Belfast History, Population, Map, Landmarks, & Facts

Next to the former the Harland & Wolff Drawing Offices (now an hotel), stands the "cultural nucleus to Titanic Quarter", Titanic Belfast (2012) whose interactive galleries tell the liner’s ill-fated story. 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.

What are the major attractions in Belfast?

• Welcome to Belfast, Northern Ireland’s vibrant capital where rich maritime heritage meets cutting‑edge culture.
• In addition to its extensive freight business, the Belfast Port offers car-ferry sailings, operated by Stena Line, to Cairnryan in Scotland (5 Sailings Daily. 2 hours 22 minutes) and to Liverpool-Birkenhead (14 sailings weekly. 8 hours).
• Her duties include presiding over meetings of the council, receiving distinguished visitors to the city, representing and promoting the city on the national and international stage.
• Whether you’re planning a weekend getaway, romantic escape or family city break, Belfast offers a wide range of accommodation to suit every style and budget.

In the Titanic Quarter you’ll find the Titanic Hotel, a deluxe boutique hotel offering a unique maritime experience in its Harland & Wolff inspired rooms. The nearby Muddlers Club has become something of a Belfast institution as famous for its theatrical open kitchen as its mouth-watering food. 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.

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. The Belfast landmark, Cave Hill, rises up behind the castle and if you are up for a walk, we highly recommend taking the time to walk to the top of Cave Hill for spectacular views over Belfast Lough and towards the Mournes – on a clear day. Belfast Castle is a relatively modern building, having been built by the third Marquis of Donegall in 1862 in what was his deer park. You’ll also find plenty of entertainment at theatres/events such as Monday Night Comedy, Belfast MAC or the Belfast Empire Music Hall. Popular pubs include The Duke of York, The John Hewitt, The Spaniard, The Dirty Onion, McHughes, The Deer’s Head and Whites in or near the Cathedral Quarter. 53-55 Crumlin Road, BT14 6ST – Crumlin Road Gaol was built in 1849 and has had many prisoners pass through its doors including Éamon de Valera, Martin McGuinness, Michael Stone and Bobby Sands.

Other attractions in the park include the recently restored Tropical Ravine, a humid jungle glen built in 1889, rose gardens and public events ranging from live opera broadcasts to pop concerts. The college has over 53,000 students enrolled on full-time and part-time courses, making it one of the largest further education colleges in the UK and the largest in the island of Ireland. In practice, "Inst" provided a grammar education to the town’s Presbyterian families while Anglicans favoured the older Royal Belfast Academy (1785); Catholics, St Malachy’s diocesan college (1833) and Wesleyans, Methodist College Belfast (1865). After such a busy day of sights, sounds and the finest food, you’ll need the finest place to stay.

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.

If you are short of time, you should start at the top with the major attractions, namely Titanic Belfast museum, a Hop-on Hop-off bus tour and perhaps a small-group tour to learn more about the city’s history. It can be said to include, at the Skainos Centre in unionist east Belfast, Turas, a project that promotes Irish through night classes and cultural events in the belief that "the language belongs to all". Inside, you’ll discover the story of the most famous ship in the world, the people who built her, and its ill-fated journey across the Atlantic Ocean. Discover the top things to do in Belfast this spring, from wandering through blooming parks and discovering nature to enjoying a packed calendar of events and outdoor activities.

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In recent years Harland & Wolff, which at peak production in the Second World War had employed around 35,000 people, has had a workforce of no more than two or three hundred refurbishing oil rigs and fabricating off-shore wind turbines. It is a group, encompassing homemakers, full-time carers, students and retirees, that in Belfast has been swollen by the exceptionally large proportion of the population (27%) with long-term health problems or disabilities (and who, in Northern Ireland generally, are less likely to be employed than in other UK regions). 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 belfast cab Scots, whilst 0.75% (2,207) claimed to be able to speak, read, write and understand spoken Ulster Scots.

Industrial expansion, sectarian division

Since 2001, buoyed by increasing numbers of tourists, the city council has promoted a number of cultural quarters. Such figures, however, do not include all those living in severely overcrowded conditions, involuntarily sharing with other households on a long-term basis, or sleeping rough in hidden locations. This is against a background (in 2023) of 2,317 people (0.67% of residents) presenting as homeless, many of whom are in temporary accommodation and shelters. New townhouse and apartments schemes are being developed for the city’s quays, and for Titanic Quarter. But retail footfall in the centre is limited by competition with out-of-town shopping centres and with internet retailing.

Buildings and walls throughout the city are adorned with murals that reflect the city’s social, cultural, and political traditions and history. The city is the shopping, retail, educational, commercial, entertainment, and service centre for Northern Ireland and the seat of many of its largest businesses and hospitals. By the 17th century, the town was a busy port with small shipbuilding interests, which became firmly established after William Ritchie founded a shipyard (1791) and a graving (dry) dock (1796). Look out for meat from Hillstown Farm Shop, prebiotic foods from Amberline Preserves and mushrooms from Spore Shore. A bronze statue of Queen Victoria is accompanied by figures representing education and Belfast’s textile and shipbuilding industries, and a memorial to the Titanic lists the names of the more than 1500 people who died when the boat sank in the North Atlantic.

Tour Belfast’s architectural centerpiece, City Hall

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. Further opportunities for women on the Falls Road arose through developments in education and public health. Their route brought them down the Falls Road and into what are now remnants of an older Catholic enclave around St Mary’s Church, the town’s first Catholic chapel (opened in 1784 with Presbyterian subscriptions), and Smithfield Market. Meanwhile, road schemes, including the terminus of the M1 motorway and the Westlink, demolished a mixed dockland community, Sailortown, and severed the streets linking the Shankill area and the rest of both north and west Belfast to the city centre. Red-brick, "two up, two down" terraced streets, typical of 19th century working-class housing, were replaced with flats, maisonettes, and car parks but few facilities. With other working-class districts, Shankill suffered from the "collapse of old industrial Belfast".

If your flight is early or subject to delays, we will track your flight’s progress and send your driver at the new expected time of arrival. A comforting thought, especially for first time visitors in a foreign country. If you would like a quote for a journey you are planning please select the ‘Type of Journey’ you require and enter the post code on the ‘Instant Online Quote’ form above. Open a corporate account for 28-day credit terms, fixed business rates & streamlined monthly invoicing.Enquire today for smarter travel.More Information Sign up for our email to enjoy your city without spending a thing (as well as some options when you’re feeling flush). Visit the Belfast Hills website to learn more about the Cave Hill Walk and many other pleasant Belfast walks.

The compilers of Ulster-Scots use various transcriptions of local pronunciations of "Belfast" (with which they sometimes are also content) including Bilfawst, Bilfaust or Baelfawst. At the same time, new immigrants are adding to the growing number of residents unwilling to identify with either of the two communal traditions. A legacy of conflict is the barrier-reinforced separation of Protestant and Catholic working-class districts. Their descendants’ disaffection with Ireland’s Anglican establishment contributed to the rebellion of 1798, and to the union with Great Britain that followed in 1801—later regarded as a key to the town’s industrial transformation. While chartered as an English settlement in 1613, the town’s early growth was driven by an influx of Scottish Presbyterians.