Ballyhackamore () is a townland in

County Down County Down () is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It covers an area of and has a population of 531,665. It borders County Antrim to the ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

, it is a suburb of

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

located on the Upper Newtownards Road. It is also a

ward Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...

in the UK Parliamentary constituency of East Belfast.

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, whi ...

named Ballyhackamore the Brunch Capital of Belfast in a 2018 article on the Best Places to live in Britain. The neighbourhood is the location of several restaurants and cafés as well as a range of local and national shops.

Transport

Ballyhackamore is served by the

Translink Translink (or TransLink) may refer to: * TransLink (British Columbia), the public transport operator in Vancouver, Canada * Translink (Northern Ireland) Translink is the brand name of the Northern Ireland Transport Holding Company (NITHCo), a ...

Glider G1 service. In addition

Metro Metro, short for metropolitan, may refer to: Geography * Metro (city), a city in Indonesia * A metropolitan area, the populated region including and surrounding an urban center Public transport * Rapid transit, a passenger railway in an urba ...

and

Ulsterbus Ulsterbus is a public transport operator in Northern Ireland and operates bus services outside Belfast. It is part of Translink, the brand name for the subsidiary operating companies of the Northern Ireland Transport Holding Company, which also ...

services stop here.

Places of note

Cyprus Avenue "Cyprus Avenue" is a song written by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison and included on his 1968 album ''Astral Weeks''. It refers to Cyprus Avenue, a residential street in Morrison's hometown of Belfast, Northern Ireland. In perfor ...

a residential street and

conservation area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural, ecological or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the ena ...

which lent its name to the

Van Morrison Sir George Ivan Morrison (born 31 August 1945), known professionally as Van Morrison, is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist whose recording career spans seven decades. He has won two Grammy Awards. As a teenager in t ...

song,

Neill's Hill railway station Neill's Hill railway station is a disused railway station / halt on the main line of the Belfast and County Down Railway. It ran from Queen's Quay, Belfast south to Newcastle, County Down in Northern Ireland. When the Belfast and County Down ...

a former halt on the

Belfast and County Down Railway The Belfast and County Down Railway (BCDR) was an Irish gauge () railway in Ireland (later Northern Ireland) linking Belfast with County Down. It was built in the 19th century and absorbed into the Ulster Transport Authority in 1948. All but th ...

line. *

Kincora Boys' Home The Kincora Boys' Home was a boys' home in Belfast, Northern Ireland that was the scene of serious organised child sexual abuse, causing a scandal and attempted cover-up in 1980, with allegations of state collusion.Dodd, Vikram; Norton-Taylor, Ric ...

, a home for boys that was the scene of serious organised abuse. *

Bloomfield Collegiate School Bloomfield Collegiate School is a controlled grammar school for girls in Ballyhackamore in Belfast, Northern Ireland. History Bloomfield was founded in 1905, one of a number of private school foundations of that era. It was originally proprie ...

, an Independent Grammar School for girls.

Notable people

Joe Bratty Joe Bratty (c. 1961 - 31 July 1994) was a Northern Irish loyalist paramilitary and a leading member of the Ulster Defence Association's South Belfast Brigade. The head of UDA activity in the area during one of the organisation's most active p ...

, loyalist paramilitary, lived in Ballyhackamore at the time of his death *

Judith Cochrane Judith Cochrane (born 31 October 1975) is an Alliance Party politician from Northern Ireland who was a member of Northern Ireland Assembly for the East Belfast constituency from 2011 to 2016. Early life Cochrane is a lifelong resident of East ...

, politician, had a constituency office in Ballyhackamore * Ian Geddes Davidson, Irish rugby union player, born in Ballyhackamore *

Gemma Garrett Gemma Dawn Garrett (born 25 September 1981, Belfast, Northern Ireland) is a former holder of the titles Miss Great Britain and Miss Ulster. She is the official face of the Formula One British Grand Prix at Silverstone. She appeared with Dolph L ...

, former Miss Great Britain, attended Bloomfield Collegiate *

Christine Lampard Christine Louise Lampard (''née'' Bleakley, born 2 February 1979) is a Northern Irish broadcaster. She has presented various television programmes with Adrian Chiles, such as ''The One Show'' (2007–2010) and '' Daybreak'' (2010–11), while w ...

, TV broadcaster, attended Bloomfield Collegiate *

Joan Lingard Joan Lingard MBE (8 April 1932 – 12 July 2022) was a Scottish writer. Lingard was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, but spent many years living in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Career Lingard wrote novels for both adults and children. She is kno ...

, Scottish novelist, grew up and lived in Ballyhackamore until the age of 18 *

Naomi Long Naomi Rachel Long MLA (née Johnston; born 13 December 1971) is a Northern Irish politician who served as Minister of Justice in the Northern Ireland Executive from January 2020 to October 2022. She has served as leader of the Alliance Party ...

, leader of the

Alliance Party of Northern Ireland The Alliance Party of Northern Ireland (APNI), or simply Alliance, is a liberal and centrist political party in Northern Ireland. As of the 2022 Northern Ireland Assembly election, it is the third-largest party in the Northern Ireland Assembly, ...

, attended Bloomfield Collegiate *

Paddy O'Flaherty Paddy O'Flaherty (1942/43 – 27 September 2016) was a broadcaster and journalist for BBC Northern Ireland. He was known for his work on BBC Radio Ulster, including Good Morning Ulster and Evening Extra, as well as his love for country music. ...

, broadcaster and journalist *

Elaine Shemilt Elaine Shemilt (born 7 May 1954) is a British artist and researcher especially known as a fine art printmaker."The Best of Printmaking", Lynne Allen (Editor), Phyllis McGibbon (Editor) (Rockport Publishers Inc. 1997, )/ref> Her work does not t ...

, fine art printmaker, attended Bloomfield Collegiate

In popular culture

*Ballyhackamore – "Town of the big horses”, an

NVTV NVTV, also known as Northern Visions Television, is a local community television station based in the city of Belfast. It is operated by the Northern Visions media and arts project, and although some staff are employed by the station, most involv ...

television programme *Cyprus Avenue, a Van Morrison song

References

{{reflist Townlands of County Down Electoral wards of Belfast Districts of Belfast