HOLYWOOD, a seaport of Co. Down, Ireland, on the east shore of Belfast Lough, 42 m. N.E. of Belfast by rail. Pop. (1926) 4,823. A religious settlement, founded in the 7th century, later became a Franciscan monastery. Its site is marked by a church dating from the late 12th or early 13th century. A solemn league and covenant was signed here in 1644, and the document is preserved at Belfast. Holywood is now a residential area of Belfast.