Castlereagh ( ) was a

local government district The districts of England (also known as local authority districts or local government districts to distinguish from unofficial city districts) are a level of subnational division of England used for the purposes of local government. As the st ...

with the status of borough in

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

. It merged with

Lisburn City Council Lisburn City Council was the local authority for an area partly in County Antrim and partly in County Down in Northern Ireland. As of May 2015 it was merged with Castlereagh Borough Council as part of the reform of local government in Northern ...

in May 2015 under local government reorganisation in Northern Ireland to become

Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council Lisburn (; ) is a city in Northern Ireland. It is southwest of Belfast city centre, on the River Lagan, which forms the boundary between County Antrim and County Down. First laid out in the 17th century by English and Welsh settlers, with th ...

, with a small amount being transferred to Belfast City Council. It was a mainly urban borough consisting mostly of suburbs of

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdom ...

in the Castlereagh Hills (to the south-east of the city) with a small rural area in the south of the borough. Unusually, it had no natural borough centre. The main centres of population are

Carryduff Carryduff ()Northern Ireland Placenames Project
is a small ...

, 6 miles (9.6 km) south of Belfast city centre and Dundonald, 5 miles (8 km) east of it. Castlereagh was named after the barony of Castlereagh, which in turn was named after the townland of same name (from the Irish ''An Caislean Riabhach'', or Grey Castle, a reference to a stronghold of the

Clandeboye Clandeboye or Clannaboy (from Irish ''Clann Aodha Buí'', "family of Hugh the Blond") was a kingdom of Gaelic Ireland, comprising what is now south County Antrim, north County Down, and the barony of Loughinsholin, Northern Ireland. The entity ...

O'Neils which stood on a site near what is now an

Orange hall Orange Hall may refer to: ;in Ireland * Orange Institution The Loyal Orange Institution, commonly known as the Orange Order, is an international Protestant fraternal order based in Northern Ireland and primarily associated with Ulster Protes ...

on Church Road).

Creation

The district was one of twenty-six created on 1 October 1973. It was formed by the amalgamation of the following areas of County Down: most of Castlereagh Rural District, the

Carryduff Carryduff ()Northern Ireland Placenames Project
is a small ...

and

Newtownbreda Newtownbreda is a residential suburb of South Belfast, clustered around a small and now largely invisible 18th century village. The Belfast A55 "Outer Ring" dual carriage-way provides transport links to the city centre, as well as the outskirts o ...

areas of Hillsborough Rural District and the Moneyreagh area of North Down Rural District.

Borough council

The borough was divided into four electoral areas: Castlereagh Central, South, East and West. In the 2011 elections, 23 members were elected. As of February 2012 the political composition of the council was: 11 Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), 6 Alliance Party, 3

Ulster Unionist Party The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) is a unionist political party in Northern Ireland. The party was founded in 1905, emerging from the Irish Unionist Alliance in Ulster. Under Edward Carson, it led unionist opposition to the Irish Home Rule m ...

(UUP), 2

Social Democratic and Labour Party The Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) ( ga, Páirtí Sóisialta Daonlathach an Lucht Oibre) is a social-democratic and Irish nationalist political party in Northern Ireland. The SDLP currently has eight members in the Northern Ireland ...

(SDLP) and 1

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence. Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation f ...

councillor. The last election was due to take place in May 2009, but on 25 April 2008,

Shaun Woodward Shaun Anthony Woodward (born 26 October 1958) is a British politician who was the Labour Member of Parliament (MP) for St Helens South from 2001 to 2015. He served in the cabinet from 28 June 2007 to 11 May 2010 as Secretary of State for North ...

, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland announced that the scheduled 2009 district council elections were to be postponed until the introduction of the eleven new councils in 2011. The proposed reforms were abandoned in 2010, and the most recent district council elections took place in 2011

Mayor of Castlereagh

In 1977 Castlereagh District Council was granted a

charter of incorporation A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified. It is implicit that the granter retains superiority (or sovereignty), and that the rec ...

constituting the district as a borough, and creating the office of mayor. The mayor for the civic year 2013–2014 was councillor David Drysdale (DUP) and the Deputy Mayor was councillor Ann-Marie Beattie (DUP).

