Dundonald ()
is a large settlement and
civil parish
In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...
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 lies east of
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 ...
and is a suburb of the city. It is home to
Moat Park, the
Ulster Hospital
The Ulster Hospital, commonly known as the Ulster, is a teaching hospital in Dundonald (at the eastern edge of Belfast) in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is within the townland of Ballyregan, beside the A20 road. It provides acute services ...
, and
Dundonald International Ice Bowl.
History
The placename is first recorded as 'Dundouenald' in and later as 'Dundonnell'.
It comes from Irish ''Dún Dónaill'', 'Donald’s fort', referring to the
Norman fort built there when the area was part of the
Earldom of Ulster
The Earldom of Ulster was an Anglo-Norman lordship in north-eastern Ireland during the Middle Ages, ruled by the Earls of Ulster and part of the Lordship of Ireland. The Norman knight John de Courcy invaded the Gaelic Irish kingdom of Ulaid ...
.
The forename
Dónall is of
Gaelic
Gaelic (pronounced for Irish Gaelic and for Scots Gaelic) is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". It may refer to:
Languages
* Gaelic languages or Goidelic languages, a linguistic group that is one of the two branches of the Insul ...
origin, thus "it is likely that the place was named from a pre-Norman fort, perhaps on the same site".
It is one of the largest surviving
motte
A motte-and-bailey castle is a European fortification with a wooden or stone keep situated on a raised area of ground called a motte, accompanied by a walled courtyard, or Bailey (castle), bailey, surrounded by a protective Rampart (fortificati ...
s in Ireland, and stands in
Moat Park ('moat' being a corruption of 'motte').
St. Elizabeth's Church is located beside the moat, with the Cleland Mausoleum in the adjacent graveyard.
Dundonald acquired rail links to
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 ...
and
Newtownards
Newtownards (; ) is a town in County Down, Northern Ireland. It lies at the most northern tip of Strangford Lough, 10 miles (16 km) east of Belfast, on the Ards Peninsula. It is in the Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish of Newtow ...
in 1850,
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 1859 and
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 ...
in 1869. The town was located on the once extensive
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 the ...
mainline. The rail link with Belfast encouraged Dundonald to expand as a
commuter
Commuting is periodically recurring travel between a place of residence and place of work or study, where the traveler, referred to as a commuter, leaves the boundary of their home community. By extension, it can sometimes be any regular o ...
town, but in 1950 the railway line running through Dundonald was closed.
Dundonald railway station was opened on 6 May 1850, but finally closed on 24 April 1950.
The old railway line has now been converted to the Comber greenway, a pedestrian path running from East Belfast, through Dundonald to Comber. In the 1960s, Dundonald was deemed a small village. In the late 20th century, Dundonald saw a spike increase in housing developments, given its proximity to Belfast,
Bangor,
Stormont and
Ballyhackamore
Ballyhackamore () is a townland in County Down, Northern Ireland, it is a suburb of Belfast located on the Upper Newtownards Road. It is also a ward in the UK Parliamentary constituency of East Belfast.
''The Sunday Times'' named Ballyhackamor ...
.
Demography
For census purposes, Dundonald is not treated as a separate entity by the NI Statistics and Research Agency (
NISRA
The Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA, ) is an executive agency within the Department of Finance in Northern Ireland. The organisation is responsible for the collection and publication of statistics related to the economy, ...
). Instead, it is combined with a large part of east and southeast Belfast to form the "Castlereagh Urban Area". A fairly accurate population count can be found by combining the data of the electoral wards that make up Dundonald. These wards are Ballyhanwood 1, Carrowreagh, Dundonald, Enler, and Grahams Bridge. However, the wards also include part of the countryside surrounding Dundonald.
On the day of the
2011 census, held on 27 March 2011, the combined population of these wards was 16,098.
Of this population:
*71.3% were Protestant or from a Protestant background
*3.6% were Catholic or from a Catholic background
*25.1% were of other religious backgrounds or no religious background.
[Northern Ireland Census 2011 – Religion or Religion Brought Up In: KS212NI (administrative geographies)]
Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency
The Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA, ) is an executive agency within the Department of Finance (Northern Ireland), Department of Finance in Northern Ireland. The organisation is responsible for the collection and publicat ...
(NISRA).
Governance
Dundonald is represented in council governance by the Castlereagh East DEA. The members elected in
2019
This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year.
Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...
were:
Townlands
Dundonald sprang up within the small
parish
A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...
of the same name. Like the rest of the island of Ireland, this parish has long been divided into
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 ...
s, whose names mostly come from Gaelic. Over time, more rural townlands have been built upon and they have given their names to many roads and housing estates. The following is a list of townlands within Dundonald's urban area, alongside their likely
etymologies
Etymology ( ) is the study of the origin and evolution of words—including their constituent units of sound and meaning—across time. In the 21st century a subfield within linguistics, etymology has become a more rigorously scientific study. ...
:
*Ballybeen
*Ballymiscaw
*Ballyoran
*Ballyregan
*Carrowreagh
*Dunlady
Places of interest
There are two cemeteries in Dundonald,
St. Elizabeth's and
Dundonald Cemetery.
The Comber Greenway is a direct traffic free link into Belfast and it passes through Dundonald. It is used by thousands of cyclists and walkers on a daily basis.
The Old Mill, a historic water mill site dating back to 1752, which has been restored and renovated in 2023. It features a 35-foot waterwheel, one of the largest in Ireland, and sandstone building.
In 1986, The
Dundonald International Ice Bowl was opened in the town. This originally comprised an Olympic sized
ice rink
An ice rink (or ice skating rink) is a frozen body of water or an artificial sheet of ice where people can ice skate or play winter sports. Ice rinks are also used for exhibitions, contests and ice shows. The growth and increasing popularity of ...
and a 20 lane
AMF ten pin bowling alley. In later years, "Indianaland", a children's
Aztec
The Aztecs ( ) were a Mesoamerican civilization that flourished in central Mexico in the Post-Classic stage, post-classic period from 1300 to 1521. The Aztec people included different Indigenous peoples of Mexico, ethnic groups of central ...
themed indoor adventure playground was added along with
Laser Quest
Laser Quest is a British indoor laser tag franchise founded in Manchester, United Kingdom in 1989. Its laser tag games use infrared (IR) hand-held units and vests. Laser Quest's oldest centre is located in Stourbridge, West Midlands, Englan ...
, a simulated combat arena using laser tag equipment. The bowling alley was upgraded to 30 lanes in the 1990s and an extensive
miniature golf
Miniature golf (also known as minigolf, putt-putt, crazy golf, and by #Nomenclature, several other names) is an offshoot of the sport of golf focusing solely on the putting aspect of its parent game. The aim of the game is to score the lowest ...
course was built. The site also contains a
David Lloyd fitness centre. In 2006, the area was designated as the Dundonald Leisure Park, as part of the Draft Belfast Metropolitan Area Plan 2015. In 2008, an
Omniplex cinema was built on the opposite side of the Old Dundonald Road, together with several leisure and restaurant units, which later on now became what is now known as the OmniPark.
Dundonald's longest running public house originally was known as The Central Bar. It later became the Elk Inn after being purchased by the Elkin brothers. It is now known as Ruby's. Previous Dundonald pubs include; Cherryhill Inn, Quarry Inn, Kings Inn and The Old Moat Inn no longer exist, the latter burnt down in 2019.
The
Ulster Hospital
The Ulster Hospital, commonly known as the Ulster, is a teaching hospital in Dundonald (at the eastern edge of Belfast) in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is within the townland of Ballyregan, beside the A20 road. It provides acute services ...
is located in Dundonald, known colloquially as "The Ulster".
Sport
A number of local
association football
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...
teams play out of Dundonald,
Dundonald F.C. playing in 1C and 3C of the
Northern Amateur Football League
The Northern Amateur Football League, also known as the Northern Amateur League and often simply as the Amateur League, is an association football league in Northern Ireland. It contains 13 divisions. These comprise four intermediate sections: ...
. Dundonald Football Club is one of the oldest running amateur league clubs in Northern Ireland, established in 1953.
Moat Park Rangers and 43RD Old Boys Dundonald play in the
Down Area Winter Football League.
Dundonald has seen two football teams fold,
Donard Hospital F.C. and
St. Elizabeth's F.C.
The town's ice rink, the Dundonald Ice Bowl is home to the
Irish Ice Hockey League
The Irish Ice Hockey League, which ran from 2007 to 2010, was the highest league tier of ice hockey in Ireland. While amateur leagues had existed since the early 1980s, the league was founded in 2007/2008 by the Irish Ice Hockey Association (IIH ...
's
Junior Belfast Giants.
