Dundonald Cemetery


View larger map Address: 743 Upper Newtownards Road, Belfast, BT16 2QY (entry is via Upper Newtownards Road).

Contact information: Call the cemetery site office on 028 9048 0193. It is open from 10am to 2pm (Monday to Friday) and 9.30am - 12.30pm (Saturday).For queries outside these hours, please contact the Cemeteries and Crematorium Central Office on 028 9027 0296.

Opening hours: 1 to 31 March - 8am to 6pm (Monday to Saturday) and 10am to 6pm (Sunday), 1 April to 30 September - 8am to 6pm (Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday), 8am to 8pm (Tuesday and Thursday) and 10am to 6pm (Sunday), 1 to 31 October - 8am to 6pm (Monday to Saturday) and 10am to 6pm (Sunday) and 1 November to 28 February - 8am to 4pm (Monday to Saturday) and 10am to 4pm (Sunday).

Access information: Take Metro 4, 20 and 20A from Belfast city centre. Limited parking is available on the cemetery roads but there is a five miles per hour speed limit throughout the site.

Access to many of the graves is via narrow and uneven grass paths. The cemetery site office has a ramp but its layout is not suitable for wheelchairs. There are no disabled toilet facilities.

About the cemetery

Dundonald Cemetery opened as a municipal burial ground in 1905.

There are no new grave plots available in the cemetery, but burials still take place in existing graves. However, we only provide a grave burial service and do not offer natural burials in the cemetery.

The entrance to the cemetery is marked by an imposing set of black and gold double gates. At the highest point stands a grey limestone war memorial, around five metres high. It is embedded with large bronze Excalibur-type swords which form the shape of a cross at the top of the monument.

The engraving below them reads: "This cross of sacrifice is one in design and intention with those which have been set up in France and Belgium and other places throughout the world where our dead of the Great War are laid to rest. Their name liveth for evermore."

Burial records

You can now look up burial records online using our search facility.

The service allows you to search for burial records in Belfast from 1869 onwards. Around 360,000 records are available relating to Belfast City Cemetery, Roselawn Cemetery and Dundonald Cemetery.

Photo gallery

Click on the thumbnails to see a larger version of each picture (images open in a new window). You will need to have Javascript enabled to view these images which are available from Flickr

History

In 1895, Belfast Corporation (now the council) realised that more burial space was needed to cope with the city's growing population. Two years later, it bought 45 acres of land at Ballymiscaw, Dundonald, for £5,600. The site was known locally as Donall’s Fortress because of a nearby fort.

In 1904, plots were allocated out and a quarter of the cemetery was set aside for Roman Catholic burials, a decision which was later revised. The first burial in Dundonald Cemetery took place on 19 September 1905.

The Co. Down railway once ran along the rear boundary of the graveyard. Cemetery records show that, on one occasion, a horse pulling a coach containing relatives returning from a funeral was startled by a passing train. The horse bolted and damaged three tomb railings in the burial ground before being brought under control. The railway line is now the Comber Greenway, a seven-mile pedestrian and cycle route.

Famous burials

Amongst those buried in the cemetery are: