111-459: The Crumlin Road is a main road in north-west Belfast , Northern Ireland . The road runs from north of Belfast City Centre for about four miles to the outskirts of the city. It also forms part of the longer A52 road which leads out of Belfast to the town of Crumlin (from Irish Cromghlinn , meaning 'crooked glen'). The lower section of the road houses a number of historic buildings, including
222-535: A UVF cover name. The murder was said to be in retaliation for the killing of UVF member John Bingham two days earlier. With tit-for-tat killings become the norm the Crumlin Road saw evidence of this strategy by republican and loyalist groups in 1987. On 3 July a Catholic civilian, who had formerly been an internee, was found dead at a disused quarry off the Upper Crumlin Road after being murdered by
333-627: A centre for loyalist paramilitary activity and was the home base of "D Company" of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) under the command of John Bingham Along with Glenbryn, Ballysillan was also at the centre of a loyalist feud in 2003 when Jimbo Simpson , who had recently been ousted as head of the North Belfast Brigade of the Ulster Defence Association (UDA), attacked a number of houses in
444-540: A deep sea port, and extensive shipyards. The Lagan was banked (in 1994 a weir raised its water level to cover what remained of the tidal mud flats) and its various tributaries were culverted On the model pioneered in 2008 by the Connswater Community Greenway some, including the course of the Farset, are now being considered for "daylighting". It remains the case that much of the city centre
555-596: A former UVF member, had left the movement and become associated with the Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF), a splinter group involved in a feud with the UVF. The UVF struck again on 21 August 2000 when two loyalists associated with UDA brigadier Johnny Adair , Jackie Coulter and Bobby Mahood, were shot and killed whilst sitting in a jeep on the Crumlin Road. Adair had moved to support the LVF in their struggles with
666-732: A further Catholic civilian on the road on 2 September 1989 but had one of their own gunmen shot and killed by the British Army immediately after the attack. On 20 December 1992 the UVF killed a Catholic at his Upper Crumlin Road home whilst on 12 May 1994 the UFF killed another Catholic, this time at the home of a relative. Activity slowed down considerably following the 1994 ceasefires although attacks linked to loyalist feuds have been recorded. In 1997 Ulster Independence Movement politician Clifford Peeples had his Crumlin Road flower shop ransacked in an attack that he blamed on UVF members. Peeples,
777-535: A glazier's shop and shot Jim Anderson and fellow UDA veteran Billy Hull . Although both were wounded neither man died in the attack. Activity continued and on 21 March 1975 a Protestant civilian died four months after being shot by the UVF during a bank robbery on the road whilst on 10 June a UVF member was killed by the PIRA in his shop. The following year the UDA killed two Catholics on a bus on 17 June whilst on 28 October
888-521: A joint operation by the UVF and UDA saw gunmen enter the Mater Hospital where they shot and killed former Sinn Féin vice-president Máire Drumm who was a patient at the time. During the failed 1977 Ulster Workers' Council strike UDA member Kenny McClinton boarded a bus on which he shot dead Harry Bradshaw, a Protestant who was driving the vehicle. Following the killing the UDA wrote to his widow Sheila Bradshaw stating that they were sorry for
999-447: A loss of manufacturing, and after a cotton boom and bust, from the 1820s Belfast underwent rapid industrial expansion. As the global leader in the production of linen goods—mill, and finishing, work largely employing women and children— it won the moniker " Linenopolis ". Shipbuilding led the development of heavier industry. By the 1900s, her shipyards were building up to a quarter of the total United Kingdom tonnage. This included from
1110-583: A mixed area, contains an Orange Hall and a couple of Protestant enclaves, leading to a tradition of marches along the Ormeau Road. The Parades Commission has determined that marches be prevented from crossing Ormeau Bridge in recent years, and tensions have since reduced. One of the deadliest interface areas in Northern Ireland was that between the loyalist Shankill Road and the republican Falls and Springfield roads . Reports of rioting between
1221-566: A period of twenty years, due largely to redevelopment, 50,000 residents left the area leaving an aging population of 26,000 and more than 100 acres of wasteland. Meanwhile, road schemes , including the terminus of the M1 motorway and the Westlink , demolished a mixed dockland community, Sailortown , and severed the streets linking the Shankill area and the rest of both north and west Belfast to
SECTION 10
#17327762389891332-532: A reduced Harland & Wolff shipyard and aerospace and defence contractors. Post Brexit , Belfast and Northern Ireland remain, uniquely, within both the British domestic and European Single trading areas for goods. The city is served by two airports: George Best Belfast City Airport on the Lough shore and Belfast International Airport 15 miles (24 kilometres) west of the city. It supports two universities: on
1443-797: A road connecting the Springfield Road to the Shankill Road, was the site of rioting in protest against the ‘ Northern Ireland Protocol ’ of the UK Brexit withdrawal agreement . Other interfaces in west Belfast include the Donegall Road and Broadway, which are divided between the loyalist Village area and the republican St James's area by the roundabout where the Rise statue stands and the Stewartstown Road that divides
1554-423: A strong link between territory and ethno-political identity". Interface areas are sometimes bounded by the defensive barriers known as peace lines , and can be identified at their perimeter by painted kerbs or flags, demarcating the territorial affiliation of the area. However, this is not always the case, so people not local to the area are not always aware of the existence of interface areas. They are sometimes
