Today
marks 100 years since Ireland was partitioned and Belfast became the
capital of Northern Ireland, in 1921. 10 things you might not know
about Belfast:
- The
name derives from “Beal Feirste”, which is Irish for “mouth of
the sea bank ford.” This is because the first settlement in the
area was founded on the marshy ford where the River Lagan and River
Farset cross.
- Belfast’s
Obel Tower is 85m high with 27 floors. Even though it's not as tall
as the Statue of Liberty or Big Ben, it is nonetheless the tallest
building in Ireland. The second tallest building in Belfast is
Hastings Grand Central Hotel at 80m. The bar on its top floor is the
highest bar in Ireland.
- Historically,
Belfast's main industries were shipbuilding and production of rope,
tobacco and linen. The linen industry was so important that the city
was given the nickname of Linenopolis
at the end of the 19th century. Today the main industries are IT and
film making and, I hesitate to say,
since in this world at time of writing this really seems like a
dying industry – tourism.
- The
Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast is where the Titanic
was built. At the time, it was the world’s biggest shipyard and
employed 15,000 people. Not only was Titanic longer than the
world's tallest building of the time, it weighed 46,328 tonnes and
was the largest man made moveable object in the world. Today, there
is a museum there dedicated to the ill-fated ship, which was not
only designed to resemble a ship, but is the exact same height as
the Titanic. The shipyard is responsible for another of
Belfast's landmarks. Two cranes named Goliath and Samson, which were
built in the 1960s and 70s, the biggest free standing cranes in the
world, are actually taller than Belfast's tallest building, at 96m
and 106m respectively. They were built as temporary structures, but
became an emblem of the city and are still there.
- Talking
of emblems, the symbol of Belfast is a seahorse. This came about
because 17th century merchants printed coins with seahorses on them.
Belfast's coat of arms has two seahorses on it. The motto of Belfast
is “Pro tanto quid retribuamus”. It means “We received so
much, what can we give in return?”
- A
more modern emblem is the Beacon of Hope sculpture by Andy Scott,
which is 19.5 metres high and was constructed in 2007. Made of
stainless steel and cast bronze, it is a sculpture of a woman
standing on a globe and holding up "the ring of thanksgiving".
Ireland has a habit of giving its public art nicknames and the
Beacon of Hope is no exception. It is referred to as Nuala with the
Hula, the Belle on the Ball and the Thing with the Ring.
- From
1968 to 1998, Northern Ireland and specifically Belfast went through
a political conflict known as the Troubles, between Protestants and
Catholics. For thirty years, it made Belfast a hostile and unsafe
place to live and to visit. Over
45,000 bombs
went off in Belfast alone during that time. One
of its hotels, The Europa Hotel, was bombed 36 times, because it was
the hotel reporters used to stay in when they came to report on the
Troubles. However, the idea wasn't to kill people, just make them go
away, so there would always be a warning so that the hotel could be
evacuated and the only damage was structural. Even so, it became a
place nobody wanted to stay in. It may well owe the fact it never
went bust to former US President Bill Clinton, who chose to stay
there with all his entourage in 1994.
Now, it's a vibrant and welcoming city and much safer. In fact, when
I visited in the early 2000s, I felt safer there than I did in
London!
- Belfast
has its very own leaning tower, The Albert Clock. The clock is
sinking into the ground, having been built too close to the harbour
on unstable, soft ground. It leans, currently, by 4 feet. According
to urban legend, the reason it leans is because there was once a
brothel nearby and the prostitutes used to lean against the tower
while waiting for sailors.
- Belfast
city hall boasts a chandelier weighing 1.5 tons. It's a replica of
the original, which was melted down to make munitions during WWII.
It also has a carpet in its dining room which is so large that when
they need to change it, about every 25 years, they need a crane to
remove it.
- The
city has a library which is over 200 years old. It was founded in
1788 and contains some very famous books, including a first edition
copy of James Joyce’s Ulysses, and the first printing of the
American Declaration of Independence outside of America. Its
oldest book is a tome about health and well being called De
Anima,
dating back to 1490, written by the Eastern physician, Avicenna.
My Books:
If you like stories about:
- Superheroes
- Psychic detectives
- Romance
- Alternative dimensions
- Time travel
- Secrets
- Friendship
- Family relationships
- Ghosts
- Adventure
- Crime
If you want to read about superheroes who aren't the usual Marvel/DC staples, who don't all live in the USA.
If you like quirky tales.
If you like to support independent self published authors.
