Moat Park

Situated in the heart of Dundonald, the Moat Park offers idyllic walks around the historic Motte as well as provides a valuable link to shops in the village.

Close by stands the Church of St Elizabeth which dates from 1306, providing an interesting piece of history as you pass the Doric style mausoleums during your walk.
You can also access the Comber Greenway which is close to this park.

Key facts about Moat Park

The Wildlife Garden

This was created to attract a greater variety of plants and animals into the park by creating important micro-habitats where they can thrive.

It provides a resource for the community where people can learn how the wildlife-friendly features of the garden are managed to benefit biodiversity, and help to record the plants and animals that live in the garden.

It also demonstrates a variety of ways in which we can all attract and help wildlife – for example by creating a pond, planting a native species hedge, building bug hotels and leaving areas of grass uncut where wild flowers and insects can thrive.

The Edward Bruce Commemorative Boulder

This forms part of the ‘Edward Bruce 700 Heritage Trail’, an initiative put forward by the Ulster Scots Agency to commemorate shared Ulster-Scottish history. 

The brief inscription on this commemorative boulder details the significance of this location in Dundonald.  A church, fort and moat were constructed in the 12th century by the Anglo-Normans.  During an invasion by Edward Bruce of Scotland from 1315-1318 the church and fort were destroyed.  The Moat remained after the battle and today can be accessed through routes in Moat Park and along the Enler River.

Facilities

At Moat Park there are:

• accessible paths
• public toilets
• outdoor seating
• children's play park

Biodiversity in this park

Throughout the seasons you could see the following:

• Tufted Vetch
• Yarrow 
• Meadow Vetchling
• Common Green Grasshopper
• Small Tortoiseshell Butterfly 
• Silver Y Moth
• Blackbirds
• Starlings 
• Rook
• The Deceiver fungi
• Bats 
• Goldcrest
• Blue, Great and Long-tailed Tits 
• Goldfinch
• Common Blue Damselfly

Education and events

This popular park is an area our Biodiversity Officer would bring local schools to plant wildflowers as part of our biodiversity programme.

Contact details

Email: ParksAndAmenitiesAdmin@lisburncastlereagh.gov.uk 

Seasonal and community events are hosted by the council and will be promoted on our social channels at @LisburnCastlereagh and @lisburnccc