1665-456: A struggle against British occupation. Preceded by loyalist and republican ceasefires, the 1998 "Good Friday" Belfast Agreement returned a new power-sharing legislative assembly and executive to Stormont. In the intervening years in Belfast, some 20,000 people had been injured, and 1,500 killed. Eighty-five percent of the conflict-related deaths had occurred within 1,000 metres of
1776-607: A thousand people were killed. At the end of World War II , the Unionist government undertook programmes of "slum clearance " (the Blitz had exposed the "uninhabitable" condition of much of the city's housing) which involved decanting populations out of mill and factory built red-brick terraces and into new peripheral housing estates. At the same time, a British-funded welfare state "revolutionised access" to education and health care. The resulting rise in expectations; together with
1887-447: A three-metre high (10') 'peace wall' was added to Alexandra Park , a public amenity straddling both areas. Alexandra Park is believed to be the only park in western Europe to be divided by such a wall, effectively dividing the park between the two adjacent communities. The wall remains in place although a gate was added in 2011 permitting limited access from one side to the other. A major interface also exists at Duncairn Gardens between
1998-696: Is also located in this area, immediately after the roundabout. The Ballysillan Road leads off the Crumlin Road and is a major area of housing, containing the Silverstream and Carr's Glen districts. The Ballysillan Road continues as far as the North Circular Road, which, in turn, links to the Antrim Road, which also began at Carlisle Circus. During the Northern Ireland Troubles Ballysillan was noted as
2109-441: Is built on an estuarine bed of "sleech": silt, peat, mud and—a source the city's ubiquitous red brick— soft clay, that presents a challenge for high-rise construction. (In 2007 this soft foundation persuaded St Anne's Cathedral to abandon plans for a bell tower and substitute a lightweight steel spire). The city centre is also subject to tidal flood risk. Rising sea levels could mean, that without significant investment, flooding in
2220-513: Is divided from the republican Ardoyne by the area around Hillview Road and Rosapenna Street, with Manor Street split in half by a peace line. The Lower Oldpark area sees occasional sectarian clashes as a result. Towards Newtownabbey the Whitewell Road contains an interface area between the republican Whitewell and loyalist White City areas. The Whitewell area, as well as neighbouring Catholic areas of Longlands and Arthur, also border on
2331-589: Is flanked by the lower-lying Castlereagh and Hollywood hills. The sand and gravel Malone Ridge extends up river to the south-west. From 1820, Belfast began to spread rapidly beyond its 18th century limits. To the north, it stretched out along roads which drew into the town migrants from Scots-settled hinterland of County Antrim . Largely Presbyterian, they enveloped a number of Catholic-occupied " mill-row " clusters: New Lodge , Ardoyne and "the Marrowbone". Together with areas of more substantial housing in
SECTION 20
#17327762389892442-521: Is one of four exits from Carlisle Circus, the others being the Antrim Road , a major arterial and residential route that forms part of the A6 , Clifton Street which leads back to the centre, and Denmark Street which leads to the area of the lower Shankill Road . The lowest section of the road contains a number of buildings of local and historic interest. The Mater Infirmorum Hospital , known colloquially as
2553-529: Is still undergoing redevelopment. St Mary's Church of Ireland , another 19th-century building, is also to be found in this part of the road and it is noted for its historic pipe organ . A Presbyterian church further up the road also dates from the 19th century whilst further up the road, facing the Ardoyne area there is a Roman Catholic Church , the Holy Cross Church . Commercially this area of
2664-613: Is the Crumlin Road Courthouse , which now also lies empty. Both buildings were designed by renowned local architect Charles Lanyon . The Freemasons' Hall, the headquarters for a number of Masonic Lodges attached to the Provincial Grand Lodge of Antrim is adjacent to the prison. The hall was built in 1939, replacing an earlier building further along the Crumlin Road. The road is intersected by Agnes Street and Clifton Park Avenue and at this section
2775-533: Is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland , standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel . It is the second-largest city on the island of Ireland (after Dublin ), with an estimated population of 348,005 in 2022, and a metropolitan area population of 671,559. First chartered as an English settlement in 1613,
2886-494: Is typically the only outside reference, these range more freely beyond the local conflict frequently expressing solidarity with Palestinians , with Cuba , and with Basque and Catalan separatists. West Belfast is separated from South Belfast, and from the otherwise abutting loyalist districts of Sandy Row and the Donegall Road , by rail lines, the M1 Motorway (to Dublin and the west); industrial and retail parks, and
2997-480: The Bronze Age . The Giant's Ring , a 5,000-year-old henge , is located near the city, and the remains of Iron Age hill forts can still be seen in the surrounding hills. At the beginning of the 14th century, Papal tax rolls record two churches: the "Chapel of Dundela" at Knock ( Irish : cnoc , meaning "hill") in the east, connected by some accounts to the 7th-century evangelist St. Colmcille , and,
3108-659: The Democratic Unionist Party , which had actively campaigned for Brexit, withdrew from the power-sharing executive and collapsed the Stormont institutions to protest the 2020 UK-EU Northern Ireland Protocol . With the promise of equal access to the British and European markets, this designates Belfast as a point of entry to the European Single Market within whose regulatory framework local producers will continue to operate. After two years,
