Holywood ( ; ) is a town in the metropolitan area 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 ...

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 a

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 ...

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 ...

of lying on the shore of

Belfast Lough Belfast Lough () is a large sea inlet on the east coast of Northern Ireland. At its head is the city and port of Belfast, which sits at the mouth of the River Lagan. The lough opens into the North Channel and connects Belfast to the Irish ...

, between Belfast and Bangor. Holywood Exchange and Belfast City Airport are nearby.

Toponymy

The English name ''Holywood'' comes . This was the name 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 ...

gave to the woodland surrounding the

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of Monasticism, monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in Cenobitic monasticism, communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a ...

of St Laiseran, son of Nasca. The monastery was founded by Laiseran before 640 and was on the site of the present Holywood Priory. The earliest

Anglicised Anglicisation or anglicization is a form of cultural assimilation whereby something non-English becomes assimilated into or influenced by the culture of England. It can be sociocultural, in which a non-English place adopts the English language ...

form appears as ''Haliwode'' in a 14th-century document. The Irish name for Holywood is ''Ard Mhic Nasca'' meaning "high ground of Mac Nasca".

History

In the early 19th century, Holywood, like many other coastal villages throughout Ireland, became popular as a

resort A resort (North American English) is a self-contained commercial establishment that aims to provide most of a vacationer's needs. This includes food, drink, swimming, accommodation, sports, entertainment and shopping, on the premises. A hotel ...

for sea-bathing. Many wealthy

merchants chose the town and the surrounding area to build large homes for themselves. These included the Kennedys of

Cultra Cultra ( - ) is an affluent residential neighbourhood near Holywood, County Down, Northern Ireland. It is part of Greater Belfast. It is in the Ards and North Down Borough Council area. Cultra is home to the Royal North of Ireland Yacht ...

and the Harrisons of Holywood. Dalchoolin House stood on the site of the present

Ulster Transport Museum Both the Ulster Folk Museum and Ulster Transport Museum are situated in Cultra, Northern Ireland, about east of the city of Belfast. Now operating as two separate museums, the Folk Museum endeavours to illustrate the way of life and traditions ...

, while Cultra Manor was built between 1902–04 and now houses the Ulster Folk Museum. The railway line from Belfast to Holywood opened in 1848, and this led to rapid development. The population of Holywood was approximately 3,500 in 1900 and had grown to 12,000 by 2001. This growth, coupled with that of other towns and villages along the coastal strip to Bangor, necessitated the construction of the Holywood Bypass which was completed in 1972. The Old Priory ruins lie at the bottom of the High Street. The tower dates from 1800, but the oldest ruins date from the early 13th century. The Priory graveyard is the resting place for many distinguished

citizens Citizenship is a membership and allegiance to a sovereign state. Though citizenship is often conflated with nationality in today's English-speaking world, international law does not usually use the term ''citizenship'' to refer to nationality; ...

including the educational reformer, Robert Sullivan, and the Praeger family. Sullivan Upper Grammar School is named after Robert Sullivan.

Robert Lloyd Praeger Robert Lloyd Praeger (25 August 1865 – 5 May 1953) was an Irish naturalist, writer and librarian. Biography Early life and education From a Unitarian background, he was born and raised in Holywood, County Down; he had four brothers and a ...

(1865–1953) was an internationally renowned

botanist Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

and his sister, Rosamond Praeger (1867–1954), gained fame as a

sculptor Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

and writer. On 17 June 1994, Garnet Bell, a former pupil bearing a grudge, entered an assembly hall at Sullivan Upper School and used a flamethrower to attack students taking

A-level The A-level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational ...

examinations. Six pupils were injured; three of them seriously. On 12 April 2010, at around 12:24am, a car bombing occurred near

Palace Barracks Palace Barracks, Holywood is a military installation and the Northern Ireland headquarters of MI5, in Holywood, County Down, Northern Ireland. History Palace Barracks occupies the site of a palatial house known as "Ardtullagh", the home of the ...

