Dundrum () is a
village
A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...
and
townland
A townland (; Ulster-Scots: ''toonlann'') is a traditional small land division used in Ireland and in the Western Isles of Scotland, typically covering . The townland system is of medieval Gaelic origin, predating the Norman invasion, and mo ...
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 552,261. It borders County Antrim to the ...
,
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...
. It is beside
Dundrum Bay, about 4 miles outside
Newcastle
Newcastle usually refers to:
*Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England, United Kingdom
*Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom
*Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area ...
on the A2 road. The village is best known for its ruined
Norman castle
A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...
. It had a population of 1,555 people at the
2011 census.
[ This article contains quotations from this source, which is available under th]
Open Government Licence v3.0
© Crown copyright.
History
Norman times
In 1177, the
Normans
The Normans (Norman language, Norman: ''Normaunds''; ; ) were a population arising in the medieval Duchy of Normandy from the intermingling between Norsemen, Norse Viking settlers and locals of West Francia. The Norse settlements in West Franc ...
, who
had conquered great swathes of Ireland, invaded eastern
Ulster
Ulster (; or ; or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional or historic provinces of Ireland, Irish provinces. It is made up of nine Counties of Ireland, counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kingdom); t ...
and captured territories along its coast.
John de Courcy, who had led the invasion, began building
Dundrum Castle in the early
13th century
The 13th century was the century which lasted from January 1, 1201 (represented by the Roman numerals MCCI) through December 31, 1300 (MCCC) in accordance with the Julian calendar.
The Mongol Empire was founded by Genghis Khan, which stretched ...
on top of an earlier fort, "Dun Rury" (Rudraige), which was a seat for the remaining Ulaid tribes east of the
River Bann
The River Bann (from , meaning "the goddess"; Ulster Scots dialects, Ulster-Scots: ''Bann Wattèr'') is the longest rivers, river in Northern Ireland, its length, Upper and Lower Bann combined, being 129 km (80 mi). The total length ...
, after the collapse of the kingdom in the 4th century. The castle was to guard the land routes from
Drogheda
Drogheda ( , ; , meaning "bridge at the ford") is an industrial and port town in County Louth on the east coast of Ireland, north of Dublin. It is located on the Dublin–Belfast corridor on the east coast of Ireland, mostly in County Louth ...
to
Downpatrick
Downpatrick () is a town in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is on the Lecale peninsula, about south of Belfast. In the Middle Ages, it was the capital of the Dál Fiatach, the main ruling dynasty of Ulaid. Down Cathedral, Its cathedral is sai ...
. In 1203, de Courcy was expelled from Ulster by fellow Norman
Hugh de Lacy, 1st Earl of Ulster. Two years later, de Courcy tried to re-take the castle but failed. It was visited by
King John in 1210, who spent money for minor works to the castle and paid for a garrison there.
15th century
Dundrum castle was held by the
Earls of Ulster until the
15th century
The 15th century was the century which spans the Julian calendar dates from 1 January 1401 (represented by the Roman numerals MCDI) to 31 December 1500 (MD).
In Europe, the 15th century includes parts of the Late Middle Ages, the Early Re ...
, it was captured by the
Magennis
Magennis (), also spelled Maguiness or McGuinness, is an Irish surname, meaning the "son of Angus", which in eastern Ulster was commonly pronounced in Irish as ''Mag''/''Mac Aonghusa''. A prominent branch of the '' Uíbh Eachach Cobha'', the Ma ...
es of Mourne, a Gaelic clan. In 1517, the
Earl of Kildare
Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. In modern Britain, an earl is a member of the peerage, ranking below a marquess and above a viscount. A feminine form of ''earl'' never developed; instead, ''countess'' is used.