3219-655: The Falls Road and into what are now remnants of an older Catholic enclave around St Mary's Church , the town's first Catholic chapel (opened in 1784 with Presbyterian subscriptions), and Smithfield Market . Eventually, an entire west side of the city, stretching up the Falls Road, along the Springfield Road (encompassing the new housing estates built 1950s and 60s: Highfield, New Barnsley, Ballymurphy, Whiterock and Turf Lodge) and out past Andersonstown on
3330-772: The Falls area ) by the Department of Justice . These include Cupar Way where tourists are informed that, at 45 feet, the barrier is "three times higher than the Berlin Wall and has been in place for twice as long". With other working-class districts, Shankill suffered from the "collapse of old industrial Belfast". But it was also greatly affected from the 1960s by the city's most ambitious programme of "slum clearance". Red-brick, "two up, two down" terraced streets, typical of 19th century working-class housing, were replaced with flats, maisonettes, and car parks but few facilities. In
3441-733: The Irish Parliament . Belfast's two MPs remained nominees of the Chichesters ( Marquesses of Donegall ). With their emigrant kinsmen in America, the region's Presbyterians were to share a growing disaffection from the Crown. When early in the American War of Independence , Belfast Lough was raided by the privateer John Paul Jones , the townspeople assembled their own Volunteer militia . Formed ostensibly for defence of
Crumlin Road - Misplaced Pages Continue
3552-492: The Irish republican New Lodge area of the Antrim Road and the neighbouring Ulster loyalist Tiger's Bay area. Clashes here date back to at least the early 1970s when local "defence associations" formed by loyalists became part of the wider Ulster Defence Association . Trouble in the area has been a regular feature with petrol bombs thrown in 2000 and 2001 after local UDA Brigadier Jimbo Simpson claimed that republican housing
3663-762: The North Belfast parliamentary constituency and its Assembly equivalent . In the House of Commons it is represented by John Finucane of Sinn Féin whilst in the Northern Ireland Assembly the MLAs are Gerry Kelly and Carál Ní Chuilín of Sinn Féin, Philip Brett and Brian Kingston of the DUP, and the Alliance's Nuala McAllister . Long-serving DUP MLA Nelson McCausland failed to get re-elected to
3774-747: The Oldpark district , these are wedged between Protestant working-class housing stretching from Tiger's Bay out the Shore Road on one side, and up the Shankill (the original Antrim Road) on the other. The Greater Shankill area, including Crumlin and Woodvale , is over the line from the Belfast North parliamentary/assembly constituency, but is physically separated from the rest of Belfast West by an extensive series of separation barriers — peace walls —owned (together with five daytime gates into
3885-916: The Royal Victoria Hospital at the junction with the Grosvenor Road. Extensively redeveloped and expanded, the hospital has a staff of more than 8,500. Landmarks in the area include the Gothic-revival St Peter's Cathedral (1866, signature twin spires added in 1886); Clonard Monastery (1911), the Conway Mill (1853/1901, re-developed as a community enterprise, arts and education centre in 1983); Belfast City Cemetery (1869) and, best known for its republican graves, Milltown Cemetery (1869). The area's greatest visitor attractions are its wall and gable-end murals. In contrast to those in loyalist areas, where Israel
3996-552: The United Kingdom , there was widespread violence . 8,000 "disloyal" workers were driven from their jobs in the shipyards: in addition to Catholics, "rotten Prods" – Protestants whose labour politics disregarded sectarian distinctions. Gun battles, grenade attacks and house burnings contributed to as many as 500 deaths. A curfew remained in force until 1924. (see The Troubles in Ulster (1920–1922) ) The lines drawn saw off
4107-594: The anti-clerical Spanish Republic characterised as another instance of No-Popery . (Today, the cause of the republic in the Spanish Civil War is commemorated by a " No Pasaran " stained glass window in City Hall). In 1938, nearly a third of industrial workers were unemployed, malnutrition was a major issue, and at 9.6% the city's infant mortality rate (compared with 5.9% in Sheffield , England)
4218-550: The six northeast counties retaining the British connection, and over three decades from the late 1960s during which the British Army was continually deployed on the streets. A legacy of conflict is the barrier-reinforced separation of Protestant and Catholic working-class districts. Since the Good Friday Agreement , the electoral balance in the once unionist -controlled city has shifted, albeit with no overall majority, in favour of Irish nationalists . At
4329-585: The slave plantations of the West Indies ; sugar and rum to Baltimore and New York ; and for the return to Belfast flaxseed and tobacco from the colonies . From the 1760s, profits from the trade financed improvements in the town's commercial infrastructure, including the Lagan Canal , new docks and quays, and the construction of the White Linen Hall which together attracted to Belfast
4440-470: The " Ulster Freedom Fighters ". Four days later a member of this group was killed by the PIRA in a Ligoniel Road snooker hall. The road became associated with UVF activity and in February 1988 a UVF arms haul, containing an RPG7 rocket launcher with 26 warheads, 38 assault rifles, 15 Brownings, 100 grenades and 40,000 rounds of ammunition was found following searches in the Upper Crumlin Road. The UVF killed
4551-458: The "Chapel of the Ford", which may have been a successor to a much older parish church on the present Shankill (Seanchill , "Old Church") Road , dating back to the 9th, and possibly to St. Patrick in the mid 5th, century. A Norman settlement at the ford, comprising the parish church (now St. George's ), a watermill, and a small fort, was an outpost of Carrickfergus Castle . Established in
Crumlin Road - Misplaced Pages Continue
