Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label=Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is #Descriptions, variously described as ...

, the A7 is a major trunk road running 15.0 miles (24.1 km) from

Downpatrick Downpatrick () is a town in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is on the Lecale peninsula, about south of Belfast. In the Middle Ages, it was the capital of the Dál Fiatach, the main ruling dynasty of Ulaid. Its cathedral is said to be the b ...

, through

Crossgar Crossgar () is a village and townland in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is about south of Belfast – between Saintfield and Downpatrick. Crossgar had a population 1,892 people in the 2011 UK Census. History Crossgar has had an interest ...

and

Saintfield Saintfield () is a village and civil parish in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is about halfway between Belfast and Downpatrick on the A7 road. It had a population of 3,381 in the 2011 Census, made up mostly of commuters working in both south ...

, to

Carryduff Carryduff ()Northern Ireland Placenames Project
is a small ...

.
Here the A7 joins the A24 (running from

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

) at an at-grade

roundabout A roundabout is a type of circular intersection or junction in which road traffic is permitted to flow in one direction around a central island, and priority is typically given to traffic already in the junction.''The New Shorter Oxford Eng ...

, and continues to

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdom ...

. The section between Carryduff and Saintfield was constructed in the latter half of the 19th century, to bypass

Ouley Hill Ouley Hill is 180 m high and lies in County Down Northern Ireland between Carryduff and Saintfield. Its name is derived It was the site of a battle in the Irish Rebellion of 1798 The Irish Rebellion of 1798 ( ga, Éirí Amach 1798; Ulster ...

, as the previous route along Old Saintfield Road/Killynure Road was proving too arduous for

stagecoach A stagecoach is a four-wheeled public transport coach used to carry paying passengers and light packages on journeys long enough to need a change of horses. It is strongly sprung and generally drawn by four horses although some versions are dra ...

horses."Carryduff 2000" George A Bowsie & Graham Murphy

Composition

The road is standard

single-carriageway A single carriageway (British English) or Undivided highway (American English) is a road with one, two or more lanes arranged within a one carriageway with no central reservation to separate opposing flows of traffic. A single-track road has a ...

throughout most of its length, with two short sections of climbing lanes (approx 500m each).
The first of these runs northbound, starting about two miles north of Downpatrick at the former site of the Abbey Lodge Hotel.
The second runs southbound and begins about a mile south of Saintfield near Doran's Rock.

Junctions

Apart from its terminus junction with the A24, the A7 road crosses these A and B roads: *B2 (2 miles north of Downpatrick) *B7 (Crossgar) *B6 (Saintfield) * A21 (Saintfield)

References

Roads in Northern Ireland Roads in County Down {{Down-geo-stub