Belfast History, Population, Map, Landmarks, & Facts

Celebrate local life with a lively year-round calendar of events Discover a wilder, greener side to Belfast with walks, cycles and fabulous local food. Centuries of history combined with memorable experiences – what will you discover first?

Catch a ride on a hop-on hop off  bus tour

To the north, it stretched out along roads which drew into the town migrants from Scots-settled hinterland of County Antrim. In 1997, unionists lost belfast cabs overall control of Belfast City Council for the first time in its history. Beginning in 1970 with the Falls curfew, and followed in 1971 by internment, this included counterinsurgency measures directed chiefly at the Provisional Irish Republican Army. At the end of the Second World War, the Unionist government undertook programmes of "slum clearance" (the Blitz had exposed the "uninhabitable" condition of much of the city’s housing) which involved decanting populations out of mill and factory built red-brick terraces and into new peripheral housing estates. In the greatest loss of life in any air raid outside of London, more than a thousand people were killed.

Take a black taxi tour of Belfast’s political murals

Self-guided tours with audio guides and holograms are the best way to explore its cavernous tunnel, shoebox cells and macabre graveyard. Vendors are mostly the craftspeople, bakers, fishers and farmers who grew, caught or created what they are selling, and they are happy to chat about their wares. Though the market, situated in a Victorian building, is a mainstay of the Belfast townscape, the goods on offer are cyclical. The kitchen is partially open to the dining floor, creating a sense of theater within its urbane confines, while the mixologists pay as much attention to detail for the cocktails as the chefs exercise toward the food.

• Spot the Belfast street art that brings the city’s art scene to life, on a creative walk around the city.
• Belfast has become a food mecca and it’s impossible to walk the city without being lured in by world-class food.
• Discover how you can enjoy your visit to Belfast and the surrounding area in an eco-friendly way…
• On the day he was buried in the city, 100,000 people lined the route from his home on the Cregagh Road to Roselawn cemetery.
• Belfast City Council is responsible for a range of powers and services, including land-use and community planning, parks and recreation, building control, arts and cultural heritage.

East Belfast developed from the Queens Bridge (1843), through Ballymacarrett, east along the Newtownards Road and north (along the east shore of the Lough) up the Holywood Road; and from the Albert Bridge (1890) south east out the Cregagh and Castlereagh roads. Home to around 2,500 people, it is the only distinctly nationalist area in the east of the river. From "leafy" avenues of increasingly substantial (and in the course of time "mixed") housing, the Upper Malone broadened out into areas of parkland and villas.

The 14 best restaurants in Belfast

After a cotton boom and bust, the town emerged as the global leader in the production of linen goods (mill, and finishing, work largely employing women and children), winning the moniker "Linenopolis". When early in the American War of Independence, Belfast Lough was raided by the privateer John Paul Jones, the townspeople assembled their own Volunteer militia. Sign up for our email to enjoy your city without spending a thing (as well as some options when you’re feeling flush). If hills aren’t really your thing, you can still enjoy Cave Hill Country Park which surrounds the castle and is a popular place for Belfast folk to take a walk.

Tour Belfast’s architectural centerpiece, City Hall

We respect your time – no spam, just the good stuff. This one time seed warehouse is one of Belfast’s landmark buildings, just a short walk to Titanic Quarter, Cathedral Quarter, Victoria Square… On the 31st March 1996 Crumlin Road Gaol slammed shut its doors for what many thought would be the final time, but, on the… Belfast is a compact city with an amazing array of activities and attractions for you to enjoy.

Learn more with a museum visit

Today, it’s full of Belfast’s young and those in the know out for a night of craic and fine food. Sunday includes the lot and even throws in music from local bands. Saturday mixes specialty foods from around the world with stalls displaying handmade crafts, flowers, plants, local photography, pottery, glass and metal work. Belfast has become a food mecca and it’s impossible to walk the city without being lured in by world-class food. Compact, walkable and packed with friendly locals, Belfast delivers history, food, music and bold energy, all within easy reach for a weekend escape.

On the other hand, Belfast has a high rate of people economically inactive (close to 30%). From the mid to late 19th century, there was a community of central European Jews (among its distinguished members, two-time Lord Mayor Otto Jaffe) and of Italians in Belfast. 7.17% (21,025) of people in the city claimed to have some knowledge of Ulster Scots, whilst 0.75% (2,207) claimed to be able to speak, read, write and understand spoken Ulster Scots. As with many cities, Belfast’s inner city is currently characterised by the elderly, students and single young people, while families tend to live on the periphery.