The word Kilroot is derived from the Irish words “Cill Ruaidh,” meaning “church of the red” or “the red church.” This name derived from the presence of a red-brown subsoil noted in the area due to the high amounts of Mercia Mudstone, but it has also been suggested that it could have derived from a bloody battle that occurred in the area during 1199. The area is believed to have been one of the earliest Christian sites in the Belfast Lough area, with a religious ecclesiastical unit present as early…
