Sights in Belfast
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Falls Road Republican Murals
The first republican murals appeared in 1981, when the hunger strike at the Maze prison saw the emergence of dozens of murals supporting the hunger strikers. In later years republican muralists broadened their scope to cover wider political issues, Irish legends and historical events. After the Good Friday Agreement of 1998, the murals came to demand police reform and the protection of nationalists from sectarian attacks.
Common images seen in republican murals include the phoenix rising from the flames (symbolising Ireland reborn from the flames of the 1916 Easter Rising), the face of hunger striker Bobby Sands, and scenes and figures from Irish mythology. Common slogan…
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Cave Hill
The best way to get a feel for Belfast's natural setting is to view it from above. In the absence of a private aircraft, head for Cave Hill (368m) which looms over the northern fringes of the city. The view from its summit takes in the whole sprawl of the city, the docks and the creeping fingers of urbanisation along the shores of Belfast Lough. On a clear day you can even spot Scotland lurking on the horizon.
The hill was originally called Ben Madigan, after the 9th-century Ulster king, Matudhain. Its distinctive, craggy profile, seen from the south, has been known to locals for two centuries as 'Napoleon's Nose' - it supposedly bears some resemblance to Bonaparte's hoot…
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Peace Line
There are steel gates that mark the beginning of the so-called Peace Line, the 6m-high wall of corrugated steel, concrete and chain link that has divided the Protestant and Catholic communities of West Belfast for almost 40 years. Begun in 1970 as a 'temporary measure', it has now outlasted the Berlin Wall, and zigzags for some 4km from the Westlink to the lower slopes of Black Mountain. These days the gates in the wall remain open during the day, but most are still closed from 17:00 to 08:00.
There are now more than 20 such barriers in Belfast, and a total of more than 40 throughout Northern Ireland, the most visible sign of the divisions that have scarred the province f…
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Botanic Gardens
The green oasis of Belfast’s Botanic Gardens is a short stroll away from Queen's University. Just inside the Stranmillis Rd gate is a statue, who helped lay the foundation of modern physics and who invented the Kelvin scale that measures temperatures from absolute zero (–273°C or 0°K).
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Belfast Castle
Built in 1870 for the third Marquess of Donegall, in the Scottish Baronial style made fashionable by Queen Victoria’s then recently built Balmoral, the multi-turreted pomp of Belfast Castle commands the south-eastern slopes of Cave Hill. It was presented to the City of Belfast in 1934.
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Ulster Museum
If the weather washes out a walk in the Botanic gardens, head instead for the nearby Ulster Museum. The museum was closed for redevelopment at the time of research, but should be open again by the time you read this.
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Parliament House
The dazzling white neoclassical façade of Parliament House at Stormont is one of Belfast's most iconic buildings; in the North, 'Stormont' carries the same connotation as 'Westminster' does in Britain and 'Washington' in the USA - the seat of power. For 40 years, from its completion in 1932 until the introduction of direct rule in 1972, it was the seat of the parliament of Northern Ireland.
More recently, on 8 May 2007, it returned to the forefront of Irish politics when Ian Paisley and Martin McGuinness - who had been the best of enemies for decades - laughed and smiled as they were sworn in as first minister and deputy first minister respectively.
The building occupies …
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Queen's University
If you think that Charles Lanyon's Queen's College (1849), a Tudor Revival building in red brick and honey-coloured sandstone, has something of an Oxbridge air about it, that may be because he based the design of the central tower on the 15th-century Founder's Tower at Oxford's Magdalen College.
Northern Ireland's most prestigious university was founded by Queen Victoria in 1845, one of three Queen's colleges (the others, still around but no longer called Queen's colleges, are in Cork and Galway) created to provide a nondenominational alternative to the Anglican Church's Trinity College in Dublin. In 1908 the college became the Queen's University of Belfast, and today its…
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Linen Hall Library
Opposite City Hall, on North Donegall Sq, is the Linen Hall Library. Established in 1788 to 'improve the mind and excite a spirit of general inquiry', the library was moved from its original home in the White Linen Hall to the present building a century later. Thomas Russell, the first librarian, was a founding member of the United Irishmen and a close friend of Wolfe Tone. Russell was hanged in 1803 after Robert Emmet's abortive rebellion.
The library houses some 260,000 books, more than half of which are part of its important Irish and local-studies collection. The political collection consists of pretty much everything that has been written about Northern Irish politic…
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City Hall
The Industrial Revolution transformed Belfast in the 19th century, and its rapid rise to muck-and-brass prosperity is manifested in the extravagance of City Hall. Built in classical Renaissance style in fine, white Portland stone, it was completed in 1906 and paid for from the profits of the gas supply company. It is equipped with facilities for the disabled.
