# Dundonald, County Down

Dundonald (from Irish Dún Dónaill, meaning 'Donald's fort') is a large settlement and civil parish in County Down, Northern Ireland. It lies east of Belfast and is often considered a suburb of the city. It is home to Moat Park, the Ulster Hospital, and Dundonald International Ice Bowl.

## History

The placename is first recorded as 'Dundouenald' in c. 1183 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 forename Dónall is of Gaelic 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 mottes 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 and Newtownards in 1850, Downpatrick in 1859 and Newcastle in 1869. The town was located on the once extensive Belfast and County Down Railway mainline. 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 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.

## Demography

For census purposes, Dundonald is not treated as a separate entity by the NI Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA). 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.

## Governance

Dundonald is represented in council governance by the Castlereagh East DEA. The members elected in 2019 were:
| Name | Party |
| Martin Gregg | Alliance |
| Sharon Skillen | DUP |
| Tim Morrow | Alliance |
| David Drysdale | DUP |
| Hazel Legge | UUP |
| John Laverty | DUP |

## Townlands

Dundonald sprang up within the small parish of the same name. Like the rest of the island of Ireland, this parish has long been divided into townlands, 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:
* 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 and a 20 lane AMF ten pin bowling alley. In later years, "Indianaland", a children's Aztec themed 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 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 is located in Dundonald, known colloquially as "The Ulster".

## Sport

A number of local association football teams play out of Dundonald, Dundonald F.C. playing in 1C and 3C of the Northern Amateur Football League. 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's Junior Belfast Giants.

### Ards motor racing Circuit

The Ards Circuit through Dundonald was a motorsport street circuit used for RAC Tourist Trophy 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, former footballer
* Noel Brotherston, former footballer
* Vivian Campbell, Def Leppard guitarist
* George Cassidy, jazz musician
* Glenn Ferguson, Linfield footballer
* Gemma Garrett, model, former Miss Great Britain and Miss Belfast
* Anne Gregg, BBC presenter and travel writer
* Davy Larmour, Crusaders footballer
* Barry McClements, Commonwealth Games para swimming medallist
* Micky Modelle, DJ
* Michael Moore, UK politician, born in town
* Colin Murray, BBC Radio 1 DJ
* Peter and Iris Robinson, politicians
* Chris Walker, Glentoran footballer
* Paddy Wallace, Rugby union footballer
* Agnes Romilly White, writer

## Civil parish of Dundonald

The civil parish contains the settlement of Dundonald. It also contains the following townlands:
* Ballybeen
* Ballylisbredan
* Ballymiscaw
* Ballyoran
* Ballyrainey
* Ballyregan
* Carrowreagh
* Castlebeg
* Church Quarter
* Dunlady
* Killeen
* Unicarval