The titl ...
briefly captured the castle, as did the
Lord Deputy Leonard Grey, 1st Viscount Grane in 1538. The castle was surrendered to the
English Crown
This list of kings and reigning queens of the Kingdom of England begins with Alfred the Great, who initially ruled Wessex, one of the seven Anglo-Saxon kingdoms which later made up modern England. Alfred styled himself king of the Anglo-Sax ...
in 1601 by Phelim Magennis, granted to Edward Lord Cromwell and sold to the Blundell family. The Magennises re-took the castle during the
Irish Confederate Wars/Eleven Years' War (1641–1653) but lost it to the
Parliamentarians ("Roundheads") of the contenders versus the
Cavaliers
The term ''Cavalier'' () was first used by Roundheads as a term of abuse for the wealthier royalist supporters of Charles I of England and his son Charles II of England, Charles II during the English Civil War, the Interregnum (England), Int ...
of
King Charles I in the simultaneous
English Civil War
The English Civil War or Great Rebellion was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Cavaliers, Royalists and Roundhead, Parliamentarians in the Kingdom of England from 1642 to 1651. Part of the wider 1639 to 1653 Wars of th ...
. The Blundells returned after the civil war during the
Restoration of the Monarchy and built the house on the south edge of the castle.
19th century
In 1806,
Arthur Hill, 3rd Marquess of Downshire engaged engineers to develop the area. They recommended deepening the harbour to allow larger vessels to trade. By 1825 they had completed a new pier over long.

The
SS Great Britain ran aground in Dundrum Bay in 1846. There was no loss of life but it took nearly a year to refloat.
From 1866 a new iron
screw steamer provided a service to
Whitehaven
Whitehaven is a town and civil parish in the Cumberland (unitary authority), Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. It is a port on the north-west coast, and lies outside the Lake District National parks of England and Wales, National Park. ...
,
Cumbria
Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders the Scottish council areas of Dumfries and Galloway and Scottish Borders to the north, Northumberland and County Durham to the east, North Yorkshire to the south-east, Lancash ...
and Dundrum became commercially important for both goods and passengers.
It later lost trade to the deeper harbours of
Warrenpoint and
Belfast
Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...
but Dundrum remained a commercial port until 1984.
20th century
In 1967, nearby
Murlough became
Ireland
Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
's first nature reserve.
Transport
Dundrum railway station was opened by the
Belfast & County Down Railway on 25 March 1869 and operated until 16 January 1950.
Sport
Dundrum Cricket Club plays in the
NCU Senior League
The Northern Cricket Union (NCU) Senior League is the provincial cricket league within the Northern Cricket Union of Ireland, NCU jurisdiction in Ireland, which covers counties County Antrim, Antrim, County Armagh, Armagh, County Down, Down and so ...
. Dundrum also has a Gaelic football club whose senior men play in Down's division 4 league and junior championship. Dundrum also have a senior men's football club Dundrum United FC who play in the Premier division of the Newcastle league.
Climate
People
*
Dr. James J. Drumm (1897–1974), inventor of the
Drumm battery used in the
Drumm Battery Train, was born in Dundrum.
*
Leontia Flynn (born 1974), poet
*
Gabrielle Glaister (born 1960), television actress, has a house in Dundrum and is a frequent resident.
*
Patrick Kielty (born 1971), comedian and television presenter, was born and grew up in Dundrum
Demography
On Census Day 2011 (27 March 2011), the usually resident population of Dundrum was 1,555, accounting for 0.09% of the NI total.
[ Of these:
* 22.77% were under 16 years old and 13.50% were aged 65 and above;
* 48.04% of the population were male and 51.96% were female; and
* 60.51% were from a Catholic community background and 32.54% were from a 'Protestant and Other Christian (including Christian related)' community background.
* 41.03% indicated that they had a British national identity, 32.15% had an Irish national identity, and 33.12% had a Northern Irish national identity.
]
References
External links
Environment and Heritage Service
Down County Museum
Culture Northern Ireland
{{authority control
Villages in County Down
Townlands of County Down
Civil parish of Kilmegan