Belfast City

---

Returning from the County Antrim coast to Belfast, the coach let us off at the Titanic Belfast museum. RMS Titanic was built in Belfast as were her sister ships Olympic and Britannic. The Harland & Wolff shipyard is still here as is the basin where Titanic was constructed. Harland & Wolff builds wind turbines today. The corners of the museum are meant to represent Titanic's bow and are scaled to size. This was a brief rest stop, though, no time to see the exhibits. Shortly we were back on the coach which took us to the Belfast City Hall. Free time to explore.

The city hall is in the center of the city. Some went to investigate the shops or pubs. Susan and I went into the city hall. Belfast history is told both in a dedicated exhibit and in the memorials and stained glass windows that are a part of the city hall fabric. Stained glass panels recount the Famine, World War I and the recent history of Belfast. Exhibits tell of the opposition to Irish self-rule that so many Ulstermen supported in the years leading up to the partition of the Republic and Northern Ireland in 1921. Contemporary Belfast natives of note such as Van Morrison and soprano Heather Harper are celebrated. On the grounds of city hall are a Titanic memorial and a war memorial cenotaph.

Back aboard the coach, our driver was now going to take us to a more troubled area of the city. Although there had been peace since the Good Friday Agreement of 1998, tensions remain high in Belfast. The coach drove to the traditionally Catholic Falls Road neighborhood. In the Falls Road were the International Murals depicting world figures who have been involved in liberation struggles. The Garden of Remembrance commemorates IRA members and civilians killed during The Troubles. Graffiti on buildings gave evidence that representatives of the British government are still not welcome here. The Paddywagon Tours driver was reluctant to venture into a Protestant neighborhood with his green motor coach and Republic of Ireland license plates.

The evening performance show was Broadway Ballroom.

---

Photos

Titanic Belfast
Titanic Belfast. Opened in 2012. The design of the museum recalls the bows of ships, built to the same height as Titanic's hull. 1 Olympic Way, Queens Road.
DSC_0017

Titanic Belfast
Titanic Belfast. Opened in 2012. The design of the museum recalls the bows of ships, built to the same height as Titanic's hull. 1 Olympic Way, Queens Road.
IMG_2542

Harland & Wolff Gantry Crane
Harland & Wolff gantry crane at the Port of Belfast. Harland & Wolff, the shipbuilding concern that built Titanic and the P&O Canberra, continues in business in marine engineering and the building of wind turbines.
DSC_0178

S.S. Nomadic
S.S. Nomadic. White Star Line tender built by Harland & Wolff in 1911, 1,273 gt. Nomadic was used as tender in Cherbourg, initially for Titanic and Olympic and later Queen Elizabeth and Queen Mary, until 1968. The ship was built alongside Titanic. (Note the White Star Line buff colored funnel.) During World War I, Nomadic was used as a minesweeper and troop tender. On display at Belfast Titanic.
National Register of Historic Vessels. National Historic Fleet.
DSC_0189p1

Customs House
Belfast Customs House. Built in 1854-1857. 20 Donegall Quay.
"A freestanding symmetrical two-storey +attic over basement Custom House in Italianate Palazzo style, built c.1855 to designs by Sir Charles Lanyon. E-shaped on plan over deep battered plinth with raised terrace over basement spanning between projecting wings to west. Replacement hipped natural slate roof with leaded ridges and hips, replacement ashlar sandstone chimneystacks with corniced caps surmounted by semi-circular stone terminals";.
Grade B+. HB Ref No: HB26/50/062
DSC_0193p1

Albert Memorial Clock
Albert Memorial Clock. Queen's Square.
"A freestanding memorial clock tower built 1869 to commemorate Prince Albert, in a mix of French and Italian Gothic style to designs by W.J. Barre, located in Queen’s Square, Belfast. Rectangular on plan, approximately 110 ft tall, with a slightly lean off the perpendicular. The clock comprises base, shaft, clock stage and belfry stage and is largely constructed of ashlar Scrabo sandstone; several ornamental elements were reinstated c.2000. Square three-tiered tapered stone base with crocketted and gabletted flying buttresses to each centre and corner, those to corners supporting heraldic lions bearing a shield carved with an ‘A’; the third stage of the base, from which the flying buttresses project, is enriched with a Gothic arcade carried on slender colonettes with foliated capitals, each spandrel carved with an individually detailed roundel".
"...the Albert Memorial, an over 30m high clock tower with the statue of Prince Albert in a niche on the W. side (1868)".--Baedeker 1906
A. HB Ref No: HB26/50/055
DSC_0199

