Location: Knock, East Belfast
When approved: "Resolved - That the names Ascot Park and Ascot Gardens be approved for new streets on the property of Mr. Thomas McGeough situated off Knock Road". (21st May 1935)
Origin of name: Likely named after the English town of Ascot, known for its racecourse and long-standing associations with upper-class leisure culture.
Background: Ascot Gardens was developed as part of a private housing scheme in the mid-1930s. Houses were designed by architect Matthew C. Logan in 1936, and by 1939 addresses on the street appear in local records. A property advertisement referencing the street was published in the Belfast Telegraph on 8 October 1937. The name may reflect a wider trend in suburban East Belfast during this period, where English place-names were favoured for new developments, perhaps for their genteel or aspirational connotations.
Notes: One of several streets in the area carrying the Ascot name, alongside Ascot Park and Ascot Mews.
Sources:
Belfast Telegraph, 8 October 1937 (property advert)
Dictionary of Irish Architects: Matthew C. Logan, 1936 design for houses at Ascot Gardens
Campbell College Register (1939): resident listed at 27 Ascot Gardens
Belfast Street Directories (1950s–1960s)