Just south of Bessbrook is Derrymore House, an elegant thatched cottage built in 1776 for Isaac Corry, the Irish MP for Newry for 30 years; the Act of Union was drafted in the drawing room here in 1800. The house is only open on a handful of days each year – call or check the National Trust website – but the surrounding parkland, laid out by John Sutherland (1745–1826), one of the most celebrated disciples of English landscape gardener Capability Brown, offers scenic trails with views to the Ring of Gullion.