, a

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

barracks on the edge of Holywood's town centre. An elderly man was blown off his feet and had to be treated in hospital. The bomb was allegedly driven towards the base in a hijacked taxi. The

Real IRA The Real Irish Republican Army, or Real IRA (RIRA), was a Dissident republican, dissident Irish republican paramilitary group that aimed to bring about a United Ireland. It was formed in 1997 following a split in the Provisional Irish Republica ...

claimed responsibility for the attack. HolywoodFirstPres

Demography

As of the

2011 United Kingdom census A Census in the United Kingdom, census of the population of the United Kingdom is taken every ten years. The 2011 census was held in all countries of the UK on 27 March 2011. It was the first UK census which could be completed online via the Inter ...

on 27 March, there were 11,257 people living in Holywood. Of these: *18.29% were under 16 years of age and 18.79% were 65 or older *48.99% were male and 51.01% were female *62.25% were from a

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

or other Christian background and 23.11% were from a

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

Christian background. *3.39% of people aged 16–74 were unemployed.

Places of interest

*Holywood is known for its

maypole A maypole is a tall wooden pole erected as a part of various European List of folk festivals, folk festivals, around which a maypole dance often takes place. The festivals may occur on May Day, 1 May or Pentecost (Whitsun), although in some co ...

at the crossroads in the centre of town. Its origin is uncertain, but, according to local folklore, it dates from 1700, when a Dutch ship is said to have run aground on the

shore A coast (coastline, shoreline, seashore) is the land next to the sea or the line that forms the boundary between the land and the ocean or a lake. Coasts are influenced by the topography of the surrounding landscape and by aquatic erosion, su ...

nearby, and the crew erected the broken

mast Mast, MAST or MASt may refer to: Engineering * Mast (sailing), a vertical spar on a sailing ship * Flagmast, a pole for flying a flag * Guyed mast, a structure supported by guy-wires * Mooring mast, a structure for docking an airship * Radio mas ...

to show their appreciation of the assistance offered to them by the townsfolk. It was the only surviving original maypole in Ireland, but was severely damaged in high winds in February 2021 and had to be replaced. * The nearby Maypole Bar is known locally as Ned's. *There is a

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 9th and 10th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norma ...

motte in the town which may have been constructed on an earlier burial mound. *The

Ulster Folk and Transport Museum Both the Ulster Folk Museum and Ulster Transport Museum are situated in Cultra, Northern Ireland, about east of the city of Belfast. Now operating as two separate museums, the Folk Museum endeavours to illustrate the way of life and traditions ...

illustrating the way of life and traditions of the people of

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 ...

is nearby, at

Transport

On 2 August 1848, the first leg of 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 the ...

, or BCDR, was opened from

to Holywood. The Holywood railway station opened simultaneously. The railway line was extended via the Belfast, Holywood and Bangor Railway (BHBR) to Bangor, and the extension opened on 1 May 1865. The BCDR acquired the BHBR in 1884. Holywood station was closed for goods traffic on 24 April 1950.

Wildlife

Records of the marine

algae Algae ( , ; : alga ) is an informal term for any organisms of a large and diverse group of photosynthesis, photosynthetic organisms that are not plants, and includes species from multiple distinct clades. Such organisms range from unicellular ...

include: '' Polysiphonia elongata'', ''Laurencia obtusa'', ''Chondria dasyphylla'', ''Pterothamnion plumula'', ''Rhodophyllis divaricate'', and ''Coccotylus truncates''.

Industry

The Crosslé Car Company, a manufacturer of

racing cars Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. In North America, the term is commonly used to describe all forms of automobile sport including n ...

is based in Holywood.

Education

The town contains the following schools: Holywood Primary School, Holywood Nursery School, Holywood Rudolf Steiner School, Priory Integrated College,

Rockport School Rockport School is an independent day and boarding school for boys and girls from 2.5 years to 18 years in the British Public School tradition. It is situated in of woodland on the shore of Belfast Lough in Craigavad, near Holywood, County D ...

, St. Patrick's Primary School, and Sullivan Preparatory School and Sullivan Upper School.

