placenamesMaze
An Mhaigh
Maze’s local history reaches beyond its famous former prison site to include a nineteenth-century congregation and the long-established Down Royal racecourse.
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 Mhaigh · Irish · main form · validated name
- Maze · English · main form
Place & story
From a barn congregation to a rebuilt church
Maze’s Presbyterian congregation began with services organised by Edward Stevenson in a barn fitted with seats and a small pulpit. A foundation stone for a permanent church was laid in March 1857, and the building opened for worship in 1859. More than a century later, the congregation replaced its main worship building in 2014. The new facilities included a welcome area and crèche, continuing a history of adapting the church’s buildings to the needs of its members. [2] [3]
Down Royal at Maze
Down Royal racecourse has occupied its Maze setting since the eighteenth century. Its flat-racing circuit is nearly two miles long, right-handed and broadly square, with undulating ground and a slightly uphill finish. National Hunt races use a different circuit with fences and hurdles. Extensive improvements from the 1990s added spectator and hospitality facilities. The racecourse remains a major feature of Maze’s landscape, with a history that long predates the nearby airfield and prison. [4]
The neighbouring Long Kesh site
The nearby Long Kesh site was farmland before an RAF airfield opened in 1941. After the airfield closed in 1946, the ground saw uses including gliding, motor racing and vehicle storage. A military camp opened in 1969, followed by a detention centre in 1971 and HMP Maze in the 1970s. The prison and military camp closed in 2000. Later redevelopment introduced a very different public use: the Balmoral Show first took place on the site in 2013, followed by the Eikon Exhibition Centre in 2016. [5]
Geographic information
- Place type
- Population centre
- County
- Down
- Barony
- Iveagh Lower, Upper Half
- Civil parish
- Blaris
- Within
- Maze
- Coordinates
- 54.50065, -6.11659 (approximate)
- Logainm ID
- 1413257 ↗
Sources & further reading
- Logainm.ie — Maze. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
- Maze Presbyterian Church: A Short History, part 1, 1949 · Rev. Thomas Dunn
- Maze Presbyterian Church: Our Story · Maze Presbyterian Church
- Down Royal Racecourse: course overview · Racing TV
- Maze Long Kesh Site History · Maze Long Kesh Development Corporation
- Maze Presbyterian Church and hall, County Down illustration: based on a Maze Presbyterian Church and Hall by Brian Shaw. AI-assisted watercolour and ink adaptation; cream paper margins added, incidental clutter omitted and fine details simplified. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0.
Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2019-10-08. How this page was prepared.