DUNSFORD, or DUNSPORT, a parish, in the
barony of Lecale, county of Down, and province of
Ulster,3½ miles (E. S. E.) from Downpatrick; containing
1680 inhabitants, This parish which in situated
near the southern entrance to Strangford Lough, comprises,
with Guns island, according to the Ordnance
survey, 4293 statute acres, all under cultivation, except
40 acres of bog, and very fertile, much grain being exported
from the stores at Ballyhornan, when* Small
vessels land coal, Gaus island lies off the coast:, which
is bold and rocky, and includes Killard Point. The
parish i.s in the diocese of Down, and i.s a rectory, forming
the corps of the prebend of Dansford in the cathedral
of the Holy Trinity, and iu the patronage of the
Bishop: the tithes amount to £352 of which £263 is
payable to the incumbent and £139 to the irnpropriators.
The church is a small plain edifice with a bell tower.
In the It. C. divisions it is the head of a union or district
comprising this parish and Ardglass, and containing
two chapels, of which the one for Dunsford is at
Ballydock. About 350 children are educated in four
public schools.