The English nameHolywood comes from Latin Sanctus Boscus'holy wood'. This was the name theNormans gave to the woodland surrounding themonastery of St Laiseran, son of Nasca. The monastery was founded by Laiseran before 640 and was on the site of the presentHolywood Priory. The earliestAnglicised form appears asHaliwode in a 14th-century document.[3]
TheIrish name for Holywood isArd Mhic Nasca meaning "high ground of Mac Nasca".[4][5]
In the early 19th century, Holywood, like many other coastal villages throughout Ireland, became popular as aresort forsea-bathing. Many wealthyBelfast merchants chose the town and the surrounding area to build large homes for themselves. These included the Kennedys ofCultra and the Harrisons of Holywood. Dalchoolin House stood on the site of the presentUlster Transport Museum, while Cultra Manor was built between 1902–04 and now houses theUlster Folk Museum.[6]
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 toBangor, necessitated the construction of the Holywood Bypass which was completed in 1972.[7]
Holywood Priory
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 distinguishedcitizens including the educational reformer, Robert Sullivan, and the Praeger family.Sullivan Upper Grammar School is named after Robert Sullivan.[8]Robert Lloyd Praeger (1865–1953) was an internationally renownedbotanist[9] and his sister,Rosamond Praeger (1867–1954), gained fame as asculptor and writer.[10]
On 17 June 1994, Garnet Bell, a former pupil bearing a grudge, entered an assembly hall atSullivan Upper School and used a flamethrower to attack students takingA-level examinations. Six pupils were injured; three of them seriously.[11]
On 12 April 2010, at around 12:24am, a car bombing occurred nearPalace Barracks, aBritish Army 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.[12] TheReal IRA claimed responsibility for the attack.[13]
Holywood is known for itsmaypole 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 theshore nearby, and the crew erected the brokenmast to show their appreciation of the assistance offered to them by the townsfolk. It was the only surviving original maypole in Ireland,[15] but was severely damaged in high winds in February 2021 and had to be replaced.[16]
The nearby Maypole Bar is known locally as Ned's.[17]
There is aNorman motte in the town which may have been constructed on an earlier burial mound.[18]
On 2 August 1848, the first leg of theBelfast and County Down Railway, or BCDR, was opened fromBelfast to Holywood. TheHolywood railway station opened simultaneously. The railway line was extended via the Belfast, Holywood and Bangor Railway (BHBR) toBangor, and the extension opened on 1 May 1865. The BCDR acquired the BHBR in 1884.[19] Holywood station was closed for goods traffic on 24 April 1950.[20]
Records of the marinealgae include:Polysiphonia elongata,Laurencia obtusa,Chondria dasyphylla,Pterothamnion plumula,Rhodophyllis divaricate, andCoccotylus truncates.[21]
Holywood Golf Club, founded in 1904 is where 2011 US Open, 2012 US PGA, The Open 2014, 2014 US PGA, and 2025 Masters championRory McIlroy learned his golf, and he still calls it his home course. NearbyCraigavad is the home of theRoyal Belfast Golf Club, the oldest in Ireland, dating from 1881. The club's present course was designed by architect Harry Colt in 1926.[28]
^"Holywood Motte, Co. Down"(PDF). Centre for Archaeological Fieldwork, School of Archaeology & Palaeoecology, Queen's University Belfast. Retrieved2 December 2022.
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