Ballybeen (), also known as Ballybeen Housing Estate, is the second-biggest

housing estate A housing estate (or sometimes housing complex, housing development, subdivision (land), subdivision or community) is a group of homes and other buildings built together as a single development. The exact form may vary from country to count ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

. It is in the village of

Dundonald Dundonald may refer to: Places Canada * Dundonald, Ontario, Cramahe * Dundonald, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan * Dundonald Park, in Ottawa South Africa * Dundonald, Mpumalanga United Kingdom * Dundonald, County Down, Northern Ireland ** Dundonald ...

, on the outskirts of east

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

. It lies within the

townland A townland (; Ulster-Scots: ''toonlann'') is a traditional small land division used in Ireland and in the Western Isles of Scotland, typically covering . The townland system is of medieval Gaelic origin, predating the Norman invasion, and mo ...

s of Ballybeen and Carrowreagh, between the Newtownards Road and Comber Road. Started in 1963, and mostly completed by 1971, the estate consists of some 2,400 dwellings. Most of the street names are Scottish in origin (Enler and Brooklands being the exception) as the architects who designed the estates layout mostly came from Scotland. It lies within the Borough of Castlereagh and the Belfast East Parliamentary and Assembly constituency. In the 2001 census the area had a population of 9,170.

History

It is mainly a Protestant area, although before 1970 and the onset of

The Troubles The Troubles () were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted for about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it began in the late 1960s and is usually deemed t ...

, about 20 per cent of the population were Catholic. During The Troubles the estate became a

loyalist Loyalism, in the United Kingdom, its overseas territories and its former colonies, refers to the allegiance to the British crown or the United Kingdom. In North America, the most common usage of the term refers to loyalty to the British Cr ...

stronghold.

Andy Tyrie Andrew Tyrie (5 February 1940 – 16 May 2025) was a Northern Irish Ulster loyalist, loyalist paramilitary leader who served as commander of the Ulster Defence Association (UDA) during much of its early history. He took the place of Tommy Herr ...

, Ulster Army Council leader and commander of the

Ulster Defence Association The Ulster Defence Association (UDA) is an Ulster loyalist paramilitary group in Northern Ireland. It was formed in September 1971 as an umbrella group for various loyalist groups and undertook an armed campaign of almost 24 years as one of t ...

in the 1970s, was from the estate. The estate was named after the nearby townland of Ballybeen, home to the Robb family of farmers and landowners. The Robb family house, which then became the Housing Executive offices, was knocked down when the Housing Executive relocated to their new premises at the junction of Robbs road and Church Road in the late 1980s. "Esker", the house that was built to accommodate the growing Robb family still stands today at the junction of Rank road and Church Road.

Sport

43rd Dundonald F.C, situated in the Ballybeen Sport and Wellbeing Hub on Brooklands Rd play in the

Down Area Winter Football League The Down Area Winter Football League (DAWFL), is an amateur association football league in County Down, Northern Ireland. The league was formed in August 1974 in Downpatrick, and currently has over 50 clubs affiliated with it. The league runs a win ...

. The sport and wellbeing hub contains facilities such as a 4G pitch, changing rooms, showers etc. The Ballyoran Community Centre has indoor facilities for

Netball Netball is a ball sport played on a rectangular court by two teams of seven players. The primary objective is to shoot a ball through the defender's goal ring while preventing the opposing team from shooting through their own. It is one of a ...

Volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

Bowls Bowls, also known as lawn bowls or lawn bowling, is a sport in which players try to roll their ball (called a bowl) closest to a smaller ball (known as a "jack" or sometimes a "kitty"). The bowls are shaped (biased), so that they follow a curve ...

, 5-a-side football and

Basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

. The community centre also features an

IFA IFA or Ifa may refer to: Organisations Economics * Independent financial adviser, a type of financial services professional in the UK * Index Fund Advisors * Institute and Faculty of Actuaries, representing actuaries in the UK * Institute of Act ...

grade 3G pitch.

Notable residents

BBC Radio 5 Live BBC Radio 5 Live is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It broadcasts mainly news, sport, Talk show, discussion, interviews and phone-ins, and is on air 24 hours a day. It is the principal BBC radio station Broadca ...

personality (and former

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and Contemporary hit radio, current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including ...

DJ)

Colin Murray Colin Murray (born Colin Wright on 10 March 1977) is a Northern Irish radio and television presenter. He has hosted the Channel 4 game show '' Countdown'' since 2022. Born and raised in Dundonald, east of Belfast, Murray first trained and wor ...

lived in the estate for a few years in Enler Park. * George Cassidy,

jazz musician This is a list of jazz musicians by instrument based on existing articles on Wikipedia. Do not enter names that lack articles. Do not enter names that lack sources. Accordion * Kamil Běhounek (1916–1983) * Luciano Biondini (born 1971) * Asm ...

, lead

saxophonist The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of Single-reed instrument, single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed (mouthpi ...

in the ''Regal Accordion and Saxophone Band'', and music teacher to

Van Morrison Sir George Ivan "Van" Morrison (born 31 August 1945) is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician whose recording career started in the 1960s. Morrison's albums have performed well in the UK and Ireland, with more than 40 reaching the UK ...

lived in Ballybeen in the 1960's in Morven Park.

References

{{Authority control Geography of Belfast Townlands of County Down Housing estates in Northern Ireland Civil parish of Comber Dundonald, County Down