4662-533: The "constitutional question": the prospect of a restored Irish parliament in which Protestants (and northern industry) feared being a minority interest. On 28 September 1912, unionists massed at Belfast's City Hall to sign the Ulster Covenant , pledging to use "all means which may be found necessary to defeat the present conspiracy to set up a Home Rule Parliament in Ireland". This was followed by
4773-399: The 1840s, by famine . The plentiful supply of cheap labour helped attract English and Scottish capital to Belfast, but it was also a cause of insecurity. Protestant workers organised and dominated the apprenticed trades and gave a new lease of life to the once largely rural Orange Order . Sectarian tensions, which frequently broke out in riots and workplace expulsions, were also driven by
4884-406: The 1900s her shipyards were building up to a quarter of total United Kingdom tonnage. Sectarian tensions accompanied the growth of an Irish Catholic population drawn by mill and factory employment from western districts. Heightened by division over Ireland's future in the United Kingdom , these twice erupted in periods of sustained violence: in 1920–22 , as Belfast emerged as the capital of
4995-562: The 1960s the great-house demesnes of the city's former mill-owners and industrialists were developed for public housing: loyalist estates such as Seymour Hill and Belvoir. Meanwhile, in Malone and along the river embankments, new houses and apartment blocks have been squeezed in, increasing the general housing density. Beyond the Queen's University area the area's principal landmarks are the 15-storey tower block of Belfast City Hospital (1986) on
5106-655: The Antrim Road between the Protestant Westland Road and the Catholic areas of the Cavehill Road known as "Little America", although there has been more co-operation between community groups aimed at decreasing tensions. Further north another major flashpoint exists between the republican Ardoyne area and the loyalist Glenbryn estate, with this clash reaching its apex in the above mentioned Holy Cross dispute of 2001 and 2002. The dividing line between
5217-468: The British Isles), by local differences in births and deaths between Catholics and Protestants, and by a growing number of, particularly younger, people no longer willing to self-identify on traditional lines. In 1997, unionists lost overall control of Belfast City Council for the first time in its history. The election in 2011 saw Irish nationalist councillors outnumber unionist councillors for
5328-533: The Crumlin Road contains some shops, notably a number of cash and carry and similar wholesale retail outlets on the Hillview Road, a conduit linking the Crumlin and Oldpark Roads. Historically however one of the most important commercial properties was the Crumlin Road mill. The mill was built for William Ewart , a cotton trader and politician who switched his interests to the production of linen, which at
5439-643: The Crumlin Road to Ballyutoag Road (from Irish Baile Uchtóg , meaning 'Townland of the slopes') once it leaves the urban area. It is subsequently known as the Ballykeel Road (from Irish Baile Caol , meaning 'Narrow Townland') and then the Belfast Road until the junction with the A26 in Crumlin. It continues as the Nutts Corner Road into the centre of Crumlin. Crumlin Road is part of
5550-459: The Dungiven Road, Currynierin and Tullyally interface and Irish Street and Gobnascale in the Waterside . In the early years of The Troubles, the Fountain estate almost directly bordered Bishop Street, which was a part of Free Derry , a Republican no-go area , resulting in hardline loyalism and the government trying to intervene by making more interface areas. After Operation Motorman and the end of Free Derry, sectarian violence became worse and
5661-449: The Holy Cross Church, where a number of streets branch off into different areas of the city. The Ardoyne Road is an interface area , containing both republican and loyalist sections, and it was the scene of the Holy Cross dispute , a series of clashes between the two communities at a Catholic girls school in 2001 and 2002. The school is close to Alliance Avenue, the effective dividing line between republican Ardoyne and loyalist Glenbryn, and
SECTION 50
#17327762389895772-454: The Kingdom , Volunteer corps were soon pressing their own protest against "taxation without representation". Further emboldened by the French Revolution , a more radical element in the town, the Society of United Irishmen , called for Catholic emancipation and a representative national government. In hopes of French assistance, in 1798 the Society organised a republican insurrection. The rebel tradesmen and tenant farmers were defeated north of
5883-566: The Lisburn Road, and the Lagan Valley Regional Park through which a towpath extends from the City-centre quayside to Lisburn. Northern Ireland's three permanent diplomatic missions are situated on the Malone Road, the consulates of China, Poland and the United States. Interface area Interface area is the name given in Northern Ireland to areas where segregated nationalist and unionist residential areas meet. They have been defined as "the intersection of segregated and polarised working class residential zones, in areas with
5994-407: The Mater, is found just past Carlisle Circus and provides healthcare to the north of the city as well as the surrounding area. A 19th-century structure, the hospital is beside the derelict Crumlin Road Gaol which, from 1846 to 1996 was the main prison in Belfast. After a number years of dereliction the venue opened as tourist attraction in 2013 and offers guided tours and venue hire. Facing the prison
6105-433: The Oldpark Road divides off. At this point the Crumlin Road remains a largely loyalist area although with much of the Oldpark Road republican it is witness to a series of sectarian interfaces. Belfast City Council has converted a section of waste ground at this junction into a greenfield space whilst local shops have also been redeveloped. Significant levels of new housing have also been built here and as of 2011 this area
