Moat Park (/məʊt/) is a large public

park A park is an area of natural, semi-natural or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and recreation or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. Urban parks are urban green space, green spaces set aside for recreation inside t ...

located in

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

. Situated in East Belfast, Dundonald, leads off the Upper Newtownards Road, Comber Road and East Link Road. The surrounding area features Dundonald Village, Dundonald Primary School,

Ulster Hospital The Ulster Hospital, commonly known as the Ulster, is a teaching hospital in Dundonald (at the eastern edge of Belfast) in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is within the townland of Ballyregan, beside the A20 road. It provides acute services ...

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation, doing business as McDonald's, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain. As of 2024, it is the second largest by number of locations in the world, behind only the Chinese ch ...

, and St. Elizabeth's Church and Graveyard. The Enler River flows through the park. Facilities include a

bowling Bowling is a Throwing sports#Target sports, target sport and recreational activity in which a player rolls a bowling ball, ball toward Bowling pin, pins (in pin bowling) or another target (in target bowling). Most references to ''bowling'' are ...

pavilion,

basketball court In basketball, the basketball court is the playing surface, consisting of a rectangular floor, with baskets at each end. Indoor basketball courts are almost always made of polished wood, usually maple, with -high rims on each basket. Outdoor ...

outdoor gym An outdoor gym is a gym built outside in a public park, with the all-weather construction of its exercise machines somewhat modeled on playground equipment. It is similar to the 1960s–1970s proliferation of fitness trails, which continue to ...

playing fields A pitch or a sports ground is an outdoor playing area for various sports. The term ''pitch'' is most commonly used in British English, while the comparable term in Australian, American and Canadian English is playing field or sports field. For m ...

, children's play park walks and nature areas. The centerpiece of Moat Park is the Moat Hill, a

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 9th and 10th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norma ...

motte-and-bailey A motte-and-bailey castle is a European fortification with a wooden or stone keep situated on a raised area of ground called a motte, accompanied by a walled courtyard, or bailey, surrounded by a protective ditch and palisade. Relatively eas ...

from the 13th century. Moat Park also has a

memorial A memorial is an object or place which serves as a focus for the memory or the commemoration of something, usually an influential, deceased person or a historical, tragic event. Popular forms of memorials include landmark objects such as home ...

for WWI and WWII known as the Garden of Reflection, which holds remembrance services. Events and maintenance is managed by the

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 t ...

History

In the 12th century, the

Anglo-Normans The Anglo-Normans (, ) were the medieval ruling class in the Kingdom of England following the Norman Conquest. They were primarily a combination of Normans, Bretons, Flemings, French people, Frenchmen, Anglo-Saxons and Celtic Britons. Afte ...

had settled in Dundonald. They built a church (now St. Elizabeth's Church), fort and a hill. The name "moat" the motte-and-bailey. During the Bruce Invasion, the church and fort were destroyed. No remains of the fort exist but the man-made hill still stands, steps were built in the 1960's for accessibility to the top.

Queen's University Belfast The Queen's University of Belfast, commonly known as Queen's University Belfast (; abbreviated Queen's or QUB), is a public research university in Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom. The university received its charter in 1845 as part of ...

had conducted an excavation and examination on St. Elizabeth's and Moat Hill by the Centre for Archaeological Fieldwork - School of

Archaeology Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

and

Palaeoecology Paleoecology (also spelled palaeoecology) is the study of interactions between organisms and/or interactions between organisms and their environments across geologic timescales. As a discipline, paleoecology interacts with, depends on and informs ...

, funded by the Northern Ireland Environmental Agency. Finding dated back to the

medieval period In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

and Anglo-Norman period. Findings included that since the Bruce Invasion, a rath adjacent to the motte at the north-east was likely to have been used to serve the purpose of the Motte was reused during the Norman occupation period. In 2016, the LCCC announced the opening of a micro habitat, the WildLife Garden. Funded by the Department for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, through the Challenge Fund Initiative, it was designed to bring a wider range of plants and animals to Moat Park. In 2017, members from

Rivers Agency Northern Ireland DfI Rivers is an executive agency of the Department for Infrastructure (DfI), in the Northern Ireland Executive. It is the statutory drainage and flood defence authority for Northern Ireland under the terms of the Drainage (Northern Ireland) Or ...

(DARDNI) conducted a case study known as the ''Enler River enhancement project''. This project was to help fish habitat restoration by creating wider channels, aid spawning gravels and creation of

groynes A groyne (in the U.S. groin) is a rigid aquatic structure built perpendicularly from an ocean shore (in coastal engineering) or a river bank, interrupting water flow and limiting the movement of sediment. It is usually made out of wood, concrete ...

. The Old Moat Inn, was a bar that was situated on the Upper Newtownards Road park entrance. The bar was renamed to as Tom's Cabin and then Lewis Community Tavern. On 31 January 2019, the

Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service The Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service (NIFRS) is the statutory fire and rescue service for Northern Ireland. The NIFRS is overseen by the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service Board, which in turn is subordinate to the Department of H ...

received a call at 08:16 GMT to say that the Lewis Community Tavern was on fire. Over 30 firefighters attended the scene to deal with the incident. The building could not be saved, and the site remains derelict. In 2021, LCCC Mayor Alderman Stephen Martin joined the

South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust The South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust (SEHSCT) is a health organisation in 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 ha ...

to welcome 14 new trees to Moat Park as part of Lisburn & Castlereagh City Council’s Northern Ireland Centenary Programme.

Sport

Moat Park Rangers F.C. play at the moat playing fields 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 ...

. Beside the playing fields are the Moat Bowls Club and pavilion and Basketball Court. The pavilion is a multi-use facility, which is also used for changing rooms for sports teams, a music room, facilitating for local events.

References

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