If you visit Downpatrick with the intention of exploring the story of St Patrick then you simply must include a visit to nearby Saul. Saul is where St Patrick is said to have landed and after converting the local chieftain he was given a parcel of land with a barn in which he could hold his services. This barn is long gone but now replaced with a small church on the same spot overlooking the region. It is beautiful and spiritual. You leave the town of Downpatrick - Saul is two miles along the Strangford Rd - follow the signs and you drive or walk up a small, narrow lane. Park at the top - keep well over to he verge - and you can wander into the grounds and also enter the church if it is open. This is a small isolated location with farms and houses surrounding. Don't visit without your camera! nearby is the large statue of St Patrick on Slieve Patrick - you park at the bottom and walk up the hill with various bronze plaques relating the St Patrick story. If you are visiting Downpatrick you cannot omit these important sites - Saul church is where it all began so go there.