Cleaver House
Cleaver House. 56-58 Donegall Place.
"Corner-sited asymmetrical multi-bay six-storey with attic sandstone former linen warehouse, built c.1888, to the designs of Young & Mackenzie. L-shaped on plan with its principal elevation fronting west onto Donegall Place and secondary elevation fronting south onto Donegall Square with a curved corner surmounted by a clock tower with cupola and further copper-domed turrets framing both elevations".
B+ HB Ref No: HB26/50/014
IMG_2569p1

Belfast City Hall
Belfast City Hall. Donegall Square.
"Symmetrical multi-bay two and three-storey over basement Portland stone Baroque Revival City Hall, completed in 1906, to the designs of Sir Alfred Brumwell Thomas replacing the White Linen Hall built c.1785. Following the elevation of Belfast to city status in 1888, the construction of the City Hall reflected the new found confidence and civic pride. A flamboyant exercise in Baroque revivalism, the building exhibits an array of architectural devices borrowed and inspired by Sir Christopher Wren, James Gibbs and John Nash. The impressive exterior is matched by an equally elaborate interior complete with triple-height gallery, marble-lined receptions and decorative dome. An exemplary building of its type, the City Hall has formed the definitive focal point of the city for over one hundred years".
Grade A. HB Ref No: HB26/50/001 A
IMG_2568

Belfast City Hall Dome
Belfast City Hall Dome.
IMG_2545

Lunette
Belfast City Hall. Lunette window.
"The lunette above the grand staircase depicts the Royal coat of arms. The motto in French underneath reads, 'DIEU ET MON DROIT'; translating as, ‘My God and my right’. There is a crown thistle and wreath with the motto 'BEATI PACIFICI' meaning “blessed are the peacemakers” on each side".
DSC_0207

North Irish Horse Window
Belfast City Hall. World War I North Irish Horse window. World War I memorial to the the North Irish Horse, a Yeomanry unit which was formed in 1903.
IMG_2547

Fireplace
Belfast City Hall. Visitor Exhibition: Fireplace in the east wing.
IMG_2553

Grand Staircase
Belfast City Hall. Grand staircase.
IMG_2567

Second Boer War Memorial
Belfast City Hall. Visitor Exhibition: Imperial Yeomanry (Ulster Squadrons) Second Boer War memorial plaque.
IMG_2554

The Footballer of Loos
Belfast City Hall. Visitor Exhibition: The Footballer of Loos. Rifleman Frank Edwards kicked a football across No Man's Land into German trenches near Loos, France, in 1915.
IMG_2558

Centenary Window
Belfast City Hall. Centenary window. "This window is a celebration of the many successes and achievements witnessed by City Hall during the past 100 years. Included in the window are Titanic and the Harland and Wolff cranes, ‘The Beacon of Thanksgiving’, the ‘Salmon of Knowledge’ and the Waterfront Hall. ... The multicoloured tree reflects the many different traditions and cultures found within Belfast".
IMG_2550

Opposition to Home Rule
Belfast City Hall. Visitor Exhibition: Ulster opposition to Home Rule proposals in 1886, 1893, and 1912.
IMG_2559

Red Hand of Ulster
Belfast City Hall. Visitor Exhibition: Ulster opposition to Home Rule proposals in 1886, 1893, and 1912. The Red Hand of Ulster is an ancient symbol of Northern Ireland.
IMG_2560

No Home Rule Postcard
Belfast City Hall. Visitor Exhibition: Ulster opposition to Home Rule proposals in 1886, 1893, and 1912.
IMG_2561

Queen Victoria
Belfast City Hall. Statue of Queen Victoria.
DSC_0221

Titanic Memorial
Titanic Memorial. Belfast City Hall.
"A memorial statue by Sir Thomas Brock erected c.1920, formed in marble set on a chamfered and tapering square grey granite base with a plinth of two steps, of a female figure of Fame (holding a wreath) looking down on two sea-nymphs holding a drowned man. The top of the base is simply moulded and grotesque bronze heads supply fountains at front and back of the base. Inscription (now in black but formerly gold leaf) on the main part of the base records the names of 'those gallant Belfast men...who lost their lives on the 15th of April 1912 by the foundering of the Belfast-built RMS Titanic through collision with an iceberg, on her maiden voyage from Southampton to New York".
B+. HB Ref No: HB26/50/001 E
DSC_0205