Ards motor racing Circuit
The Ards Circuit through Dundonald was a motorsport
street circuit
A street circuit is a motorsport race track, racing circuit composed of temporarily closed-off public roads of a city, town or village, used in motor racing, motor races. Airport Runway, runways and Taxiway, taxiways are also sometimes part of ...
used for
RAC Tourist Trophy
The RAC Tourist Trophy (sometimes called the International Tourist Trophy) is a motor racing award presented by the Royal Automobile Club (RAC) to the overall victor of a motor race in the United Kingdom. Established in 1905, it is the world's o ...
sports car races from 1928 until 1936. At the time, it was Northern Ireland's premier sporting event, regularly attracting crowds in excess of a quarter of a million people.
The pits at Dundonald were still visible until the 1960s. A popular viewing point for the Dundonald Hairpin Bend was the Central Bar in Dundonald.
Education
Dundonald has two primary schools, Dundonald Primary School and Brooklands Primary School. The local secondary school is
Dundonald High School. Dundonald also has two schools for those with special needs and learning difficulties: Tor Bank and Longstone Special School.
Notable people
*
Steven Agnew, politician
*
George Best
George Best (22 May 1946 – 25 November 2005) was a Northern Irish professional association football, footballer who played as a winger (association football), winger, spending most of his club career at Manchester United F.C., Manchester Un ...
, former footballer
*
Noel Brotherston, former footballer
*
Vivian Campbell
Vivian Patrick Campbell (born 25 August 1962) is a Northern Irish musician. He came to prominence in the early 1980s as the guitarist of Dio. He has also been the guitarist of Def Leppard since 1992 (replacing Steve Clark after his death). C ...
,
Def Leppard
Def Leppard are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Sheffield in 1977. Since 1992, the band has consisted of Rick Savage (bass, backing vocals), Joe Elliott (lead vocals), Rick Allen (drummer), Rick Allen (drums), Phil Collen (guitar, ...
guitarist
*
George Cassidy, jazz musician
[https://www.funeraltimes.com/georgecassidy84673923]
*
Glenn Ferguson
Glenn Ferguson (born 10 July 1969) is a Northern Irish former football player and manager.
Ferguson amassed over 1,000 domestic appearances in a career where he played for Ards, Glenavon, Linfield and Lisburn Distillery, and scored a tot ...
,
Linfield footballer
*
Gemma Garrett, model, former Miss Great Britain and Miss Belfast
*
Anne Gregg, BBC presenter and travel writer
*
Davy Larmour,
Crusaders
The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding ...
footballer
*
Barry McClements, Commonwealth Games para swimming medallist
*
Micky Modelle
Micky Modelle (born Michael Modine in 1972) is a disc jockey and record producer from Belfast, Northern Ireland.
Career
He came into the media spotlight in 2006, when he had a hit with Belgian singer Jessy, a remix of " Dancing in the Dark" wh ...
, DJ
*
Michael Moore
Michael Francis Moore is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and author. Moore's work frequently addresses various Social issue, social, political, and economic topics. He first became publicly known for his award-winning debut ...
, UK politician, born in town
*
Colin Murray
Colin Murray (born Colin Wright on 10 March 1977) is a Northern Irish radio and television presenter. He has hosted the Channel 4 game show '' Countdown'' since 2022.
Born and raised in Dundonald, east of Belfast, Murray first trained and wor ...
,
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and Contemporary hit radio, current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including ...
DJ
*
Peter
Peter may refer to:
People
* List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name
* Peter (given name)
** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church
* Peter (surname), a su ...
and
Iris Robinson
Iris Robinson (née Collins; born 6 September 1949) is a former Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) politician in Northern Ireland.
She is married to Peter Robinson, who was First Minister of Northern Ireland from 2008 to 2016.
Robinson was firs ...
, politicians
*
Chris Walker,
Glentoran
Glentoran Football Club is a professional football club based in East Belfast, Northern Ireland, that plays in the NIFL Premiership. The club was founded in 1882 and has since won more than 130 major honours. They are one of three Northern Iris ...
footballer
*
Paddy Wallace,
Rugby union
Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...
footballer
*
Agnes Romilly White, writer
Civil parish of Dundonald
The civil parish contains the settlement of Dundonald.
It also contains the following townlands:
[
*]Ballybeen
Ballybeen (), also known as Ballybeen Housing Estate, is the second-biggest housing estate in Northern Ireland. It is in the village of Dundonald, County Down, Dundonald, on the outskirts of east Belfast. It lies within the townlands of Ballybeen ...
* Ballylisbredan
* Ballymiscaw
* Ballyoran
* Ballyrainey
* Ballyregan
* Carrowreagh
* Castlebeg
* Church Quarter
* Dunlady
* Killeen
* Unicarval
See also
* List of civil parishes of County Down
* Dundonald Cemetery
References
{{authority control
Geography of Belfast
Towns in County Down