Crumlin Road
Encyclopedia
The Crumlin Road is a main road in north-west Belfast
, Northern Ireland
. The road runs from north of Belfast City Centre
for about four miles to the outskirts of the city. It also forms part of the longer A52 road.
north of the city centre just past the Westlink motorway. It is one of four exits from Carlisle Circus, the others being the Antrim Road, a major arterial and residential route that forms part of the A6
, Clifton Street which leads back to the centre, and Denmark Street which leads to the area of the Lower Shankill Road known locally as Beirut.
The lowest section of the road contains a number of buildings of local and historic interest. The Mater Infirmorum Hospital
, known colloquially as the Mater, is found just past Carlisle Circus and provides healthcare to the north of the city as well as the surrounding area. A 19th century structure, the Hospital is beside the derelict Crumlin Road Gaol which, from 1846 to 1986 was the main prison in Belfast. Facing the prison is the Crumlin Road Courthouse
, which now also lies empty. Both buildings were designed by renowned local architect Charles Lanyon
.
area although with much of the Oldpark Road republican
it is witness to a series of sectarian interfaces. Belfast City Council
has converted a section of waste ground at this junction into a greenfield space whilst local shops have also been redeveloped. Significant levels of new housing have also been built here and as of 2011 this area is still undergoing redevelopment. St Mary's Church of Ireland
, another 19th century building, is also to be found in this part of the road and it is noted for its historic pipe organ
. A Presbyterian
church further up the road also dates from the 19th century whilst further up the road, facing the Ardoyne
area there is a Roman Catholic Church
, the Holy Cross Church.
Commercially this area of the Crumlin Road contains some shops, notably a number of cash and carry
and similar wholesale
retail outlets on the Hillview Road, a conduit linking the Crumlin and Oldpark Roads. Historically however one of the most important commercial properties was the Crumlin Road mill. The mill was built for William Ewart
, a cotton trader and politician who switched his interests to the production of linen, which at the time became the leading industry in the city. During the Second World War the mill was converted from the production of linen to the manufacture of munitions. The mill employed thousands of local people, mostly young women who were known locally as "millies". Although the mill is no longer in operation its industrial heritage is commemorated in a nearby statue of of one such "Milly". The area around the mill, which straddles the republican Ardoyne area and the loyalist Shankill and Woodvale areas is a major interface area
on the Crumlin Road with Flax Street, which runs along the side of the mill, ending in a peace line
. Similarly access to the Crumlin Road from Leopold Street and Columbia Street, both part of the loyalist Woodvale area, is also blocked by peace lines.
, containing both republican and loyalist sections, and it was the scene of the Holy Cross dispute
, a series of clashes between the two communities at a Catholic girls school around 2001-2003. The school is close to Alliance Avenue, the effective dividing line between republican Ardoyne and loyalist Glenbryn, and the site of another peace line. The aforementioned junction also leads to Brompton Road, part of Ardoyne, the Woodvale Road, which leads backs down to the Shankill Road, and Twaddell Avenue, which leads to the loyalist Glencairn
estate. The roundabout at this junction has been redeveloped as part of the council's initiatives aimed at regenerating the area.
Past the roundabout the Crumlin Road is largely made up of private housing for around a mile. Parts of the road in this area border on Forthriver Park whilst the Mercy Primary School is also found in this area.
Ballysillan was noted as a centre for loyalist paramilitary activity and was the home base of "D Company" of the Ulster Volunteer Force
(UVF) under the command of John Bingham
Along with Glenbryn, Ballysillan was also at the centre of a loyalist feud
in 2003 when Jimbo Simpson
, who had recently been ousted as head of the North Belfast Brigade of the Ulster Defence Association
(UDA), attacked a number of houses in the area as part of a failed attempt to retake control of the Brigade and force out his replacement William Borland
. The Crumlin Road entrance to Ballysillan houses another historic church, the Ballysillan Presbyterian Church.
Further up the road, in what is still part of Ballysillan but what is frequently known as Glenbank, another interface area is found around Ligoniel Road and the area known as Legoniel. Glenbank remains predominantly loyalist whilst much of Legoniel is republican and was noted as an area of Provisional Irish Republican Army
activity during the Troubles. The 1971 Scottish soldiers' killings
, in which three members of the British Army
were killed by the PIRA, took place in this area.
The upper end of the Crumlin Road is much less densely populated with much of the road passing through fields and wilderness areas, although the road continues to overlook the estates of Ballysillan on lower lands below the upper Crumlin Road. The road turns sharply near the entrance to Cavehill Country Park, veering in a south-westerly direction towards Crumlin. At this juncture the Upper Hightown Road forks off, ultimately linking the area with the Glengormley
area of Newtownabbey
. From this point on the Crumlin Road continues for around a mile and a half through a largely rural area before merging with the Ballyutoag Road.
. The A52 is known by a number of street names with it changing from the Crumlin Road to Ballyutoag Road once it leaves the urban area. It is subsequently known as the Ballykeel Road and then the Belfast Road until the junction with the A26
in Crumlin. It continues as the Nutts Corner Road into the centre of Crumlin.
