~ Tourism Ireland’s 2016 Game of Thrones® campaign is showcasing Northern Ireland to millions of fans worldwide ~

Episode three of the sixth season of Game of Thrones® aired last night (Monday, 9 May) and Tourism Ireland unveiled its third ‘Door of Thrones’ – this week in the Percy French Restaurant in the grounds of the Slieve Donard Hotel in Newcastle, Co Down.

The door is part of Tourism Ireland’s 2016 Game of Thrones® campaign, created in partnership with HBO, which is showcasing Northern Ireland to millions of the show’s fans worldwide.

The organisation is encouraging fans everywhere to come and “witness where it all began in Winterfell at Castle Ward, enter the grasslands of Vaes Dothrak in the Mourne Mountains, or dare to march in the footsteps of a White Walker in Tollymore Forest.

Earlier this year, the Dark Hedges – the Game of Thrones® filming location known to the people of Westeros as the Kingsroad – were battered by Storm Gertrude. Tourism Ireland saved the trees that fell that day, to turn them into a piece of Game of Thrones® history for fans – creating 10 intricately carved doors, each one telling the story of the latest episode in season six.

The doors are being unveiled by Tourism Ireland each week as season six unfolds, in restaurants, pubs and other venues near Game of Thrones® filming locations across Northern Ireland – so, by the end of this season, we’ll have a brand new Game of Thrones® trail linking the major filming locations around Northern Ireland. The first door (from episode one) is hanging in The Cuan guest inn in Strangford – near the filming locations of Castle Ward and Audley’s Castle. The second door is hanging in Fiddlers Green in Portaferry, near Quintin Bay. This week’s door, in the Percy French restaurant, is near Tollymore Forest Park.

Tourism Ireland has also unveiled its third – limited edition – Game of Thrones® stamp, another element of its campaign.