Belfast

Understand

thumb | 300px | Belfast City Hall

This noble city is named for a mud bank and is built upon sludge. The lower River Lagan is tidal and receives a dozen small tributaries (nowadays culverted) which drop their silt, forming banks of sand and mud. The lowest point at which you could ford the river at low tide is where the Lagan road bridge now crosses, and in Irish this is Béal Feirste, "river-mouth of the sand-bank ford". The tributary joining at that point, the Farset, is likewise named for the mud bank, not vice versa. And besides the man-made channels and culverts, a great volume of water seeps through the alluvial silt on both sides of the Lagan. It's a slimy, thixotropic impediment to building — clay dug out of a trench quickly feels homesick and slides back in — and a deterrent to high-rise; but Paris grew up on similar foundations.

Pre-industrial Belfast was a small provincial place. It grew rapidly in the 18th century with the linen trade, and in the 19th with smokestack industry, especially ship-building along the estuary. It sucked in labour, including Catholics moving off the land. In 1921 Ireland was divided: Dublin and the Republic fell behind economically, while Belfast found itself the capital city of Northern Ireland and, after the Depression, busily tooling up to fight the Second World War.

It slumped in the late 20th century as textiles and smokestack industries were lost to foreign competition. Tension rose between factions and communities, the Catholic m…

Get around

Walk to all the central sights. The centre is within a mile or two of the Botanic Gardens, Queen's University and Titanic.

Do

What's on? Check Visit Belfast as well as individual venue websites. And listen to Belfast 89FM on 89.3 MHz or read The Belfast Telegraph, The Irish News and The News Letter, all published daily. Parks and open spaces: lots and lots. See above for: South: Sir Thomas and Lady Dixon Park, Ormeau Park and Botanic Gardens, and the Lagan towpath to Lisburn. North: Waterworks, Belfast Castle estate, Cave Hill and Alexandra Park West: Dunville and Falls Park, Colin Glen Forest Park and the City and Milltown cemeteries East: Orangefield and Victoria Park

Buy

thumb | 300px | St George's Market Central Belfast has a large retail area, with Castle Court on Millfield to the west through Corn Market to Victoria Square on the east. O'Neills Sportswear are within Castle Court Shopping Centre (M-Sa 9AM-6PM, Su 1-6PM) and at 564 Falls Road BT11 9AE. They stock their own brand sportswear, but their usp is as outlets for Gaelic Sports equipment, jerseys and memorabilia, ideal for a distinctive souvenir. Inns Cross Farmers Market is off Saintfield Rd (A24) south edge of the city near the A55 junction. It's 10AM-2PM on the first Saturday of the month.