so we didn't get much further. However, the gardens are meant to be lovely, with a canal, ponds and walks, and I would love to go back to explore these further, on a more pleasant day of course. There is also a major regeneration project ongoing within the grounds at the minute, and into next year, so I can't wait to see how it will look after the makeover.

Relocation is in the pipeline for PRONI which is due to move to new premises in the Titanic Quarter…read morein 2011 and the present site in Balmoral Avenue will be closed this autumn to prepare. Therefore, you will not have much time left to make use of the current site of the Public Records Office, which contains church records, valuation books, school records, street directories on paper and microfiche. I have also researched the significant Northern Ireland photo archive held here, as well as ordnance survey maps from 1903 and around 1880. The maps are fascinating for anyone interested in a certain town, village or townland as the detail includes every last shed and cottage. Various families of substance in the province have deposited their records here too. You do need time on your hands when visiting the Public Records Office, however, for the process of looking up and waiting for the staff to extract the documents from the store requires some consultation and forethought. There is a reading room too with stimulating books of local historical interest accessible on the shelves. In the main staff are eager and willing to help you find family history records or other documentary evidence that you seek and I've found my three or four visits rewarding, though of course, you need to like this sort of thing.

Unfortunately, the public records office will be largely inaccessible until about May 2011, as it…read moremoves to the Titanic Quarter. But the place has millions of records, a few of which apparently date back to the 13th century! Most of the people who would use the PRO are people attempting to trace family histories, trawling through a mind-boggling array of records to try and unearth their origins. The great thing about this place is that it's free if you're going to do your own research. I think your best bet is to go to the Ulster Historical Foundation (see my review) and pay for an initial bit of research to be done, then head down to the PRO, armed with your new information, and begin your search from there. You should be able to find out plenty about your family history here, with some records being so old that they have to be held in controlled conditions. I'm looking forward to the opening of the new office in the Titanic Quarter before summer 2011

It was such a fantastic opportunity to be able to sign the peace wall whilst on a tour of the…read moremurals. We learned so much about the troubles and the significance of the peace wall.

I enjoyed the art work and background here, however, like many countries, there is a migrant and/or…read morehomeless problem. As our group exited the bus, some folks not paying attention almost stepped into human feces. Outside of that issue, everything else was good.

Market Cross is right in the centre of Newtownards and you could easily walk past this thing day in…read moreday out without paying it any attention. It is just a big Octagon fenced off with some hanging baskets on it. To be honest it is not the most exciting historical landmark but does have some significance none the less. Market Cross was built in 1636 and was originally used as a police station or a watchman's post. They say that the roof was most likely used as an office or sleeping quarters for those who manned the town in the 17th Century. It is only accessible from the outside so there is no real chance of seeing the inside of Market Cross but I thought I would take the opportunity to educate the good people and users of Yelp on probably the mist useless land market in North Down.

Best food in Belfast so far. Linen Hall breakfast is fantastic, vegetarian Linen Hall breakfast is…read moreevery bit as good. Poached egg on avocado toast with walnuts and feta highly recommended. Service quick and friendly. Atmosphere absolutely beautiful and a library to boot. Prices lower than many others of lesser quality and ambience. Don't pass up this Belfast gem.

The Linen Hall library is plonked inbetween two banks which for something steeped in so much…read morehistory, it was somewhat a surprise (borderline disappointment) to actually find out where this place was located. I love books, bookshops, librarys, words, dictionaries, the old 'shift+f7' shortcut on word, but there is just too many flaws with this place to make it five stars. Yes it has the history, yes it has a proper traditional uneven floors and some books which you know if you tried to sell you could probably get a holiday out of it. But... and I don't strive to be controversial, the entire library and the entire experience is ruined by the coffee shop. It is an old-fashioned library set in the heart of Belfast's city centre. The Library is tiny compared to Queen's Library and simply cannot compete for the depth of knowledge or academic texts. But what is has is character. So why, please tell me, would you take this terrific library and stick a chain coffee store in the middle of it. If you step outside and throw a book, you will probably hit a coffee shop. Don't stick one in the middle of the blooming library. It's not necessary, it's trying to capitalise on the experience of going to the library and if it were to be taken out, you could put in a few squishy, coffee smelling sofas and a couple of newspapers to read. The library has character, it has history, it has a proper library atmosphere. It should not have a chain coffee shop (even though it is a NI coffee shop) in the middle of it. Let it be a library. Don't try and make money out of it.