Owenbeg Bowls Club

A proper local bowls club in Downpatrick, Owenbeg sits unpretentiously on the edge of the town - the sort of place where you'll find genuine characters rolling woods on immaculate greens rather than weekend Instagram tourists. If you've never watched lawn bowls, it's deceptively tactical. Weightless-looking bias-weighted bowls curve across perfectly maintained grass in ways that seem to defy physics, and there's genuine nail-biting tension when someone's down to their final shot.

You'll need to actually get in touch to visit or join - it's not a drop-in attraction - but if you're staying at Edgewater Holiday Park or Coneyisland Caravan Park for a few days, it's worth ringing ahead. The club welcomes spectators and newcomers with the kind of unhurried friendliness you don't often find. It's brilliant if you've got retired relatives in tow or you fancy learning something new.

Don't expect a café or shop. This is grassroots sport. But that's precisely what makes it refreshing. Downpatrick itself has plenty to occupy a family holiday - you're fifteen minutes' walk from Down Cathedral and the town centre shops - so Owenbeg works as a leisurely afternoon stop rather than a destination in itself. Go mid-week when it's quieter if you want to actually speak to someone and understand what's happening on the green.