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Ormeau Park

View larger map Address: Ormeau Road, BT7 3GG

Entrance to the park is via Ormeau Road, Ormeau Embankment, Park Road and Ravenhill Road. Take Metro no. 7A-D from Belfast city centre and get off directly outside the park.

Ormeau Park is the oldest municipal park in Belfast, officially opening to the public in 1871. It is still one of the largest parks in Belfast and offers a great mix of horticulture, woodland, flower displays and wildlife.

The park is also a popular venue for sport, with a range of facilities, including bowling greens and pavilions, tennis courts and soccer pitches, located with Ormeau Park Playing Fields.

A number of events are held in the park each year, including concerts and band performances. Other features include eco trails and orienteering courses, horticultural displays, a children's playground, seasonal bedding and specimen trees.

In July 2011, Ormeau Park was awarded the Green Flag Award 2011, which recognises the best open spaces in the UK. It is one of seven of our parks, cemeteries and open spaces to receive this award.


You can find out more about the park by viewing the picture gallery and video on this page. You need to have Adobe Flash Player installed and JavaScript enabled on your computer to use these features. Press the 'play' button to begin watching.

Opening hours

All our parks open at 7.30am daily. Closing times vary according to the time of year - check full opening hours for parks

Events

Ormeau Park runs a Saturday Club as part of our Watch This Space scheme on alternate Saturdays in the park's bowling pavilion.

The park also hosts regular events, including band performances and family fun days. Details of these are listed in our park events section.

• View all park events (by month)

Blue Peter's Big Olympic Tour

Ormeau Park is hosting Blue Peter`s Big Olympic tour on Saturday 2 June from 10am to 4pm and everyone is invited.

Ormeau Park and the Indoor Tennis Centre and Ozone Complex will remain open during the Olympic Tour. The majority of the park will be unaffected by the event, however some areas may be affected by disruption.

• Find out more about Blue Peter's Big Olympic Tour

Contact details

For more information, call 028 9049 1813 or 07850 316069 (Monday to Friday, 9am to 4.30pm only) or email martins@belfastcity.gov.uk

Ormeau Park has also been assessed by Disabled Go to check how accessible it is to people with disabilities.

• Accessibility information about Ormeau Park
• Accessibility information about Ormeau Park bowling pavilion

The park offers a limited number of electric mobility scooters for customer use. They are free to use and can be collected from the Indoor Tennis Centre and Ozone Complex inside the park. No booking is required but we recommend you ring the centre in advance on 028 9045 8024 to confirm availability.

You must be a member of Shopmobility to use the scooters and show your membership card before hiring a scooter. To find out how to become a member of Shopmobility, call Mandy Smith on 028 9080 8090.

Sports facilities

Ormeau Park Playing Fields contain soccer pitches, two bowling greens, basketball and netball courts and tennis courts.

The bowling greens are open from 11am to 4pm, Monday to Friday (winter) and 11am to 9pm, Monday to Saturday (summer). The pitches are open from dawn to dusk.

To book or cancel an activity or facility, call 028 9027 0611 (Monday to Thursday, 9am to 12pm and 2pm to 4pm, and Friday, 9am to 12pm). You can also call the bowling greens directly on 028 9064 0609. You can also email outdoorleisure@belfastcity.gov.uk

If you have booked a pitch and want to check whether it is still playable, call us on 028 9027 0611 (Monday to Thursday, 9am to 12pm and 2pm to 4pm and Friday, 9am to 12pm) or on 028 9027 0677 outside these hours.

Walking routes

Located in the heart of south Belfast, and near to Annadale Embankment, Ormeau Park is popular with both walkers and joggers.

• Download walking route for Ormeau Park (PDF - 557KB)

History

Ormeau Park was originally home to the Donegall family, who lend their name to some of Belfast's most famous streets, such as Donegall Quay and Donegall Place.

The Donegall family moved to the park in 1807, setting up home in Ormeau Cottage. The second Marquis of Donegall eventually extended the building and lived there until his death in 1844. However, as the family's debts continued to grow, they were forced to sell their estate to the Belfast Corporation in 1869.

Ormeau Park was officially opened to the public in 1871, making it the oldest municipal park in the city. The opening was marked with a parade from Carlisle Circus, followed by speeches in the park which were heard by a large crowd.

The public were also encouraged to submit their ideas for designing 100 acres of the site. The competition was won by Timothy Hevey, a 24-year-old architect from Belfast. His design can still be seen in the park today, although one or two changes have been made to his original ideas since then.