Holyrood is bounded to the north by 98th Avenue, the south by 90th Avenue, the east by 75th Street, and the west by 85th Street. The neighbourhood has many of the design features found in other communities developed during the 1950s.
The dominant structure type is the single-family house. Multi-family structures and apartments are situated adjacent to bus routes along 95th Avenue and 85th Street. The neighbourhood's tree-lined interior streets are arranged in a modified grid pattern and incorporate several landscaped street islands. Most streets carry only local traffic, the exception being 95th Avenue and 79th Street, which serve as collector roads.
A school and community league hall are located in the centre of Holyrood, and a small commercial plaza is located in the southeast corner. Bonnie Doon Mall, a regional shopping centre, is just southwest of the neighbourhood. Residents also have access to Edmonton Northlands, Rexall Place, and other amenities in north Edmonton via Wayne Gretzky Drive, as well as the rest of the city via Connors Road and 98th Avenue.
The Holyrood neighbourhood has had four names since its inception in the early 1900s. It was called both Mount Pleasant and East Edmonton Gardens in 1912. A couple of decades later, the area was called Balmoral, and in 1953, because of the duplication of subdivision names, the area was renamed Holyrood. Holyrood likely takes its name from Holyrood Abbey in Edinburgh, Scotland.
