Kilcooley estate (From Irish: ''Cill Chúile)'' is a

housing estate A housing estate (or sometimes housing complex or housing development) is a group of homes and other buildings built together as a single development. The exact form may vary from country to country. Popular throughout the United States a ...

owned by the

Northern Ireland Housing Executive The Northern Ireland Housing Executive is the public housing authority for Northern Ireland. It is Northern Ireland's largest social housing landlord, and the enforcing authority for those parts of housing orders that involve houses with multiple ...

on the outskirts of Bangor,

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 ...

. The residents of the area are predominantly

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

, and the area has strong links with

loyalism Loyalism, in the United Kingdom, its overseas territories and its former colonies, refers to the allegiance to the British crown or the United Kingdom. In North America, the most common usage of the term refers to loyalty to the British Cro ...

History

The name ''Kilcooley'' is derived from the

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

name ''Cill Chúile''. Kilcooley Estate was built from the 1960s to the 1980s. Much of the estate was built between 1967 and 1976 to re-house people displaced from inner city areas of Belfast. There is a significant

loyalist Loyalism, in the United Kingdom, its overseas territories and its former colonies, refers to the allegiance to the British crown or the United Kingdom. In North America, the most common usage of the term refers to loyalty to the British Cro ...

paramilitary presence in the estate and there has been incidents of public disorder most notably in 2007 when the

Ulster Defence Association The Ulster Defence Association (UDA) is an Ulster loyalism, Ulster loyalist paramilitary group in Northern Ireland. It was formed in September 1971 as an umbrella group for various loyalist groups and Timeline of Ulster Defence Association act ...

(UDA) was blamed for instigating riots. Kilcooley estate is situated approximately three miles west of Bangor town centre and is bounded by two major roads, the West Circular Road on the East and the Belfast Road on the West. Kilcooley is the third largest housing estate in Northern Ireland. However, attempts have been made to improve the public image of the estate and various community forums have been created to implement this. In July 2007 Kilcooley Community Forum received £113,000 and Kilcooley Women's Centre received £115,000 in funding from the Department for Social Development. On 2 June 2017, Queen Elizabeth announced in the London Gazette that she had awarded Kilcooley Women's Centre the 'Queens Award for Voluntary Service' in recognition of the service to the community from 1995. In 2020 the centre celebrated its 25th anniversary of supporting women, children and families in the Borough of Ards North Down.

Gallery

Image:Kilcooey Estate.jpg, Kilcooley Estate, 2007 Image:Kilcooley.jpg,

Red Hand Commando The Red Hand Commando (RHC) is a small Ulster loyalist paramilitary group in Northern Ireland that is closely linked to the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF). Its aim was to combat Irish republicanism – particularly the Irish Republican Army (IRA ...

memorial for Jim Johnston Image:Kilcooley art.jpg, Local mural Image:Innishargie.jpg, UFF 'C' Company mural

References

* https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/61945/supplement/J4 {{coord, 54.654173, -5.707998, display=title Bangor, County Down Housing estates in Northern Ireland