Ireland (Lonely Planet, 9th Edition) - Fionn Davenport [503]
The hall is fronted by a statue of a rather dour ‘we are not amused’ Queen Victoria. The bronze figures on either side of her symbolise the textile and shipbuilding industries, while the child at the back represents education. At the northeastern corner of the grounds is a statue of Sir Edward Harland, the Yorkshire-born marine engineer who founded the Harland & Wolff shipyards and who served as mayor of Belfast from 1885 to 1886. To his south stands a memorial to the victims of the Titanic.
The Marquess of Dufferin (1826–1902), whose career included postings as ambassador to Turkey, Russia, Paris and Rome, governor-general of Canada, and viceroy to India, has an ornate, temple-like memorial flanked by an Indian and a Turkish warrior, on the western side of the City Hall. There are proposals to add a memorial to George Best (1946–2005), Northern Ireland’s most famous footballer. Belfast’s City Airport has already been renamed in his honour.
The highlights of the free guided tour of City Hall include the sumptuous, wedding-cake Italian marble and colourful stained glass of the entrance hall and rotunda; an opportunity to sit on the mayor’s throne in the council chamber; and the idiosyncratic portraits of past lord mayors. Each lord mayor is allowed to choose his or her own artist, and the variations in personal style are intriguing.
The Belfast Wheel (Map; 9031 0607; City Hall, Donegall Sq; adult/child £6.50/4.50; 10am-9pm Sun-Thu, to 10pm Fri, 9am-10pm Sat), the city’s answer to the London Eye, towers over the east end of City Hall. Originally intended as a temporary attraction while City Hall was closed for renovations, in May 2009 local councillors voted for it to remain in place for at least another two years. A spin in the wheel provides a panoramic view over the city centre, allowing you to see the extent of Belfast’s fast-moving redevelopment.
LINEN HALL LIBRARY
Opposite City Hall, on Donegall Sq N, is the Linen Hall Library (Map; 9032 1707; www.linenhall.com; 17 Donegall Sq N; admission free; 9.30am-5.30pm Mon-Wed & Fri, to 7pm Thu, to 4pm Sat). Established in 1788 to ‘improve the mind and excite a spirit of general inquiry’, the library was moved from its original home in the White Linen Hall (the site is now occupied by City Hall) to the present building a century later. Thomas Russell, the first librarian, was a founding member of the United Irishmen and a close friend of Wolfe Tone – a reminder that this movement for independence from Britain had its origins in Belfast. Russell was hanged in 1803 after Robert Emmet’s abortive rebellion.
The library houses some 260,000 books, more than half of which are part of its important Irish and local-studies collection. The political collection consists of pretty much everything that has been written about Northern Irish politics since 1966. The library also has a small coffee shop ( 10am-4pm Mon-Fri, to 12.30pm Sat). The visitors’ entrance is on Fountain St, around the corner from the main door.
OTHER DONEGALL SQ BUILDINGS
On Donegall Sq W is the ornate Scottish Provident Building (Map; 1897–1902). It’s decorated with a veritable riot of fascinating statuary, including several allusions to the industries that assured Victorian Belfast’s prosperity, as well as sphinxes, dolphins and lions’ heads. The building was the work of the architectural partnership of Young and MacKenzie, who counterbalanced it in 1902 with the red sandstone Pearl Assurance Building (Map) on Donegall Sq E. Also on the east side of the square is the classical Greek portico of the Former Methodist Church (Map; 1847), now occupied