In 1183, John de Courcy brought in some Benedictines from the abbey of St. Werburgh in Chester (today Chester Cathedral) in England and built a cathedral friary for them at Downpatrick.
Born in Downpatrick, County Down, Northern Ireland, one of eleven children, McGrady was educated at St Patrick's Grammar School, Downpatrick and at Belfast Technical College, where he trained as a chartered accountant, subsequently entering his family's accountancy firm.
The Downpatrick Loop Platform railway station is owned and operated by the Downpatrick and County Down Railway which is a heritage railway in Northern Ireland.
Use of the road is attested as far back as the 17th century, and it formed part of the main stagecoach route between Belfast and Downpatrick.
The first train from the station ran on 2 August 1848 to Holywood, with services eventually extending as far as Castlewellan, Downpatrick, Newcastle and the fishing village of Ardglass.
In February 2011, The Medium by Gian Carlo Menotti, a Second Movement production first staged in 2006, was performed in a tour of Northern Ireland by NI Opera in association with Second Movement, with performances in the Strule Arts Centre, Omagh; The Great Hall, Downpatrick; Theatre at the Mill, Newtownabbey and The Market Place Theatre, Armagh.