Sport

Holywood is home to Formula One driver, Eddie Irvine and Formula 3 Driver (2020), Christian Lester.

Cricket

Holywood Cricket Club was formed at Kinnegar in 1881. It moved to Belfast Road in 1885 and then to the present ground at Seapark Road in 1996.

Football

Holywood F.C. is a

Northern Irish The people of Northern Ireland are all people born in Northern Ireland and having, at the time of their birth, at least one parent who is a British Nationality Law, British citizen, an Irish nationality law, Irish citizen or is otherwis ...

intermediate football club playing in Division 1B 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: ...

GAA

St. Paul's Gaelic Football Club was founded in 1979 as an amalgamation of the Holywood, Bangor, and Newtownards clubs.

Golf

Holywood Golf Club, founded in 1904 is where 2011 US Open, 2012 US PGA, The Open 2014, 2014 US PGA, and 2025 Masters champion

Rory McIlroy Rory Daniel McIlroy (born 4 May 1989) is a Northern Irish professional golfer who plays on the European Tour and the PGA Tour. He is a former world number one in the Official World Golf Ranking and has spent over 100 weeks in that position du ...

learned his golf, and he still calls it his home course. Nearby Craigavad is the home of the Royal Belfast Golf Club, the oldest in Ireland, dating from 1881. The club's present course was designed by architect Harry Colt in 1926.

Notable people

Mark Adair Mark Richard Adair (born 27 March 1996) is an Irish international cricketer from Northern Ireland, currently playing for Northern Knights (cricket team), Northern Knights in domestic cricket. He has played county cricket in England for Warwick ...

, former cricketer for

Warwickshire County Cricket Club Warwickshire County Cricket Club is one of eighteen first-class cricket, first-class county cricket, county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the Historic counties of England, historic county of ...

; former Sullivan Upper School pupil * Desmond Boal, QC, leading Northern Ireland barrister and former Stormont MP, resided in Holywood * Charles Brett, architectural historian, born in Holywood * Fr. Stephen Brown, SJ, writer, librarian, founder of the Central Catholic Library (in Dublin), was born in Holywood * Barbara Callcott, Australian television personality, born in Holywood *

Darren Cave Darren Cave (born 5 April 1987) is a retired professional Irish rugby union player who played centre for Ulster, sharing the province's appearance record with Andrew Trimble and Rob Herring with 229, and won eleven caps for Ireland. Early care ...

, played rugby for Ulster Rugby and helped Ireland Under-20 win the Six Nations Grand Slam in 2007 * Robert Cunningham (died 1637) first Presbyterian minister *

Jamie Dornan James Peter Maxwell Dornan (; born 1 May 1982) is an actor, model, and musician from Northern Ireland. The recipient of two Irish Film and Television Awards, he has been nominated for a BAFTA Television Award and a Golden Globe Award. In 202 ...

, actor, model * Hubert Dunn, judge and author of a book on Francis Ledwidge *

Garth Ennis Garth Ennis (born 16 January 1970) is a Northern Irish-American comics writer, best known for the Vertigo series ''Preacher'' with artist Steve Dillon, his nine-year run on Marvel Comics' ''Punisher'' franchise, and '' The Boys'' with artist Dar ...

, comic writer * Henry Harrison, MP, secretary to

Charles Stewart Parnell Charles Stewart Parnell (27 June 1846 – 6 October 1891) was an Irish nationalist politician who served as a Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) in the United Kingdom from 1875 to 1891, Leader of the Home Rule Leag ...

, is buried in the Priory graveyard in the centre of Holywood * Maurice Jay,

U105 U105 is a Belfast, Northern Ireland, based radio station, providing a mix of music and speech as well as hourly news bulletins. It is owned by News Broadcasting and was launched at 6am on 14 November 2005. U105 broadcasts on 105.8 FM in Belfa ...

radio station presenter *

Bap Kennedy Martin Christopher Kennedy (17 June 1962 – 1 November 2016), known as Bap Kennedy, was a singer-songwriter from Belfast, Northern Ireland. He was noted for his collaborations with Steve Earle, Van Morrison, Shane MacGowan and Mark Knopfler, as ...