The hall is fronted by a statue of a rather dour 'we are not amused' Queen Victoria. The bronze figures on either side of her symbolise the textile and shipbuilding industries, while the child at the back represents education. At the northeastern corner of the grounds is a statue of Sir Edward Harland, the Yorkshire-…
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The Entries
The oldest part of Belfast, around High St, suffered considerable damage from WWII bombing. The narrow alleyways running off High and Ann Sts, known as the Entries, were once bustling commercial and residential centres: Pottinger's Entry, for example, had 34 houses in 1822.
Joy's Entry is named after Francis Joy, who founded the Belfast News Letter in 1737, the first daily newspaper in the British Isles (and still in business). One of his grandsons, Henry Joy McCracken, was executed for supporting the 1798 United Irishmen's revolt.
The United Irishmen were founded in 1791 by Wolfe Tone in Peggy Barclay's tavern in Crown Entry, and used to meet in Kelly's Cellars (1720) on …
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Albert Memorial Clock Tower
Belfast's very own leaning tower, the Albert Memorial Clock Tower. Erected in 1867 in honour of Queen Victoria's dear departed husband, it is not so dramatically out of kilter, but does nevertheless, lean noticeably to the south - as the locals say, 'Old Albert not only has the time, he also has the inclination'. Restoration work has stabilised its foundations and left its Scrabo sandstone masonry sparkling white.
Many of the buildings around the clock tower are the work of Sir Charles Lanyon. The white stone building immediately north of the clock tower was completed in 1852 by Lanyon as head office for the Northern Bank.
South of the tower on Victoria St is the Malmaison…
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Custom House
South along the river is the elegant Custom House, built by Lanyon in Italianate style between 1854 and 1857; the writer Anthony Trollope once worked in the post office here. On the waterfront side the pediment carries sculpted portrayals of Britannia, Neptune and Mercury. The Custom House steps were once Belfast's equivalent of London's Speakers' Corner, a tradition memorialised in a bronze statue preaching to an invisible crowd.
Looking across the River Lagan from the Custom House, East Belfast is dominated by the huge yellow cranes of the Harland & Wolff shipyards. The modern Queen Elizabeth Bridge crosses the Lagan just to the south, but immediately south again is Que…
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St Anne’s Cathedral
Built in imposing Hiberno-Romanesque style, St Anne’s Cathedral was started in 1899 but did not reach its final form until 1981. As you enter you’ll see that the black-and-white marble floor is laid out in a maze pattern – the black route leads to a dead end, the white to the sanctuary and salvation. The 10 pillars of the nave are topped by carvings symbolising aspects of Belfast life; look out for the Freemasons’ pillar (the central one on the right, or south, side). In the south aisle is the tomb of Unionist hero Sir Edward Carson (1854-1935). The stunning mosaic of The Creation in the baptistry contains 150,000 pieces of coloured glass; it and the mosaic above …
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Lagan Weir
Across the street from the Custom House is Bigfish (1999), the most prominent of the many modern artworks that grace the riverbank between Clarendon Dock and Ormeau Bridge. The giant ceramic salmon - a symbol of the regeneration of the River Lagan - is covered with tiles depicting the history of Belfast. It sits beside Lagan Weir, the first stage of the Laganside Project, completed in 1994.
Years of neglect and industrial decline had turned the River Lagan, the original lifeblood of the city, into an open sewer flanked by smelly, unsightly mudflats. The weir, along with a programme of dredging and aeration, has improved the water quality so much that salmon, eels and sea …
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Cultúrlann McAdam Ó Fiaich
The focus for community activity in the Falls today is the Irish language and cultural centre Cultúrlann McAdam Ó Fiaich. Housed in a red-brick, former Presbyterian church, it's a cosy and welcoming place with a tourist information desk, a shop selling a wide selection of books on Ireland, Irish-language material, crafts, and Irish music tapes and CDs, and an excellent café-restaurant.
The centre also has an art gallery and a theatre that stages music, drama and poetry events. The local people are friendly and welcoming, and community ventures such as Conway Mill, the Cultúrlann centre and black-taxi tours have seen tourist numbers increase dramatically in recent years…
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Odyssey Complex
The Odyssey Complex is a huge sporting and entertainment centre on the eastern side of the river across from Clarendon Dock. The complex features a hands-on science centre, a 10,000-seater sports arena (home to the Belfast Giants ice-hockey team), a multiplex cinema with an IMAX screen, a video-games centre and a dozen restaurants, cafés and bars. Kids will love W5, an interactive science centre aimed at children of all ages.
