Ballyhackamore (Irish: Baile an Chacamair, meaning 'townland of the slob land or mud flat')[1] is a townland in County Down, Northern Ireland, it is a suburb of Belfast located on the Upper Newtownards Road. It is also a ward in the UK Parliamentary constituency of East Belfast.

Ballyhackamore Irish: Baile an Chacamair
Ballyhackamore Location within County Down
County	County Down
Country	Northern Ireland
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	Belfast
Postcode district	BT4 and BT5
Dialling code	028
Police	Northern Ireland
Fire	Northern Ireland
Ambulance	Northern Ireland
UK Parliament	East Belfast
NI Assembly	East Belfast
List of places UK Northern Ireland Down 54.595°N 5.868°W / 54.595; -5.868

The Sunday Times named Ballyhackamore the Brunch Capital of Belfast in a 2018 article on the Best Places to live in Britain. The neighbourhood is the location of several restaurants and cafés as well as a range of local and national shops.[2][3]

Transport

Ballyhackamore is served by the Translink Glider G1 service. In addition Metro and Ulsterbus services stop here.[4]

Places of note

• Cypress Avenue a residential street and conservation area[5] which lent its name to the Van Morrison song, Cyprus Avenue
• Neill's Hill railway station a former halt on the Belfast and County Down Railway line.
• Kincora Boys' Home, a home for boys that was the scene of serious organised abuse.
• Bloomfield Collegiate School, an Independent Grammar School for girls.

Notable people

• Joe Bratty, loyalist paramilitary, lived in Ballyhackamore at the time of his death
• Judith Cochrane, politician, had a constituency office in Ballyhackamore
• Ian Geddes Davidson, Irish rugby union player, born in Ballyhackamore
• Gemma Garrett, former Miss Great Britain, attended Bloomfield Collegiate[6]
• Christine Lampard, TV broadcaster, attended Bloomfield Collegiate[7]
• Joan Lingard, Scottish novelist, grew up and lived in Ballyhackamore until the age of 18
• Naomi Long, leader of the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland, attended Bloomfield Collegiate
• Paddy O'Flaherty, broadcaster and journalist
• Elaine Shemilt, fine art printmaker, attended Bloomfield Collegiate

In popular culture

• Ballyhackamore – "Town of the big horses”, an NVTV television programme
• Cyprus Avenue, a Van Morrison song

References