Irish Drumlins.

The name drumlin's comes from the Irish and means 'The Little Ridges' it refers to small hills similar in shape to an inverted bowl, they cover much of southern Ulster County Down probably has the highest density.

They are a legacy of the last Ice Age and were formed as vast sheets of ice crept across the land grinding and gouging the earth below it into boulders gravel and clay, when the ice receded the drumlins were left behind, patiently waiting as nature began the slow process of clothing them with vegetation.

When early people began to adopt a settled way of life, they were quick to realize the strategic advantage offered by the drumlins, and built their enclosed settlements (Rath's) on their summits, the remains of many of these can be seen today. In County Down many of the islands in Strangford Lough are often described as drowned Drumlins.

See also Mountains.