Belfast City Hall home of Belfast City Council is situated at Donegall Square, Belfast, Northern Ireland. The Grade A listed building faces North and divides the commercial and business areas in the city centre.
Belfast City Hall in Co Antrim Northern Ireland
The building has an arched cart entrance at the centre. A clocktower rises above the entrance and is surrounded by beautiful iron railings. Wide streets cross outside of the fencing. The City’s White Linen Hall also the Linen Hall Library as it was in 1888. and is now replaced by the City Hall.
Belfast City Hall was built to replace the city’s ‘Old Town Hall’ which was located on Victoria Street. In 1888 Belfast was awarded city status by Queen Victoria of England. This was in recognition of Belfast’s rapid expansion in the thriving linen, rope-making, shipbuilding and engineering industries. For a short time Belfast briefly overtook Dublin as the most populous city in Ireland.
In the late 19th century the council decided to commission a new building. The site which they selected was the home of the once busy White Linen Hall. The street that runs from the back door of Belfast City Hall through the middle of Linen Quarter is Linen Hall Street.
The Belfast Corporation used profits from the gas industry to pay for the construction of the Belfast City Hall. Sir Alfred Brumwell Thomas designed the building in the Baroque Revival style. It was built in Portland Stone at a cost of £370,000.
Some local firms such as H&J Martin and WH Stephens were among the companies involved in the design and construction of the hall. James G. Gamble, principal city architect with Belfast Corporation, was clerk of works for the erection of the Hall from 1896-1906. The building opened in August 1906.
Aerial view Nightscape of Belfast City Hall and Skyline night Cityscape Northern Ireland
There is a building in Durban, South Africa which is almost an exact replica of Belfast’s City Hall. It was built in 1910 and designed by Stanley G. Hudson, who was inspired by the Belfast design. There is another building based on its design, The Port of Liverpool Building, designed by Sir Arnold Thornely and was completed in 1913.
On 1 August 2006 the City Hall celebrated its centenary with a large exhibition and family picnic day. In December 2012, the City Council voted to limit the days that the Union Flag flies from City Hall to no more than 18 designated days.
Since 1906, the flag had been flown every day of the year. This move was backed by the Council’s Irish nationalist Councillors and by the Alliance Party Councillors. It was opposed by the unionist Councillors, who had enjoyed a majority on the council until the Northern Ireland local elections of 2011. On the night of the vote, unionist and loyalist protesters tried to storm the Hall. There were many protests throughout Northern Ireland.
The hall has towers at each of the four corners and a lantern-crowned green copper dome in the centre. The pediment sculpture is by F W Pomeroy, assisted by local carver J Edgar Winter.
The interior has many features including the Porte-Cochère Grand Entrance, the Grand Staircase, Reception Room and its Banqueting Hall. The roof above the Banqueting Hall has had serious damage during the Belfast blitz in May 1941 and also had to be rebuilt.
Aerial photo of Belfast City Hall in Co Antrim Northern Ireland
Carrara, Pavonazzo and Brescia marble was used throughout the City Hall as are stained glass windows and Belfast’s Coat of Arms. There are portraits of Queen Victoria and William III also shields of the Provinces of Ireland. There is a stained-glass window commemorating the 36th Ulster Division.
Parts of Belfast City Hall are open to the public with a daily exhibition which opened in 2017. Visitors can book a free guided tour of the Hall with access to areas usually closed to the public.
In the City Hall there is a memorial to Sir Edward Harland, who was the former head of the Harland and Wolff shipyard and Lord Mayor of Belfast. It was sculpted by Thomas Brock and unveiled by the Earl of Glasgow in June 1903.
The statue of Queen Victoria also by Brock was unveiled by King Edward VII in July 1903. The Titanic Memorial in Belfast was dedicated in June 1920.
The grounds of the City Hall also house Northern Ireland’s main war memorial, the Garden of Remembrance and Cenotaph, unveiled in 1929. There is a granite column dedicated to the American Expeditionary Force, many of whom were based in Belfast before D-Day, in 1943.
World War one Cenotaph at Belfast City Hall in Co Antrim Northern Ireland
A 6 foot memorial to Leading Seaman James Magennis VC, made from Portland stone was erected in the grounds in October 1999.
On 3 January 2006 Belfast City Councillors ratified a plan to erect a statue to the late Belfast footballer George Best in the grounds of the City Hall. Following approval from the Best family, the George Best Memorial Trust was created in December 2006.
In late 2007 a large Ferris wheel was constructed in the grounds, giving panoramic views high above the city.
ShutterSpeed Ireland have over 300 photos and video multimedia of ‘Spectacular locations of Ireland’
Some of the information sourced in this blog has come from-
www.ireland.com
www.irelandbeforeyoudie.com
www.discovernorthernireland.com
www.castles.nl
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Sources Used:
The Planetd.com
Love Irish Tours
History.com
Trip Advisor.com