6216-490: The Stewartstown Road toward Poleglass , became near-exclusively Catholic and, in political terms, nationalist. Reflecting the nature of available employment as mill workers, domestics and shop assistants, the population, initially, was disproportionately female. Further opportunities for women on the Falls Road arose through developments in education and public health. In 1900, the Dominican Order opened St Mary's [Teacher] Training College , and in 1903 King Edward VII opened
6327-546: The UVF, resulting in a feud developing between his UDA West Belfast Brigade and the UVF. Later that year on 24 September Stephen McKeag , a former associate of Adair's who had fallen out of favour, was found dead at his home at Florence Court off the Crumlin Road on 24 September 2000. It was initially speculated that Adair had had McKeag killed although a post-mortem revealed his death was caused by an overdose of painkillers and cocaine . Some of his supporters continued to blame Adair however, and claimed that Adair's men had entered
6438-436: The Upper Hightown Road forks off, ultimately linking the area with the Glengormley area of Newtownabbey . From this point on the Crumlin Road continues for around a mile and a half through a largely rural area before merging with the Ballyutoag Road. The Crumlin Road forms the Belfast section of the A52, an A road linking the city to Crumlin, County Antrim . The A52 is known by a number of street names with it changing from
6549-410: The area as part of a failed attempt to retake control of the Brigade and force out his replacement William Borland . The Crumlin Road entrance to Ballysillan houses another historic church, the Ballysillan Presbyterian Church. Due to its elevated and exposed location Ballysillan, which takes its name from an Irish language expression meaning "townland of the willow grove", is one of the coldest areas of
6660-439: The area. The interface between the loyalist Corcrain Road and republican Obins Drive has been a regular scene of violence in the County Armagh town. Violence broke out here in 2011 after loyalist youths had liaised with each other through social network sites in order to launch the disturbances. One of the main interface areas is between the Fountain estate and Bishop Street in the cityside as well as several others including
6771-413: The challenge to "unionist unity" posed by labour (industry had been paralysed by strikes in 1907 and again in 1919). Until "troubles" returned at the end of the 1960s, it was not uncommon in Belfast for the Ulster Unionist Party to have its council and parliamentary candidates returned unopposed. In 1932, the opening of the new buildings for Northern Ireland's devolved Parliament at Stormont
SECTION 60
#17327762389896882-426: The city centre. New "green field" housing estates were built on the outer edges of the city. The onset of the Troubles overwhelmed attempts to promote these as "mixed" neighbourhoods so that the largest of these developments on the city's northern edge, Rathcoole , rapidly solidified as a loyalist community. In 2004, it was estimated that 98% of public housing in Belfast was divided along religious lines. Among
6993-402: The city during winter. Further up the road, in what is still part of Ballysillan but what is frequently known as Glenbank, another interface area is found around Ligoniel Road and the area known as Legoniel (the road is spelt Ligoniel, whilst the electoral ward is spelt Legoniel, despite referring to the same area). Glenbank remains predominantly loyalist whilst much of Legoniel is republican and
7104-424: The city's former law courts and prison, whilst the road encompasses several large housing areas, including Ardoyne , Ballysillan (from Irish Baile na Saileán , meaning ' townland of the willow groves/sally groves ') and Ligoniel(from Irish Lag an Aoil , meaning ' hollow of the lime '). The Crumlin Road begins at Carlisle Circus, a roundabout north of the city centre just past the Westlink motorway. It
7215-425: The coming decades will be persistent. The city is overlooked on the County Antrim side (to the north and northwest) by a precipitous basalt escarpment —the near continuous line of Divis Mountain (478 m), Black Mountain (389 m) and Cavehill (368 m)—whose "heathery slopes and hanging fields are visible from almost any part of the city". From County Down side (on the south and south east) it
7326-403: The communal interfaces , largely in the north and west of the city. The security barriers erected at these interfaces are an enduring physical legacy of the Troubles. The 14 neighbourhoods they separate are among the 20 most deprived wards in Northern Ireland. In May 2013, the Northern Ireland Executive committed to the removal of all peace lines by mutual consent. The target date of 2023
7437-499: The constituency in the 2017 Northern Ireland Assembly election and the SDLP's Nichola Mallon in the 2022 Northern Ireland Assembly election . As an interface area containing considerable Protestant and Catholic populations the Crumlin Road was the scene of a number of murders and attacks during the course of the Northern Ireland Troubles. A series of attacks occurred on the road in 1972, mainly carried out by loyalist groups. The Red Hand Commando murdered two Catholic civilians on
7548-436: The death and injury caused, they accelerated the loss of the city's Victorian fabric. Since the turn of the century, the loss of employment and population in the city centre has been reversed. This reflects the growth of the service economy , for which a new district has been developed on former dockland, the Titanic Quarter . The growing tourism sector paradoxically lists as attractions the murals and peace walls that echo
7659-427: The drilling and eventual arming of a 100,000-strong Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF). The immediate crisis was averted by the onset of the Great War . The UVF formed the 36th (Ulster) Division whose sacrifices in the Battle of the Somme continue to be commemorated in the city by unionist and loyalist organisations. In 1920–22, as Belfast emerged as the capital of the six counties remaining as Northern Ireland in
