Holywood

Iglesia de St Colmcille.

Holywood es una ciudad en el condado de Down en Irlanda del Norte. Se encuentra a orillas del Belfast Lough, entre Belfast y Bangor. Se encuentra cerca del Aeropuerto de la Ciudad de Belfast George Best. La ciudad alberga festivales anuales de jazz y blues.

Historia

En el siglo XVII el puerto de Ulster comenzó a ganar prominencia. En 1625 William Pitt se encargó de la administración de los puertos de Newcastle, Dundrum, Killough, Portaferry, Donaghadee, Bangor y Holywood.​

A principios del siglo XIX, como muchas otras poblaciones costeras de Ireland, Holywood ganó fama como lugar de turismo de playa. Muchos comerciantes ricos de Belfast escogieron la ciudad y sus alrededores para construir residencias, entre ellos los Kennedy de Cultra y los Harrison de Holywood. Dalchoolin House stood on the site of the present Ulster Transport Museum, while Cultra Manor was built in 1902–1904 and now houses part of the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum.

The railway line from Belfast to Holywood opened in 1848 and this led to rapid development. The population of Holywood was approximately 3,500 in 1900 and had grown to 12,000 by 2001. This growth, coupled with the growth of other towns and villages along the coastal strip to Bangor, necessitated the construction of the Holywood Bypass in the early 1970s. Holywood today is a popular residential area and is well known for its fashionable shops, boutiques, arts and crafts.

Holywood Priory

The Old Priory ruins lie at the bottom of the High Street. The tower dates from 1800, but the oldest ruins date from the early 13th century. The Priory graveyard is the resting place for many distinguished citizens including the educational reformer, Dr Robert Sullivan, and the Praeger family. Robert Lloyd Praeger (1865–1953) was an internationally renowned botanist​ and his sister, Rosamund Praeger (1867–1954) gained fame as a sculptor and writer. "Johnny the Jig", one of her sculptures, is situated in the town. Praeger House at Sullivan Upper Grammar School is named after the family. Bishop Robert Bent Knox is also buried there.

On 17 June 1994, Garnet Bell, a former pupil bearing a grudge, entered an assembly hall at Sullivan Upper School and used a flamethrower to attack students taking A-level examinations. Six pupils were injured; three of them seriously.​

On 12 April 2010 at around 12:24am, it was the site of a car bombing near Northern Ireland's MI5 headquarters. An elderly man was blown off his feet and treated in hospital. The bomb was allegedly driven towards the base in a hijacked taxi.​ The Real IRA claimed responsibility for the attacks.​

First Presbyterian Non-Subscribing Church, Holywood

Véase también

• Subdivisiones de Irlanda del Norte

Enlaces externos

• Wikimedia Commons alberga una categoría multimedia sobre Holywood.
• Holywood en Culture Northern Ireland