Ireland (Lonely Planet, 9th Edition) - Fionn Davenport [499]
Inniskeen is on the Bus Éireann route between Cavan and Dundalk via Carrickmacross with four services Monday to Saturday.
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Belfast
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HISTORY
ORIENTATION
INFORMATION
DANGERS & ANNOYANCES
SIGHTS
WALKING TOUR
BELFAST FOR CHILDREN
TOURS
FESTIVALS & EVENTS
SLEEPING
EATING
DRINKING
ENTERTAINMENT
SHOPPING
GETTING THERE & AWAY
GETTING AROUND
AROUND BELFAST
LISBURN & AROUND
ULSTER FOLK & TRANSPORT MUSEUMS
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The countdown to 2012 has begun. No, not the London Olympics – 2012 in Belfast represents the 100th anniversary of the maiden voyage of RMS Titanic, the iconic ocean liner that was built by Belfast’s Harland and Wolff shipyards. And 2012 is also the year that Belfast has chosen to showcase its heritage to the world.
It may seem strange for a city to identify with a ship that is famous for sinking on its maiden voyage, but Belfast built what was the most advanced piece of technology in the world at that time and takes pride in the innovation, skill and engineering genius that went into making the Titanic. And as the locals constantly remind you, ‘She was fine when she left here’.
Once lumped with Beirut, Baghdad and Bosnia as one the four ‘B’s for travellers to avoid, Belfast has pulled off a remarkable transformation from bombs-and-bullets pariah to a hip-hotels-and-hedonism party town. The city’s skyline is in a constant state of flux as redevelopment continues apace. The old shipyards are giving way to the luxury waterfront apartments of the Titanic Quarter, and Victoria Sq, Europe’s biggest urban regeneration project, has added a massive city-centre shopping mall to a list of tourist attractions that includes Victorian architecture, a glittering waterfront lined with modern art, foot-stomping music in packed-out pubs, and the UK’s second-biggest arts festival.
So as 2012 approaches, it seems somehow fitting that Belfast should celebrate the Titanic’s creation, building new pride and optimism out of the wreckage of past disaster. Get here early and enjoy it before the rest of the world arrives.
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HIGHLIGHTS
Ah Go On, Take a Drink Sup on a Guinness or three in some of Belfast’s beautiful Victorian pubs Click here
The Writing on the Walls Ruminate on the powerful political murals in West Belfast
Titanic Town Learn about the shipyards that gave birth to the Titanic on a boat trip around Belfast’s docklands Click here
Head for the Hills Enjoy a panoramic view over the city from the top of Cave Hill
Back to the Future Check out the iconic DeLorean DMC at the Ulster Transport Museum
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TELEPHONE CODE: 028 FROM UK; 048 FROM REPUBLIC OF IRELAND
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POPULATION: 277,000
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HISTORY
Belfast is a relatively young city, with few reminders of its pre-19th-century history. The city takes its name from the River Farset (from the Gaelic feirste, meaning sandbank, or sandy ford), which flows into the River Lagan at Donegall Quay (it is now channelled through a culvert). The old Gaelic name, Béal Feirste, means ‘Mouth of the Farset’.
In 1177, the Norman lord John de Courcy built a castle here, and a small settlement grew up around it. Both were destroyed in battle 20 years later, and the town did not begin to develop in earnest until 1611 when Baron Arthur Chichester built a castle and promoted the growth of the settlement.
The early-17th-century Plantation of Ulster brought in the first waves of Scottish and English settlers, followed in the late 17th century by an influx of Huguenots (French Protestants) fleeing persecution in France; they laid the foundations of a thriving linen industry. More Scottish and English settlers arrived, and other industries such as rope making, tobacco, engineering and shipbuilding developed.
With its textile mills and shipyards, Belfast was the one city in Ireland that truly rode the wave of the Industrial Revolution. Sturdy rows of brick terrace