Dundonald

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Dundonald
Dún Dónaill

Location

WGS-84 (GPS) Coordinates:
54.594° N 5.813° W

Statistics

Population (2001)

20,000

For the Dundonald in Ayrshire, Scotland, see Dundonald, South Ayrshire and Dundonald Castle. For the Scottish peerage, see Earl of Dundonald.

Dundonald (Irish: Dún Dónaill, Dónall's fort) is a town in County Down, Northern Ireland. It lies in the outermost suburbs of East Belfast.

Dundonald's population stands at approximately 20,000, with the majority of residents coming from the unionist community. It falls in the Parliamentary constituency of East Belfast, and the borough council of Castlereagh. Its current MP is Peter Robinson of Ian Paisley's Democratic Unionist Party.

Dundonald contains a large working-class housing estate, Ballybeen.

1 History
2 Places of interest
3 Sport
4 People
5 References
6 External links
7 See also

[edit] History

'The Moat'

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.

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. The moat, of course, would have been the ditch around the bottom of the mound, if, indeed, one existed. 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 rail link with Belfast encouraged Dundonald to expand as a commuter town, but in 1950 all of Dundonald's rail links were closed.

[edit] Places of interest

A 300 year old watermill is located on the Old Newtownards Road in the town. The sandstone building has been extensively retored and includes a brasserie, gift shop and a 35 foot waterwheel, the largest in Ireland.

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.

[edit] Sport

Rileys leaving the pits at the Ulster TT

From 1928 to 1936, the Tourist Trophy (TT) motorcar Races took place on a road circuit encompassing Newtownards, Comber and Dundonald in County Down. The course was roughly triangular and the start was at Quarry Corner and the route raced clockwise. The pits were still visible up until the 1960s. A popular viewing point was the hairpin bend at the Central Bar in Dundonald.

At the time it was Northern Ireland’s premier sporting event, regularly attracting crowds in excess of a quarter of a million people. The first driver to complete 30 laps of the circuit was the winner. On September 5, 1936, in wet conditions, one driver lost control of his car and crashed into the crowd, killing eight spectators. This tragedy brought an end to nine years of racing over the Ards road circuit. Industrialist and pioneer of the modern agricultural tractor, Harry Ferguson, was instrumental in setting up the race.

In the late 1990s Glentoran were reported to be considering relocating from their east Belfast home at The Oval to Dundonald, but this move did not occur and was denied by the club. The intended site was close to the Dundonald Ice Bowl.