7770-420: The first time, with Sinn Féin becoming the largest party, and the cross-community Alliance Party holding the balance of power. In the 2016 Brexit referendum , Belfast's four parliamentary constituencies returned a substantial majority (60 percent) for remaining within the European Union , as did Northern Ireland as a whole (55.8), the only UK region outside London and Scotland to do so. In February 2022,
7881-421: The house, attacked McKeag and forced him to swallow a lethal dose of cocaine, although no evidence to support the claim existed. Chaim Herzog , who served as President of Israel , was born on Clifton Park Avenue, just off the lower Crumlin Road. His birthplace is marked by a blue plaque erected by the Ulster History Circle . Ulster Defence Association brigadier Johnny Adair also grew up around this area, as he
7992-564: The landing at Carrickfergus of William, Prince of Orange , who proceeded through the Belfast to his celebrated victory on 12 July 1690 at the Boyne . Together with French Huguenots , the Scots introduced the production of linen , a flax -spinning industry that in the 18th century carried Belfast trade to the Americas. Fortunes were made carrying rough linen clothing and salted provisions to
8103-458: The late 12th century, 11 miles (18 km) out along the north shore of the Lough, Carrickfergus was to remain the principal English foothold in the north-east until the scorched- earth Nine Years' War at the end of the 16th century broke the remaining Irish power, the O'Neills . With a commission from James I , in 1613 Sir Arthur Chichester undertook the Plantation of Belfast and
8214-556: The linen trade that had formerly gone through Dublin . Abolitionist sentiment, however, defeated the proposal of the greatest of the merchant houses, Cunningham and Greg , in 1786 to commission ships for the Middle Passage . As "Dissenters" from the established Anglican church (with its episcopacy and ritual), Presbyterians were conscious of sharing, if only in part, the disabilities of Ireland's dispossessed Roman Catholic majority; and of being denied representation in
8325-682: The loyalist Rathcoole estate. Although not strictly an interface as the areas on each side of it are majority Catholic according to the 2001 and 2011 censuses, Ormeau Bridge became the focus of clashes in the 1990s. Residents of the Lower Ormeau Road opposed the Orange Order marching towards the city centre across Ormeau Bridge and via the Lower Ormeau Road. The marches originated in Ballynafeigh, which although
8436-576: The mill, which straddles the republican Ardoyne area and the loyalist Shankill and Woodvale areas is a major interface area on the Crumlin Road with Flax Street, which runs along the side of the mill, ending in a peace line . Similarly access to the Crumlin Road from Leopold Street and Columbia Street, both part of the loyalist Woodvale area, is also blocked by peace lines. Another local mill, Edenderry Mill, which dates back to Victorian times, has been converted into an apartment complex consisting of 55 flats. The Crumlin Road reaches another junction just past
8547-474: The murder and that they believed her husband to be a Catholic, enclosing a ten-pound note as compensation. However, according to Martin Dillon the attack had been ordered by leading UDA figure James Craig who knew that any Citybus driver on the Crumlin Road would be a Protestant. Craig wanted to send out a message to other Protestant bus drivers that their failure to support the strike as they had done in 1974
8658-594: The north-side of the city centre, Ulster University , and on the southside the longer established Queens University. Since 2021, Belfast has been a UNESCO designated City of Music . The name Belfast derives from the Irish Béal Feirste ( Irish pronunciation: [bʲeːlˠ ˈfʲɛɾˠ(ə)ʃtʲə] ), "Mouth of the Farset " a river whose name in the Irish, Feirste, refers to a sandbar or tidal ford. This
8769-665: The peace lines grew rapidly in the Protestant Fountain area bordering the Catholic Bishop Street. The heavily Protestant Waterside area borders the Catholic Dungiven road and it has multiple peace lines, and has been known as a violent area during The Troubles. There were many other interface areas in Derry but the two mentioned above were the largest. The City Council has attempted to tackle
8880-511: The points where the two areas come very close, notably where Ainsworth Avenue backs onto the Springfield Road, the points at which Kirk Street and Workman Avenue in the Woodvale area touch Springfield, the parts of the Highfield estate that border the Springfield Road and where republican Bombay Street and loyalist Cupar Way almost meet. More recently, on 7 April 2021, the gate at Lanark Way,
8991-541: The principal landmarks of north Belfast are the Crumlin Road Gaol (1845) now a major visitor attraction, Belfast Royal Academy (1785) - the oldest school in the city, St Malachy's College (1833), Holy Cross Church, Ardoyne (1902), Waterworks Park (1889), and Belfast Zoo (1934). In the mid-19th century rural poverty and famine drove large numbers of Catholic tenant farmers, landless labourers and their families toward Belfast. Their route brought them down
9102-569: The protest, with policing costs estimated at £7 million. Twaddell Avenue itself was named after assassinated Unionist politician William Twaddell . Past the roundabout the Crumlin Road is largely made up of private housing for around a mile. Parts of the road in this area border on Forthriver Park, which separates the Crumlin Road from the Glencairn estate, whilst the Mercy Primary School is also found in this area. Ardoyne library
9213-690: The remnants of the Blackstaff (Owenvarra) bog meadows. Belfast began stretching up-river in the 1840s and 50s: out the Ormeau and Lisburn roads and, between them, running along a ridge of higher ground, the Malone Road . From "leafy" avenues of increasingly substantial (and in the course of time "mixed") housing, the Upper Malone broadened out into areas of parkland and villas. Further out still, where they did not survive as public parks, from
