Crossgar (from Irish an Chrois Ghearr 'the short cross')[1][2] is a village and townland in County Down, Northern Ireland.

Crossgar has had an interesting and varied past, dating from the establishment of ancient Gaelic royal and ecclesiastical sites, the settlement of Anglo-Norman invaders, to Scots settlers, to the St. Patrick's Day riots in the 1800s.

O'Laverty, the parish of Kilmore, in which Crossgar lies, was likely to have been established around 800 AD and was the ecclesiastical centre of this part of County Down.

O'Laverty says that by tradition this chapel was built by Saint Patrick and left in the care of his disciples Glasicus and Liberius.

[5] Parts of it from Downpatrick to Inch abbey then opened as a tourist attraction in late 2009 to celebrate the closing of the line 60 years ago.

Crossgar is classified as a village by the NI Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) (i.e. with population between 1,000 and 2,250 people).