placenamesKnock
An Cnoc
Knock in east Belfast preserves traces of an older rural district in its burial ground and a later phase of suburban growth in Saint Columba’s Church.
The name
These Irish name elements are associated with this record in the Logainm glossary.
An element’s translation is a clue, rather than a complete explanation of the name. Its form and meaning depend on local history and the full Irish name.
Recorded forms
- An Cnoc · Irish · main form · validated name
- Knock · English · main form
Place & story
The earlier church site
Knock Burial Ground occupies a hilltop associated with a medieval church, recorded in the taxation of 1306 at a value of forty shillings. Belfast City Council identifies the church with Dundela and the later dedication to Columba. An engraving published in 1834 showed two ruined gables within the cemetery. The council records no visible church remains today, so the burial ground preserves the site’s continuity more clearly than the building itself. [2]
Headstones from a rural district
The cemetery’s oldest dated gravestone is from 1644. Later inscriptions name surrounding townlands including Ballyhackamore, Gilnahirk, Bloomfield and Tullycarnet, recalling places that were once countryside around Belfast. Painter William Nichol, who died in 1840, is buried here. The city’s boundary extension brought the burial ground under Belfast Corporation in 1896, and a caretaker was appointed in 1905. [2]
From an iron church to Saint Columba’s
The later Saint Columba’s congregation worshipped in the temporary Knock Iron Church from November 1886 until a gale destroyed it in December 1894. Samuel Close designed its permanent replacement on Kings Road. Construction began in 1895, with the first part consecrated in June 1896 and the remainder in June 1900. Extensions in 1930–32 were designed by R. N. Close, the original architect’s son. [3]
Craftsmanship and continuing repair
Saint Columba’s sandstone Gothic building contains stained glass, a decorated reredos and an oak communion rail with worked brass. Its fabric has also required continuing care. In May 2021 the diocese announced a £25,000 grant towards urgent replacement of the roof and guttering, coinciding with the church’s 125th anniversary. The funding supported the preservation of a building enlarged and adapted by successive generations. [3]
Geographic information
- Place type
- Population centre
- County
- Down
- Barony
- Castlereagh Lower
- Civil parish
- Knockbreda
- Within
- Knock
- Coordinates
- 54.58578, -5.83417 (approximate)
- Logainm ID
- 1413248 ↗
Sources & further reading
- Logainm.ie — Knock. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
- Knock Burial Ground: history and burials · Belfast City Council
- Post lockdown boost for Saint Columba’s Knock,4 May 2021 · Diocese of Down and Dromore
Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2019-10-08. How this page was prepared.