- Dundonald
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For other uses, see Dundonald (disambiguation).
Coordinates: 54°35′38″N 5°48′47″W / 54.594°N 5.813°W
Dundonald Scots: Dundonal[1] Irish: Dún Dónaill 
Dundonald shown within Northern IrelandPopulation 13,900 (estimate based on 2001 Census, see below) District Castlereagh County County Down Country Northern Ireland Sovereign state United Kingdom Post town BELFAST Postcode district BT16 Dialling code 028 EU Parliament Northern Ireland UK Parliament Strangford NI Assembly Strangford List of places: UK • Northern Ireland • Down Dundonald (from Irish: Dún Dónaill, meaning "Dónall's stronghold")[2] is a large settlement in County Down, Northern Ireland. It lies east of Belfast and is often deemed to be a suburb of the city. It includes the large housing estate of Ballybeen, and many new housing estates have emerged in the past ten years.
Contents
History
Dundonald refers to a 12th century Norman fort, or Dún, Dún Dónaill, that stood in the town. One of the largest in Ireland, the man-made hill that the fort stood on is still in existence.[citation needed]
Although the mound is commonly referred to as 'the moat' this is, in fact, a corruption of the word 'motte' and refers to the fact that this defensive structure was built in the style of a motte and bailey.[citation needed] St. Elizabeth's Church is located beside the moat, with the Cleland Mausoleum in the adjacent graveyard.[citation needed]
Dundonald acquired rail links to Belfast and Newtownards in 1850, Downpatrick in 1859 and Newcastle in 1869. The rail link with Belfast encouraged Dundonald to expand as a commuter town, but in 1950 the railway line running through Dundonald was closed. Dundonald station was opened on 6 May 1850, but finally closed on 24 April 1950.[3]
Until the 1960s, Dundonald was a small village.[citation needed] A number of property developments, most notably the housing estate Ballybeen, were then built and Dundonald's population rapidly grew.[citation needed]
Demography
For census purposes, Dundonald is not treated as a separate entity by the NI Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA).[4] 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.[citation needed] These wards are Ballyhanwood 1, Carrowreagh, Dundonald, Enler, and Grahams Bridge.[citation needed] However, the wards also include part of the countryside surrounding Dundonald.[citation needed]
On the day of the last census (29 April 2001), the combined population of these wards was 13,985. This is within the bounds of the medium-sized town (a population between 10,000 and 18,000).[citation needed]
Townlands
Dundonald sprang up within the small parish of the same name. Like the rest of Ireland, this parish has long been divided into townlands, whose names mostly come from the Irish language. 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:[5]
- Ballybeen (likely from Baile Binne meaning "townland of the peak" or Baile Bín meaning "Bín's townland")
- Ballymiscaw (likely from Baile Lios na Scáth meaning "townland of the fort of shadows")
- Ballyoran (likely from Baile Fhuaráin meaning "townland of the spring")
- Ballyregan (likely from Baile Uí Riagáin meaning "Ó Riagáin's townland")
- Carrowreagh (likely from an Cheathrú Riabhach meaning "the speckled quarterland")
- Dunlady (likely from Dún Léide meaning "Léide's stronghold")
Places of interest
A 300 year old watermill is located on the Belfast Road in the town.[citation needed] The sandstone building has been extensively restored and includes a brasserie, gift shop and a 35 foot waterwheel, the largest in Ireland.[citation needed]
The Comber Greenway is a direct traffic free link into Belfast and it passes through Dundonald. It is enjoyed by thousands of cyclists and walkers on a daily basis. This area of tranquility is currently under threat by the proposed rapid transport link into Belfast.
In 1986, The Dundonald International Ice Bowl was opened in the town. This originally comprised an Olympic sized ice rink and a 20 lane AMF ten pin bowling alley. In later years, "Indianaland", a children's indoor adventure playground was added along with Laser Quest, a simulated combat arena using laser tag equipment. The bowling alley was upgraded to 30 lanes in the 1990s and an extensive miniature golf course has recently been 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.[citation needed] In 2008, an Omniplex cinema was built on the opposite side of the Old Dundonald Road, together with several leisure and restaurant units.[6]
The Ulster Hospital is located in Dundonald, known colloquially as "The Ulster".
