The first Ulster Grand Prix races took place in 1922 on the 20.5-mile Old Clady circuit, which included a notoriously bumpy seven-mile straight. In 1935 and 1948 the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme awarded the event the title Grand Prix d'Europe. The Ulster Grand Prix became one of the founding rounds of the inaugural 1949 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season, remaining on the world championship calendar until 1971.
After World War II, racing returned in 1947 on a revised Clady circuit of 16.467 miles, the route having changed due to road improvements. From 1953 the event moved to the 7.401-mile Dundrod Circuit, less than a mile from the old Clady circuit. The event also counted towards the Formula TT Championship between 1979 and 1990.
The Ulster Grand Prix's position as a world championship round from 1949 to 1971 brought the leading international riders of those eras to Dundrod. The 1971 race marked the final world championship running. The 250 cc race was won by Ray McCulloch, while Australian Jack Findlay took the honours in the 500 cc finale on a Suzuki — notably the first 500 cc class win for a two-stroke-powered machine in championship history. The event was cancelled in 1972 due to the political situation in Northern Ireland but was held in 2001 even as both the North West 200 and the Isle of Man TT were cancelled that year due to the foot-and-mouth crisis.
The 2019 meeting proved to be the last. Peter Hickman was the man of the meeting, recording seven victories across two days and establishing a new outright lap record of 136.415 mph. This figure exceeded the TT lap record and confirmed Dundrod as the fastest road-racing circuit in the world by that measure.
After 2019 the event faced compounding financial pressures. Insurance premiums increased substantially while sponsorship revenue declined, and the COVID-19 pandemic prevented any running in 2020 and 2021. The Dundrod and District Motorcycle Club, the organising body, was issued a winding-up order in 2020 having accumulated debts of approximately £300,000, subsequently entering into a company voluntary arrangement to repay a portion of those debts.
Efforts to revive the event for 2022 involved a new promoter, Revival Racing Motorcycle Club, which sought to secure a financial package of £800,000 and take over both the Ulster Grand Prix and the North West 200. Government funding from the Department of Economy and Department of Finance was agreed, but Tourism NI declined to support the proposal, causing it to collapse. Revival Racing withdrew from further involvement in late 2022. The 2023 event was also cancelled, with the Dundrod and District Motorcycle Club citing insurance and funding problems. The 2024 event was similarly cancelled in January 2024.
At the Irish Motorbike Awards held in November 2025, an announcement was made that the Ulster Grand Prix would be resurrected, with a provisional return date set for 2027.
Joey Dunlop holds the record for most Ulster Grand Prix victories with 24 wins. Phillip McCallen won 14 races, Peter Hickman 13, and Bruce Anstey 12. Other prominent winners across the event's history include Guy Martin with 11 wins, Stanley Woods with 7, Mike Hailwood with 7, Giacomo Agostini with 7, John Surtees with 6, Tom Herron with 5, Carlo Ubbiali with 5, Ron Haslam with 5, Robert Dunlop with 9, Steve Hislop, and Wayne Gardner. Mick Grant, Geoff Duke, Freddie Frith, Phil Read, Bill Ivy, and Artie Bell are among the other celebrated names from the world championship era.
The Ulster Grand Prix's combination of extreme speed, public-road character, and world championship heritage gave it a standing among motorcycle road races matched only by the Isle of Man TT. The Dundrod Circuit's flowing layout and the sheer velocity it generated made the event uniquely demanding, and the lap record it produced in 2019 remains the fastest average speed set over any single lap in motorcycle road racing. The ongoing uncertainty about its future, rooted in the structural challenges of funding and insuring a road-closing event in the modern era, has marked it as an event whose revival is neither guaranteed nor straightforward despite the provisional 2027 announcement.