Helens Bay

Helen's Bay is a village on the northern coast of County Down, Northern Ireland. It is within the townland of Ballygrot, between Holywood, Crawfordsburn and Bangor. It is served by a railway station and had a population of 1, 362 in the 2001 Census. It is part of the Ards and North Down Borough Council area. HistoryThe village is named after Helen, Lady Dufferin (née Sheridan), mother of Frederick Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood, 1st Marquess of Dufferin and Ava, and owners of the Clandeboye Estate. Helen’s Bay is a planned village which derived from the building of the Belfast and County Down Railway (BCDR) in the mid 19th century, and the aspirations of the local landlord, the Marquess of Dufferin and Ava who wanted to develop the area as a luxury holiday resort to rival Portstewart and Portrush. The granting of ‘villa’ or ‘house-free’ tickets by the BCDR Company, which entitled the holders to free travel for a period of time if they constructed houses within one mile of the station, encouraged further development of the settlement.

Helen's Bay is a village on the northern coast of County Down, Northern Ireland. It is within the townland of Ballygrot, between Holywood, Crawfordsburn and Bangor. It is served by a railway station and had a population of 1, 362 in the 2001 Census. It is part of the Ards and North Down Borough Council area. HistoryThe village is named after Helen, Lady Dufferin (née Sheridan), mother of Frederick Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood, 1st Marquess of Dufferin and Ava, and owners of the Clandeboye Estate. Helen’s Bay is a planned village which derived from the building of the Belfast and County Down Railway (BCDR) in the mid 19th century, and the aspirations of the local landlord, the Marquess of Dufferin and Ava who wanted to develop the area as a luxury holiday resort to rival Portstewart and Portrush. The granting of ‘villa’ or ‘house-free’ tickets by the BCDR Company, which entitled the holders to free travel for a period of time if they constructed houses within one mile of the station, encouraged further development of the settlement.