9324-659: The republican Lenadoon area from the loyalist Suffolk. Although east Belfast as a whole is largely Protestant in nature the republican enclave of the Short Strand forms a number of interface areas with neighbouring loyalist districts on the Albertbridge Road and the Newtownards Road. The 1970 Battle of St Matthew's saw one of the deadliest expressions of the tensions in the area, although as recently as 2011 sustained violent clashes have broken out in
9435-463: The road, one on 8 February and another on 11 November. In between the UVF, with which group was closely linked, murdered a Catholic on 15 April whilst on 30 November the UDA killed another Catholic outside the Mater Hospital. Meanwhile, on 21 July 1972, as part of its Bloody Friday series of bomb attacks, the PIRA exploded a device at a petrol station on the road, albeit without deaths. A further PIRA attack occurred on 19 November 1974 when gunmen entered
9546-414: The same time, new immigrants are adding to the growing number of residents unwilling to identify with either of the two communal traditions. Belfast has seen significant services sector growth, with important contributions from financial technology ( fintech ), from tourism and, with facilities in the redeveloped Harbour Estate , from film. It retains a port with commercial and industrial docks, including
9657-470: The site of a loyalist protest camp in support of the Orange Order , who had been barred from marching past Ardoyne by the Parades Commission . The protest, which has seen clashes between loyalists and police, is ongoing as of October 2013 with organisers sing that they are prepared to remain at the location until Christmas 2013 or even longer. As of February 2014 a presence is still maintained at
9768-482: The site of another peace line. The aforementioned junction also leads to Brompton Road, part of Ardoyne, the Woodvale Road, which leads backs down to the Shankill Road, and Twaddell Avenue, which leads to the loyalist Ballygomartin Road. The roundabout at this junction has been redeveloped as part of the council's initiatives aimed at regenerating the area. In 2013 the end of Twaddell Avenue, facing Ardoyne, became
9879-420: The sites of sectarian violence, when they have become known as "flashpoints". North Belfast is home to a number of interface areas. One of the most famous is Holy Cross in the Ardoyne area of Belfast, which was the site of significant disputes in 2001 and 2002. Another significant area is that between the lower Antrim Road and the lower Shore Road which was seen as such a flashpoint in 1994 that
9990-582: The standoff was resolved with an agreement to eliminate routine checks on UK-destined goods. Belfast is at the mouth of the River Lagan at the head of Belfast Lough open through the North Channel to the Irish Sea and to the North Atlantic . In the course of the 19th century, the location's estuarine features were re-engineered. With dredging and reclamation, the lough was made to accommodate
10101-554: The streets in August 1969, the British Army committed to the longest continuous deployment in its history, Operation Banner . Beginning in 1970 with the Falls curfew , and followed in 1971 by internment , this included counterinsurgency measures directed chiefly at the Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA) who characterised their operations, including the bombing of Belfast's commercial centre, as
10212-469: The summer of 1996 the Ulster Volunteer Force in Torrens had been preparing to attack Ardoyne after local disturbances, although they were talked out of it by Progressive Unionist Party politician Billy Hutchinson . Around 2010, the majority of the loyalist population was moved from the area and the barricades and police station have since been demolished. Further down the road the loyalist Lower Oldpark
10323-432: The surrounding area, attracting mainly English and Manx settlers. The subsequent arrival of Scottish Presbyterians embroiled Belfast in its only recorded siege: denounced from London by John Milton as "ungrateful and treacherous guests", in 1649 the newcomers were temporarily expelled by an English Parliamentarian army. In 1689, Catholic Jacobite forces, briefly in command of the town, abandoned it in advance of
10434-471: The time became the leading industry in the city. During the Second World War the mill was converted from the production of linen to the manufacture of munitions. The mill employed thousands of local people, mostly young women who were known locally as "millies". Although the mill is no longer in operation its industrial heritage is commemorated in a nearby statue of one such "Milly". The area around
10545-532: The town at the Battle of Antrim and to the south at the Battle of Ballynahinch . Britain seized on the rebellion to abolish the Irish Parliament, unlamented in Belfast, and to incorporate Ireland in a United Kingdom . In 1832, British parliamentary reform permitted the town its first electoral contest – an occasion for an early and lethal sectarian riot. While other Irish towns experienced
10656-413: The town's early growth was driven by an influx of Scottish Presbyterians . Their descendants' disaffection with Ireland 's Anglican establishment contributed to the rebellion of 1798 , and to the union with Great Britain in 1800 — later regarded as a key to the town's industrial transformation. When granted city status in 1888, Belfast was the world's largest centre of linen manufacture, and by
10767-599: The two areas is Alliance Avenue where the peace line has been since 1971. On its western edge Ardoyne borders on the Crumlin Road and Woodvale Road , two mainly loyalist areas. To the south of Ardoyne there are a number of interface areas on the Oldpark Road. The Torrens area was a heavily fortified loyalist enclave on the road access onto which is severely restricted. Areas such as Wyndham Street and Oldpark Avenue that surround Torrens are mostly republican. During