, singer-songwriter and record producer *

Tom Kerr Tom Kerr was a British comic strip artist whose work has appeared in comics such as ''Look-in'', the ''Eagle'', '' Valiant'', and '' TV21''. He has also drawn for many annuals of the 1960s and 1970s, including the ''Monkees'' annuals, ''Look-i ...

, comic strip artist * Stephen Martin,

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

and

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 ...

field hockey international * Robert McCartney, QC, leading barrister and ex-UK Unionist Westminster MP for North Down (1995–2001); resides in Holywood. *

Alban Maginness Alban Maginness (born 9 July 1950) is a Northern Irish Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) politician who was a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for Belfast North from 1998 to 2016. Early life and education Maginness was born ...

, lawyer and

Social Democratic and Labour Party The Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP; ) is a social democratic and Irish nationalist political party in Northern Ireland. The SDLP currently has eight members in the Northern Ireland Assembly ( MLAs) and two members of Parliament (M ...

(SDLP) politician; born in Holywood. *

, professional golfer. Winner of the 2011 U.S. Open, 2012 PGA Championship, 2014 Open Championship, 2014 PGA Championship, and

2025 Masters Tournament The 2025 Masters Tournament was the 89th edition of the Masters Tournament and the first of the men's four major golf championships held in 2025. The tournament was played from April 10–13 at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia, U ...

. *

Margaret Mountford Margaret Rose Mountford (''née'' Swale, born 24 November 1951) is a British lawyer, businesswoman, academic and television personality from Holywood, County Down, Northern Ireland, best known for her role in the BBC reality TV series '' The Ap ...

, lawyer, businesswoman and advisor to

Alan Sugar Alan Michael Sugar, Baron Sugar (born 24 March 1947) is a British business magnate, media personality, author, politician, and political adviser. Sugar began what would later become his largest business venture, consumer electronics company A ...

. *

Dermot Murnaghan Dermot John Murnaghan (; born 26 December 1957) is a British media personality, notable as a journalist, news reporter and television host. He has been a presenter for numerous networks including at Channel 4, a news presenter at CNBC Europe, I ...

is a television news anchorman whose family moved to Holywood where he lived just off Church View and attended Sullivan Upper School. * Rachel O'Reilly, chemist and

Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry Fellowship of the Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC) is one of the most prestigious awards conferred by the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) in the United Kingdom. Existing Fellows include award winning scientists and Nobel prize winners. FRSC awa ...

; born and educated in Holywood. * Rosamond Praeger, artist, sculptor and writer; younger sister of the naturalist

* Davy Sims broadcaster and writer, former head of BBC Northern Ireland New Media; born and raised in Holywood *

Michael Smiley Michael Smiley (born 1963) is a Northern Irish comedian and actor. He is well known for his roles in the films ''Kill List'' (2011) and '' The Lobster'' (2015). He has also made appearances in British television series such as ''Spaced'', '' Lut ...

, comedian, writer and actor *

Clive Standen Clive James Standen (born July 22, 1981) is an English actor best known for playing Bryan Mills in the NBC series '' Taken'' (2017–2018), based on the film trilogy of the same name, as well as Rollo in the History Channel series ''Vikings'' ...

, an actor, born in Holywood *

John St. Clair Boyd John St. Clair Boyd (1858–1918) was an Irish gynaecologist, surgeon and first president of the Belfast Gaelic League. Biography Boyd was born at Cultra House, Holywood, Co. Down as the only son of John Kane Boyd, co-proprietor of the Blackstaf ...

, born in Holywood * Shane Todd, comedian, writer and actor. * Peter Woodman, archaeologist, brought up in Holywood

References

{{Authority control Towns in County Down Seaside resorts in Northern Ireland Civil parish of Holywood Townlands of County Down World War II prisoner-of-war camps in the United Kingdom World War II sites in Northern Ireland