Parliamentary and assembly representation

The borough was divided between the East Belfast constituency (the wards of Ballyhanwood, Carrowreagh, Cregagh, Downshire, Dundonald, Enler, Gilnahirk, Graham's Bridge, Lisnasharragh, Lower Braniel, Tullycarnet and Upper Braniel), the South Belfast constituency (Beechill, Cairnshill, Carryduff East, Carryduff West, Galwally, Hillfoot, Knockbracken, Minnowburn, Newtownbreda and Wynchurch wards) and the Strangford constituency (Moneyreagh ward) for elections to the

Westminster Parliament The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative supremacy ...

and Northern Ireland Assembly.

Elections 2011

These elections saw the political landscape at Castlereagh change dramatically. The DUP lost overall control of the council due to the loss of two council seats, one in Central and one in the East. The UUP also lost their sole representative in East. The Alliance Party gained one in East and Central, while the Green Party also gained in East. There were no changes in the West or South areas. There had been much speculation that demographic change would deliver Sinn Féin a seat in South. However, this turned out to be unfounded, with the SDLP being the sixth placed runner up, being narrowly beaten by the UUP for the fifth seat.

Population

The area covered by the former Castlereagh Borough Council had a population of 67,272 residents according to the 2011 Northern Ireland census.

Freedom of the Borough

The following people and military units have received the

Freedom of the Borough The Freedom of the City (or Borough in some parts of the UK) is an honour bestowed by a municipality upon a valued member of the community, or upon a visiting celebrity or dignitary. Arising from the medieval practice of granting respected ...

of Castlereagh.

Individuals

George Best George Best (22 May 1946 – 25 November 2005) was a Northern Irish professional footballer who played as a winger, spending most of his club career at Manchester United. A highly skilful dribbler, Best is regarded as one of the greatest p ...

: 2002. * Rt Hon Peter Robinson: 2003.

Military Units

* The

Ulster Defence Regiment The Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR) was an infantry regiment of the British Army established in 1970, with a comparatively short existence ending in 1992. Raised through public appeal, newspaper and television advertisements,Potter p25 their offi ...

: 1984. * The Ulster Special Constabulary Association: 1992. * The Regimental Association of the

: 1994. * The Royal Irish Regiment: 1995. * The

Royal British Legion The Royal British Legion (RBL), formerly the British Legion, is a British charity providing financial, social and emotional support to members and veterans of the British Armed Forces, their families and dependants, as well as all others in ...

: 1996. * The 204 (North Irish) Field Hospital Royal Army Medical Corps (Volunteers): 1998. * The Royal Ulster Constabulary GC: 2000. * The Northern Ireland Prison Service: 2004. * The

152 (North Irish) Regiment RLC 152 Logistic Regiment RLC is a North Irish reserve British Army regiment of The Royal Logistic Corps. History The regiment was formed in the Royal Corps of Transport (RCT) in 1967 with two transport squadrons. It was redesignated 152 (Ulster) Amb ...

(Volunteers): 25 May 2013. * The 152 Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers Workshops: 25 May 2013. * The

Police Service of Northern Ireland The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI; ga, Seirbhís Póilíneachta Thuaisceart Éireann; Ulster-Scots: ') is the police force that serves Northern Ireland. It is the successor to the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) after it was reform ...

: December 2014.

References

Further References

Bow, John. 2011. Castlereagh, Enlightenment War and Tyranny. Quercus.

External links

Castlereagh Borough Council
{{coord, 54, 35, N, 5, 52, W, display=title Politics of County Down Politics of Belfast Districts of Northern Ireland, 1972–2015 Boroughs of Northern Ireland