10878-519: The two communities go back to at least the 19th century and in the post-war years violence between the young people from both sides was common on the many streets that linked the two areas. Following the outbreak of the Troubles and a huge upturn in violence in these areas most of the direct points of access were sealed by peace lines, generating pockets of urban voids marked by dereliction and abandonment. Low level violence and vandalism often occur at
10989-546: The uncertainty caused by the decline of the city's Victorian-era industries, contributed to growing protest, and counter protest, in the 1960s over the Unionist government 's record on civil and political rights. For reasons that nationalists and unionists dispute, the public protests of the late 1960s soon gave way to communal violence (in which as many as 60,000 people were intimidated from their homes) and to loyalist and republican paramilitarism . Introduced onto
11100-503: The urban area, eventually joins the A52 close to RAF Nutts Corner . The upper end of the Crumlin Road is much less densely populated with much of the road passing through fields and wilderness areas, although the road continues to overlook the estates of Ballysillan on lower lands below the upper Crumlin Road. The road turns sharply near the entrance to Cavehill Country Park, veering in a south-westerly direction towards Crumlin. At this juncture
11211-473: The violence of the past. In recent years, "Troubles tourism" has presented visitors with new territorial markers: flags, murals and graffiti in which loyalists and republicans take opposing sides in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict . The demographic balance of some areas has been changed by immigration (according to the 2021 census just under 10% of the city's population was born outside
11322-407: The yard of Harland & Wolff the ill-fated RMS Titanic , at the time of her launch in 1911 the largest ship afloat. Other major export industries included textile machinery, rope, tobacco and mineral waters. Industry drew in a new Catholic population settling largely in the west of the town—refugees from a rural poverty intensified by Belfast's mechanisation of spinning and weaving and, in
11433-660: Was among the highest in United Kingdom. In the spring of 1941, the German Luftwaffe appeared twice over Belfast. In addition to the shipyards and the Short & Harland aircraft factory, the Belfast Blitz severely damaged or destroyed more than half the city's housing stock, and devastated the old town centre around High Street. In the greatest loss of life in any air raid outside of London, more than
11544-595: Was born on the Old Lodge Road and raised on the lower Oldpark Road, both of which are adjacent to the Crumlin Road. Another leading figure in the movement, Jim Anderson , who was a founder member of the Woodvale Defence Association , was a Crumlin Road native. His contemporaries in the group's early days Sammy Smyth and Ernie Elliott also both came from streets immediately adjacent to the Crumlin Road. Adair's contemporary Stephen McKeag
11655-521: Was formed where the river ran—until culverted late in the 18th century, down High Street— into the Lagan. It was at this crossing, located under or close to the current Queen's Bridge, that the early settlement developed. The compilers of Ulster-Scots use various transcriptions of local pronunciations of "Belfast" (with which they sometimes are also content) including Bilfawst , Bilfaust or Baelfawst. The site of Belfast has been occupied since
11766-591: Was living in a street off the road when he was found dead in 2000. William Borland , who served as leader of the UDA's North Belfast Brigade, was also based on the Crumlin Road during his tenure as brigadier. On the republican side John Graham was a leading member of St Mary's Church of Ireland on the Crumlin Road, as well as being an Irish Republican Army activist. Belfast Belfast ( / ˈ b ɛ l f æ s t / BEL-fast , /- f ɑː s t / -fahst ; from Irish : Béal Feirste [bʲeːlˠ ˈfʲɛɾˠ(ə)ʃtʲə] )
11877-474: Was not going unnoticed. On 10 May an off-duty Ulster Defence Regiment soldier was killed by a UVF bomb at a petrol station on the road. This attack was also linked to the strike as the petrol station had continued to trade during the stoppage. On 16 September 1986 a Catholic civilian was shot and killed on the grounds of the Holy Cross Church in an attack claimed by the " Protestant Action Force ",
11988-565: Was noted as an area of Provisional Irish Republican Army activity during the Troubles. The 1971 Scottish soldiers' killings , in which three members of the British Army were killed by the PIRA, took place in this area. There is a small area of shops on the Crumlin Road around the base of the Ligoniel Road as well as an Elim Pentecostal Church . The Ligoniel Road, which changes its name to the Ballyhill Road soon after it leaves
12099-574: Was overshadowed by the protests of the unemployed and ten days of running street battles with the police. The government conceded increases in Outdoor Relief , but labour unity was short lived. In 1935, celebrations of King George V 's Jubilee and of the annual Twelfth were followed by deadly riots and expulsions, a sectarian logic that extended itself to the interpretation of darkening events in Europe. Labour candidates found their support for
12210-452: Was passed with only a small number dismantled. The more affluent districts escaped the worst of the violence, but the city centre was a major target. This was especially so during the first phase of the PIRA campaign in the early 1970s, when the organisation hoped to secure quick political results through maximum destruction. Including car bombs and incendiaries, between 1969 and 1977 the city experienced 2,280 explosions. In addition to
12321-606: Was starting to encroach into Tiger's Bay. The Limestone Road, which runs parallel to Duncairn Gardens, also provides a dividing line, with the Parkside and Newington areas being largely Irish nationalist and the Tiger's Bay and Halliday's Road area mainly unionist (although a small section of Halliday's Road forms the edge of the New Lodge area and is divided from the rest of the road as a result). There have also been divisions around
#988011