History
Belfast began its life as a cluster of forts built to guard a ford across the River Farset , which nowadays runs underground beneath the High Street. The Farset and Lagan rivers form a valley that marks a geological boundary between the basaltic plateau of Antrim and the slaty hills of Down: the softer red Triassic sandstones from which their courses were eroded are responsible for the bright red colour of Belfast's brickwork. Belfast developed slowly at first and, indeed, its history as a city does not really begin until the seventeenth century. A Norman castle was built here in 1177, but its influence was always limited, and within a hundred years or so control over the Lagan Valley had reverted firmly to the Irish, under the O'Neills of Clandeboye who had their stronghold to the south in the Castlereagh Hills. Theirs was the traditional Irish pastoral community, their livestock and families spread between the hills and valley plain. Then, in 1604, Sir Arthur Chichester , a Devonshire knight whose son was to be the first Earl of Donegall, was "planted" in the area by James I, and shortly afterwards the tiny settlement was granted a charter creating a corporate borough. By the restoration era of 1660 the town was still no more than one hundred and fifty houses in five or six streets, and Carrickfergus at the mouth of the lough held the monopoly on trade. By the end of the seventeenth century, things were looking up. French Huguenots fleeing persecution brought skills which rapidly improved the fortunes of the local linen industry - which, in turn, attracted new workers and wealth. In 1708, the town was almost entirely destroyed by fire, but it was only a temporary setback: throughout the eighteenth century the cloth trade and shipbuilding expanded tremendously, and the population increased tenfold in a hundred years. Belfast was a city noted for its liberalism : in 1784 Protestants gave generously to help build a Catholic church and, in 1791, three Presbyterian Ulstermen formed the society of United Irishmen , a gathering embracing Catholics and Protestants on the basis of common Irish nationality. Belfast was the centre of this movement, and thirty Presbyterian ministers in all were accused of taking part in the 1798 Rebellion . Six were hanged. Despite the movement's Belfast origins, the rebellion in the North was in fact an almost complete failure, and the forces of reaction backed by the wealthy landlords quickly and ruthlessly stamped it down. Within two generations most Protestants had abandoned the Nationalist cause, and Belfast as a sectarian town was born. In the nineteenth century , Presbyterian ministers like the Reverend Henry Cooke and Hugh (Roaring) Hanna began openly to attack the Catholic Church, and the sectarian divide became wider and increasingly violent. In 1835, several people were sabred to death in Sandy Row, and sporadic outbreaks of violence have continued from that day on. Meanwhile, the nineteenth century saw vigorous commercial and industrial expansion. In 1888, Queen Victoria granted Belfast city status; the city fathers' gratitude to her is stamped on buildings throughout the centre. By this time the population had risen to 208,000 and, with the continued improvement in both the linen and shipbuilding industries, the population exceeded even that of Dublin by the end of the century.
Your Tip for Belfast
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