|
LISBURN , eight miles southwest of Belfast, is the administrative centre of Northern Ireland's second-largest local authority and its busy, pedestrianized shopping streets and packed car parks indicate recent commercial success, perhaps unknown since its days as an important linen town. After the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685, which removed French and Dutch Huguenots' freedom of worship, large numbers of them were persuaded to come to Ulster, where they founded the local linen trade. Bleach greens were set up along the banks of the River Lagan, the first of which started in 1626 at Lambeg , a mile downstream from Lisburn. Lambeg has given its name to the big drums which appear in the Orange marches, deriving from the military drums of Prince William's army. Lisburn's one major attraction is the Irish Linen Centre and Museum (Mon-Sat 9.30am-5pm; free), situated in the eighteenth-century assembly rooms in the Market Square. A permanent exhibition, "Flax to Fabric", recounts the industry's history and you can watch weavers plying away in the purpose-built hand-loom workshop. The museum typically collects items and artefacts of essentially local interest. The building's modern annexe contains the tourist office (same times; tel 028/9266 0038), plus a cafe and shops, and there are often art displays and lunchtime recitals. There's been a Tuesday market in Lisburn since 1627, but little of architectural note survived a catastrophic fire in 1707. The seventeenth-century cathedral opposite the Linen Centre was rebuilt after the fire and you'll find a number of Huguenot graves in its churchyard. Nowadays, the fourteen-screen Omniplex cinema on Governor's Road tends to be a more popular draw. A mile northeast of Lisburn in the village of Hilden, the Hilden Brewery (Tues-Sat 10.30am-4pm; tours 11.30am & 2.30pm; GBP2.50, includes glass of ale) is one of only two real-ale breweries in Ireland (the other is Whitewater in Kilkeel, County Down). It was established in 1981 in the courtyard of a former linen baron's mansion. A visit is an olfactory treat, the whiff of malted barley and hops leaving you eager to slake your thirst with a taste of the amber-coloured ale or the dark, malty Special Reserve. You can lunch here, too, in the attached Tap Room restaurant.
Your Tip for Lisburn
Help other backpackers! Write your own guides and backpacking tips to Lisburn - they will appear instantly on this page - Please only write a tip/guide to Lisburn - visit the main Lisburn forum to ask a question!
Please do not post links to your site here (they won't work) - please use the Lisburn webguide section below! Thanks.
|
