Bangor (from Irish Beannchar, meaning 'uncertain'[1]) is a civil and ecclesiastical parish in County Down, Northern Ireland.

It flourished in the 7th and 8th centuries, after which its coastal position made it vulnerable to Vikings raids, such as in 810, which saw St. Comgall's shrine despoiled and many of the monastery's clergy slain.

[1] Hamilton's third centred on the north of Ards Lower, with King James I in 1605 granting him the land of Bangor monastery along with its associated townlands.

[1] Petty's Census c1659 records 595 people of a certain wealth liable to pay tax in the parish of Bangor, 417 of which are stated as being either English or Scottish.

[1] The Irish language appears to have died out in the area by the 19th century when John O'Donovan was working on the Ordnance Survey memoirs in the neighbouring parishes of Donaghadee and Holywood 1834.