Welcome to DowneU3A. We are located in the historic town of Downpatrick, Co Down and draw our membership from the surrounding areas. See Map of County Down

The idea for a University of the third Age (I'Universite du Troisieme Age) originated in France in 1972, followed by the creation of the 'Association Internationale des Universités du Troisième Age (AIUTA) The word 'University' is used in its original sense of people coming together to share and pursue learning in all its forms. The idea spread throughout the world.

In Britain the first U3As - were formed in 1982, under the aegis of the Third Age Trust, which, became an associate member of AIUTA. Each U3A is a self-help organisation open to people who are no longer in full time employment and which offers leisure, creative and educational opportunities within a friendly environment.

Downe U3A was inaugurated following a meeting of interested people convened by William Devlin in Down County Museum on the 24 January 2007. To date there are 17 U3As in Northern Ireland www.niu3a.org with around 4,000 members. Downe U3A currently has over 100 members. Group activities are listed aside. Click links for more information.

There is a monthly meeting, in Downpatrick Golf Club, on the last Monday of each month, with a guest speaker followed by a discussion of the events being planned. Other events take place in theatres, art galleries, historic sites, restaurants and members' homes.

Many of the documents on the site are in Portable Document Format. If you do not have a PDF reader installed one can be downloaded free from [ Adobe Reader]