what can archery do for you?
Participation in archery provides many additional benefits to individuals, supporting physical, social, and mental wellbeing, providing educational benefits and the opportunity to learn and develop new skills as well as important attributes such as teamwork and fair play.
What's in a name?
We take our name from the Irish for Strangford Lough which is an area of outstanding natural beauty and scientific interest in the Ards Peninsula in County Down. Lough Cuan can be translated as the ‘Inlet of the Harbours,’ or ‘Safe Waters.’ The badge with two swans with a crown above set on a field of Royal Blue comes from the legend of Lugaid and Dergbforgal contained within the Courting of Emer.
A little bit about us
Lough Cuan Bowmen is an archery club based in Newtownards, Co. Down and seeks to promote and develop Archery opportunities, in North Down and the Peninsula region. The Club was founded in 1986 and practices many forms of archery, including Field, 3D and Target. We practice archery as a competitive and recreational sport. Archery is an exciting, enjoyable, creative sport, open to all backgrounds, ages, and abilities, and brings them together with the goal of enjoying and developing a passion for archery. Our sport has much to offer, that sense of achievement in hitting the target, the excitement of a competition, the friendship that comes with engaging with others and the sense of belonging from being a member of Lough Cuan Bowmen.
Sport, exercise and fun!
Our archers practice Field as well as Target archery in all styles - Long-Bow, Traditional, Recurve, Compound, Barebow and Instinctive. We have many members who shoot for fun and recreation as well as members who take part in field, target, clout and 3D competitions.
Members regularly achieve podium positions at regional and International competitions in the Republic of Ireland as well as achieving NI records in target and 3D archery. Some of our members have represented the club at regional, national and international level, achieving success at Gold, Silver and Bronze level.
Have-a-Go
As a club we host archery 'have-a-go' events for youth, church groups, schools, Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme, local fairs and corporate events.
Contact us if you'd like to know more about this type of activity, or if you are interested in us running an event for your community group/organisation.
Club Night
As a club we might once a week. From May to early September we hold our club night at Ards Rugby Club from 7.00pm to 9.00pm and from September to April we meet indoors in the Blair Mayne Wellbeing & Leisure Complex in Newtownards from 7.30pm to 9.30pm. Club nights are a great opportunity for members to come together in an informal environment and enjoy practice, competitions, catch up with friends and enjoy the craic.
Beginners Course
Interested in archery? Lough Cuan Bowmen run an Aspiring Archer course (beginners course). Our Course is friendly and enjoyable and is designed to teach the basic skills of archery. If you are interested in joining one of our Aspiring Archer courses please click the link below or get in touch via the Contact Us link at the bottom of this page to find out when the next course is taking place.
