Editing Donaghadee (section)

== History ==
[[File:Donaghadee, County Down (13382989325).jpg|thumb|Donaghadee c.1914]]
[[File:The derelict Town Hall in Donaghadee (geograph 5334571) (cropped).jpg|thumb|The former [[Donaghadee Town Hall]]]]
The name 'Donaghadee' comes from Irish ''Domhnach Daoi'', which has two possible meanings: "church of Daoi", after an unattested saint, or "church of the [[motte]]".<ref name="PN"/> Originally the site of a Gaelic [[ringfort]], the [[Anglo-Normans]] built a [[motte-and-bailey castle]] on the site after they conquered the area in the late 12th century.<ref name="Visit History">[https://visitdonaghadee.com/donaghadee-history/ Donaghadee History] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211123213842/https://visitdonaghadee.com/donaghadee-history/ |date=23 November 2021 }}. Visit Donaghadee. Retrieved 21 November 2021.</ref>

In the early 17th century, [[Hugh Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery|Hugh Montgomery]] settled Scottish Protestants there as part of the [[Plantation of Ulster]], and it began to grow into a small town.<ref name="PN"/> The former [[Donaghadee Town Hall]] is a converted merchant's house which was completed in around 1770.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://apps.communities-ni.gov.uk/Buildings/buildview.aspx?id=6452&js=false|title=Former Town Hall, 24 High Street, Donaghadee, Co. Down (HB24/07/004)|publisher=Department for Communities|access-date=25 June 2022}}</ref>

The town featured in the [[Irish Rebellion of 1798]]. On the morning of Pike Sunday, 10 June 1798 a force of [[Society of the United Irishmen|United Irishmen]], mainly from Bangor, Donaghadee, [[Greyabbey]] and [[Ballywalter]] attempted to occupy the town of [[Newtownards]]. They met with [[musket]] fire from the [[Market House, Newtownards|market house]] and were defeated.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.visitardsandnorthdown.com/pdf/AND_Newtownards_Walking_Leaflet.pdf|title=Newtownards Walking Leaflet|publisher=Ards and North Down Borough Council|accessdate=21 April 2020|archive-date=15 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201015232416/https://www.visitardsandnorthdown.com/pdf/AND_Newtownards_Walking_Leaflet.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Donaghadee was used in the 1759–1826 period by couples going to [[Portpatrick]] in [[Scotland]] to marry, as there was a daily packet boat. During this period, Portpatrick was known as the "[[Gretna Green]] for Ireland".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8jBLHAAACAAJ|title=The "Gretna Green" for Ireland: Irregular Marriages at Portpatrick, Wigtownshire 1759-1826|year=1997|publisher=Dumfries & Galloway Family History Society}}</ref>

The [[Royal National Lifeboat Institution|RNLI]] lifeboat station at Donaghadee harbour, founded in 1910, is one of the most important on the Irish coast. The ''Sir Samuel Kelly'' is a noted lifeboat once based in Donaghadee and now on show and preserved at the harbour for her efforts over 50 years ago. On 31 January 1953, the lifeboat rescued many survivors in the [[Irish Sea]] from the stricken [[Larne]]–[[Stranraer]] car ferry, [[MV Princess Victoria|MV ''Princess Victoria'']].<ref name=life>{{cite web|url=http://www.larneferryweb.com/features/2003/princess_victoria_50/princess_victoria_50th.htm |title=Princess Victoria (IV) Disaster Remembered 50 years on 31st January 1953 – 31st January 2003 |date=20 May 2005 |access-date=2 August 2008 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090423011045/http://www.larneferryweb.com/features/2003/princess_victoria_50/princess_victoria_50th.htm |archive-date=23 April 2009}}</ref>

[[Donaghadee railway station]], which was open for passenger traffic from 1861 to 1950, was on the [[Belfast and County Down Railway]].