Belfast

The history of Belfast is not especially detailed and history books are fairly brief with regards to details of its earliest time. Its most significant period of development is documented as having occurred in the Middle Ages and the success of the city today is based heavily on its previous success as an industrial power during the 19th century.


Early days
With a name meaning 'mouth of the sandpit', derived from the Gaelic words 'beal feirste', Belfast is the capital city of Northern Island. Although evidence exists to suggest that there were settlers here as far back as Bronze Age times, very little else is known about the area up until the 12th century (circa 1177), when its believed that a settlement was formed around a castle that was constructed by John de Courcy.

Middle Ages
The city’s real history is said to have begun in 1603, when Sir Arthur Chicester, the Governor of Carrickfergus, took possession of both the castle and the surrounding land and populated it with settlers originating from Scotland and Devon. In 1613, the city was awarded corporation status. During the next century, some 200,000 Scottish Presbyterians arrived in the province and the city of Ulster saw the beginnings of its distinctive, predominantly Protestant culture.
Recent times
Industry came to the city in the 19th century, with its arrival catalysed by the strengthening of ties between mainland Britain and Belfast following the dissolution of Ireland's parliament in Dublin, in 1801. Cotton production rapidly became the most profitable pursuit, but it was later replaced by linen production, which became the city’s chief export, with 70,000 of the city’s residents employed in its production by the end of the century.
Meanwhile just after the middle of the century, shipping came to Belfast via the construction of the Harland & Wolff shipyard and by 1870, it was considered prestigious enough to be awarded the contract to build the White Star Line. From then on, the city gained a reputation for building some of the world’s finest ocean liners, among which was the infamous Titanic.
The 20th century saw troubled times for the whole of Northern Island, with the highly explosive political situation bringing violence across the country. Belfast saw its fair share of trouble, with bombs and assassinations becoming a regular way of life. Since the IRA and loyalist ceasefires of the mid 1990s however, the city has benefited from a much more stable atmosphere and environment. Read more