The Odyssey Complex is a five-minute walk across the weir from the Lagan Lookout. Metro bus 26 from Donegall Sq West to Holywood stops at the complex (around £1, 5 minutes, hourly Monday to Friday only); the rather inconspicuous bus stop is on Syden…
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Titanic Quarter
Belfast's former shipbuilding yards - the birthplace of the RMS Titanic - stretch along the east side of the River Lagan, dominated by the towering yellow cranes known as Samson and Goliath. The area is currently undergoing a €1 billion regeneration project known as Titanic Quarter, which plans to develop the long-derelict docklands over the next 15 to 20 years.
There are plans to build an 'iconic attraction' in the Titanic Quarter in time for the centenary of the Titanic's launch in 2012. In the meantime, the informative and entertaining commentary on the Lagan Boat Company's Titanic Tour is the best way to learn about the history of the shipyards.
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Royal Victoria Hospital
The Royal Victoria Hospital claims to be the world's first air-conditioned building. The artwork railings date from 1906. Known locally as the RVH, it played an important role in creating the first ever portable defibrillator and, in the 1970s and '80s, developed a well-earned reputation for expertise in the treatment of gunshot wounds.
The wavy form of the railings mimics the structure of DNA - look for the little yellow Xs and Ys for X- and Y-chromosomes - and the portraits (laser-cut in sheet steel) chart the progress of a human life from birth to the age of 100.
For advice on medical and dental emergencies, call the 24hr NHS Direct on 0845 4647.
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SS Nomadic
The Hamilton Graving Dock , is slated to be the permanent mooring for the SS Nomadic – the only surviving vessel of the White Star Line (the shipping company that owned the Titanic). In 2006 she was rescued from the breaker's yard and brought to Belfast. The little steamship, which once served as a tender ferrying 1st- and 2nd-class passengers between Cherbourg Harbour and the giant Olympic Class ocean liners (which were too big to dock at the French port), was undergoing restoration work in Barnett Dock at the time of research, but should have moved to Hamilton Dock and be open to the public by summer 2010.
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Sinn Féin Headquarters
The red-brick Sinn Féin Headquarters has the famous mural of a smiling Bobby Sands, the hunger striker who was elected as MP for West Belfast just a few weeks before he died in 1981. The text reads, in Sands' own words, 'Our revenge will be the laughter of our children'.
A few blocks further on, on the right between Waterford St and Springfield Rd, look out for the Ruby Emerald Take-Away at 105 Falls Rd - it was on the pavement outside this shop (known as Clinton's Hot Food from 1996 to 2003) that the historic handshake between Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams and US president Bill Clinton took place in November 1995.
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Harbour Commissioner's Office
Near the ferry terminal on Donegall Quay is the 1854 Italianate Harbour Commissioner's Office. The striking marble and stained-glass interior features art and sculpture inspired by Belfast's maritime history. The captain's table built for the Titanic survives here - completed behind schedule, it never made it on board. Guided tours of the office are available during the Belfast Maritime Festival.
It's also open on European Heritage Open Days, which take place over a weekend in September or October (see the Events section on www.ehsni.gov.uk).
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Sinclair Seamen’s Church
Sinclair Seamen’s Church, next to the Harbour Commissioner’s Office, was built by Charles Lanyon in 1857-58 and was intended to meet the spiritual needs of visiting sailors. Part church, part maritime museum, it has a pulpit in the shape of a ship’s prow (complete with red-and-green port and starboard lights), a brass ship’s wheel and binnacle (used as a baptismal font) salvaged from a WWI wreck and, hanging on the wall behind the wheel, the ship’s bell from HMS Hood.
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Palm House
The Botanic gardens’ centrepiece is Charles Lanyon’s beautiful Palm House, built in 1839 and completed in 1852, with its birdcage dome, a masterpiece in cast-iron and curvilinear glass. Nearby is the unique Tropical Ravine, a huge red-brick greenhouse designed by the garden’s curator Charles McKimm and completed in 1889. Inside, a raised walkway overlooks a jungle of tropical ferns, orchids, lilies and banana plants growing in a sunken glen.
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Fernhill House: The People’s Museum
Beyond Shankill Rd, about 500m up Glencairn Rd, is Fernhill House: The People’s Museum. Set in a wealthy Victorian merchant’s villa, the museum contains a recreation of a 1930s working-class terraced house, exhibitions detailing the history of the Shankill district and the Home Rule crisis, and the largest collection of Orange Order memorabilia in the world. To get there, take bus 11B, 11C or 11D from Wellington Pl, at the north-west corner of Donegall Sq.
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