Sport
From 1928 to 1936, the RAC Tourist Trophy (TT) motorcar races took place on a (closed) road circuit encompassing Newtownards, Comber and Dundonald in County Down, run in a clockwise direction.[7] The pits were still visible up until the 1960s.[citation needed] A popular viewing point was the hairpin bend at the Central Bar in Dundonald.[citation needed] Industrialist and pioneer of the modern agricultural tractor, Harry Ferguson, was instrumental in setting up the race, which was known as the Ards TT.[citation needed]
A number of local football teams play in the Down Area Winter Football League, "Dundonald F.C." "Moat Park Rangers" and "43RD Old Boys" are the three clubs that are well known in the town.
At the time, it was Northern Ireland’s premier sporting event, regularly attracting crowds in excess of a quarter of a million people.[citation needed] Although it was a speed event, the entries were handicapped in order to allow cars of very different sizes and capabilities to race against each other on supposedly even terms over 30 laps (35 laps from 1933) of the 13.7 mile circuit. On September 5, 1936, in wet conditions, local driver Jack Chambers lost control of his Riley and crashed into the crowd, killing eight spectators. This tragedy brought an end to nine years of racing over the Ards road circuit.[7][8]
The town's ice rink, the Dundonald Ice Bowl is home to the Irish Ice Hockey League's Junior Belfast Giants.
People
- Vivian Campbell, guitarist Def Leppard
- Davy Larmour, Crusaders footballer
- Colin Murray, BBC Radio 1 DJ
- Peter and Iris Robinson, politicians
- Chris Walker, Glentoran footballer
- Gemma Garrett Model, Current Miss Great Britain and Miss Belfast
- Anne Gregg, BBC presenter and travel writer
- Paul Reid, BBC Northern Ireland Continuity Director
- Paddy Wallace, Rugby union footballer
- Micky Modelle, DJ
- Michael Moore, UK politician - Born in town.
- Matthew Downey, Editor of Techwhirl
- Glenn Ferguson Linfield footballer
Gallery
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The Cleland Mausoleum in St. Elizabeth's Churchyard, with the Moat in the background.
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The Moat.
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View of Dundonald from The Moat, Belfast in the distance.
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The former National School (now part of Dundonald Presbyterian Church), Church Green, built in 1844.
References
- ^ 2002 annual report in Ulster-Scots NSMC.
- ^ Placenames Database of Ireland
- ^ "Dundonald station". Railscot - Irish Railways. http://www.railscot.co.uk/Ireland/Irish_railways.pdf. Retrieved 2007-09-05.
- ^ NI Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) Official web site
- ^ "Northern Ireland Placenames Project". http://www.placenamesni.org/Index.html. Retrieved 2010-06-12.
- ^ Castlereagh Borough Council
- ^ a b "The Tourist Trophy Races". Culture Northern Ireland. http://www.culturenorthernireland.org/article.aspx?art_id=838. Retrieved 2009-10-09.
- ^ "Memorial revives Ards TT memories". BBC. 2008-08-18. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/7567063.stm. Retrieved 2009-01-05.
External links
- St Elizabeth's Church
- Brooklands Primary School, Dundonald
- Dundonald History including BCDR
- Dundonald International Ice Bowl
- Dundonald Primary School
- BT16plus Magazine
- Dundonald Articles on YouTube
- The End Of The Line Motorcycle Club, Dundonald
- Google map, showing the Moat
- Dundonald Green Belt Association
- Located near Dundonald
- Serving Dundonald
- Ards TT 'on-board' lap of the circuit
- Dundonald Family and Community initiative
- Christ Church Presbyterian, Dundonald
Towns in Northern Ireland List of towns by populationLarge Antrim · Ballymena · Bangor · Carrickfergus · Coleraine · Larne ·
Lisburn · Lurgan · Newry · Newtownabbey · Newtownards · Omagh · Portadown
Medium Armagh · Banbridge · Cookstown · Craigavon · Downpatrick · Dundonald · Dungannon · Enniskillen · Holywood · Limavady · Strabane Small Ballycastle · Ballyclare · Ballymoney · Ballynahinch · Carryduff · Coalisland · Comber · Donaghadee ·
Drumore · Kilkeel · Magherafelt · Newcastle · Portrush · Portstewart · Randalstown · WarrenpointCategories:- Geography of Belfast
- Towns in County Down
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