Belfast is the second largest city in Ireland, as well as Northern Ireland’s largest city and capital, and a bustling place full of life, much changed since the days of the ‘Trouble’. Located on the border of Antrim and Down counties in the province of Ulster, Belfast is at the head of Belfast Lough on the northeast coast of Ireland. Its population is around 330,000 (in the city alone, the metropolitan area is estimated at around 600,000 inhabitants).
The history of Belfast
Belfast was little more than a castle guarding the Lagan crossing until 1603, when Sir Arthur Chichester received the land and built a fortified city on mostly marshy terrain. During the second half of the 18th century, Belfast was rejuvenated and became the ‘Athens of the North’, soon becoming an industrial city with linen and shipbuilding as dominant factors.
When Belfast became a city in 1888, its population had grown 400% in fifty years, most of the people living on red brick terraces and working in factories or shipyards. The late 19th century also saw the growth of civic splendor and academic and scientific achievement. The launch of the Titanic in 1911 represented the zenith of this development.
Being a socially and politically divided city (the Catholic population used to be poorer on a large scale), Belfast became the capital of Northern Ireland in 1921, hit by depression in the 1930s and ‘bombed’ by bombers. Germans in 1940.
After the Second World War, Belfast never recovered and the beginning of the ‘Troubles’ in 1969 made the city synonymous with civil unrest and terrorism. Between 1971 and 1991, a third of the population fled the city! Only with the cessation of violence in the mid-1990s and under the imprint of the Good Friday Agreement (1998), did Belfast begin to recover.
modern Belfast
Driving to Belfast you can’t help but notice signs of the troubled past. Fortress-like police stations, “peace lines” (high walls that separate the Protestant and Catholic communities) and sometimes adorn murals reminiscent of heroes from the past.
But the visitor will be surprised by the normality found in the city center. Where handbags were searched at heavily fortified checkpoints only a few years ago, shoppers stroll and the occasional street merchant raves about their wares.
Former prisoners offer guided tours of critical points in Republican history, souvenir shops occasionally sell paramilitary items, and police cars are no longer necessarily armored. Despite the sectarian tension that occasionally rages in the suburbs, the city center is remarkably similar to other British cities. With a hint of Irish thrown.
Belfast for the visitor
Belfast is a fairly modern city with a lively nightlife, good shops, and a few sights. Tourism is still developing and attractions are not as abundant or obvious as they are in Dublin. Navigating Belfast can be disconcerting both in a car and on foot, with one-way systems obviously designed with a rabbit maze in mind and routes dictated not by logic but by ‘peace lines’. And you can expect to find yourself in a visibly sectarian area around the corner.
That said, Belfast should be viewed as generally ‘safe’ for the visitor. Unless you are displaying offensive slogans or symbols (for example, IRA-related shirts are openly available, but wearing them is a problem).
Belfast has no “season” as such. The sectarian tension tends to rise around July 12 and the celebrations to remember the Battle of the Boyne.
Places to visit
The City Hall, the splendid Grand Opera House, the historic Crown Liquor Saloon, the Botanical Gardens and the Ulster Museum are must-sees. Anyone interested in industrial or maritime heritage should take a look around Laganside, join a boat tour of the sprawling harbor, admire the imposing Harland & Wolff cranes (‘Samson’ and ‘Goliath’) and the new Lagan Weir . Nature lovers can explore the Cave Hill area, high above the city, and stop at Belfast Castle to search for its artistic cats, or spend an enjoyable half day at the nearby zoo.
And those interested in Belfast’s troubled past can do worse than taking a ‘Black Taxi Tour’ to the murals.
The best museums in Belfast are the Ulster Museum, which details the history of the province from the stone age, the splendid Belfast Titanic with its impressive exhibition on the ill-fated ship of the line and the venerable survivor of the Battle of Jutland, the HMS Caroline.
Places to avoid?
Even the Falls and Shankill Road areas, Republican and Loyalist strongholds respectively, should not be considered “off limits.” On the other hand, almost every spontaneous gathering of young working-class men could spell trouble and should be seen as a warning sign.