(the Ardoyne, Ballysillan and Legoniel wards) and Court
(the Crumlin ward). Oldpark is represented by six councillors i.e. Daniel Lavery, Conor Maskey and Gerard McCabe of Sinn Fein
, Ian Crozier and Gareth McKee of the Democratic Unionist Party
(DUP) and Nichola Mallon of the Social Democratic and Labour Party
(SDLP). Court has only five councillors, namely William Humphrey, Brian Kingston and Naomi Thompson of the DUP, Hugh Smyth
of the Progressive Unionist Party
and the independent
Frank McCoubrey
.
Crumlin Road is part of the North Belfast parliamentary constituency
and its Assembly equivalent
. In the House of Commons it is represented by Nigel Dodds
of the DUP whilst in the Northern Ireland Assembly
the MLAs are Paula Bradley
, William Humphrey and Nelson McCausland
of the DUP, Gerry Kelly
and Carál Ní Chuilín
of Sinn Fein, and the SDLP's Alban Maginness
.
A series of attacks occurred on the road in 1972, mainly carried out by loyalist groups. The Red Hand Commando murdered two Catholic civilians on the road, one on 8 February and another on 11 November. In between the UVF, with which group was closely linked, murdered a Catholic on 15 April whilst on the 30th November the UDA killed another Catholic outside the Mater Hospital. Meanwhile on 21 July 1972, as part of its Bloody Friday
series of bomb attacks, the PIRA exploded a device at a petrol station on the road, albeit without deaths. A further PIRA attack occurred on 19 November 1974 when gunmen entered a glazier's shop and shot Jim Anderson
and fellow UDA veteran Billy Hull
. Although both were wounded neither man died in the attack.
Activity continued and on 21 March 1975 a Protestant civilian died four months after being shot by the UVF during a bank robbery on the road whilst on 10 June a UVF member was killed by the PIRA in his shop. The following year the UDA killed two Catholics on a bus on 17 June whilst on the 28 October a joint operation by the UVF and UDA saw gunmen enter the Mater Hospital where they shot and killed former Sinn Féin
vice-president Máire Drumm
who was a patient at the time.
During the failed 1977 Ulster Workers' Council strike UDA member Kenny McClinton
boarded a bus on which he shot dead Harry Bradshaw, a Protestant who was driving the vehicle. Following the killing the UDA wrote to his widow Sheila Bradshaw stating that they were sorry for the murder and that they believed her husband to be a Catholic, enclosing a ten pound note as compensation. However according to Martin Dillon
the attack had been ordered by leading UDA figure James Craig
who knew that any Citybus driver on the Crumlin Road would be a Protestant. Craig wanted to send out a message to other Protestant bus drivers that their failure to support the stike as they had done in 1974
was not going unnoticed. On 10 May an off-duty Ulster Defence Regiment
soldier was killed by a UVF bomb at a petrol station on the road. This attack was also linked to the strike as the petrol station had continued to trade during the stoppage.
On 16 September 1986 a Catholic civilian was shot and killed on the grounds of the Holy Cross Church in an attack claimed by the "Protestant Action Force", a UVF cover name. The murder was said to be in retaliation for the killing of UVF member John Bingham
two days earlier. With tit-for tat killings become the norm the Crumlin Road saw evidence of this strategy by republican and loyalist groups in 1987. On 3 July a Catholic civilian, who had formerly been an internee, was found dead at a disused quarry off the Upper Crumlin Road after being murdered by the "Ulster Freedom Fighters". Four days later a member of this group was killed by the PIRA in a Ligoniel Road snooker hall.
The road became associated with UVF activity and in February 1988 a UVF arms haul, containing an RPG7 rocket launcher with 26 warheads, 38 assault rifles, 15 Brownings, 100 grenades and 40,000 rounds of ammunition was found following searches in the Upper Crumlin Road. The UVF killed a further Catholic civilian on the road on 2 September 1989 but had one of their own gunmen shot and killed by the British Army
immediately after the attack. On 20 December 1992 the UVF killed a Catholic at his Upper Crumlin Road home whilst on the 12 May 1994 the UFF killed another Catholic, this time at the home of a relative.
Activity slowed down considerably following the 1994 ceasefires although attacks linked to loyalist feud
s have been recorded. In 1997 Ulster Independence Movement
politician Clifford Peeples
had his Crumlin Road flower shop ransacked in an attack that he blamed on UVF members. Peeples, a former UVF member, had left the movement and become associated with the Loyalist Volunteer Force
, a splinter group involved in a feud with the UVF. The UVF struck again on 21 August 2000 when two loyalists associated with UDA brigadier Johnny Adair
, Jackie Coulter and Bobby Mahood, were shot and killed whilst sitting in a jeep on the Crumlin Road. Later that year on 24 September Stephen McKeag
, a former associate of Adair's who had fallen out of favour, was found dead at his home at Florence Court off the Crumlin Road on 24 September 2000. It was initially speculated that Adair had had McKeag killed although a post-mortem revealed his death was caused by an overdose of painkillers and cocaine
. Some of his supporters continued to blame Adair however, and claimed that Adair's men had entered the house, attacked McKeag and forced him to swallow a lethal dose of cocaine, although no evidence to support the claim existed.
, who served as President of Israel
, was born on Clifton Park Avenue, just off the lower Crumlin Road. His birthplace is marked by a blue plaque erected by the Ulster History Circle
.
Ulster Defence Association brigadier Johnny Adair also grew up around this area, as he was born on the Old Lodge Road and raised on the lower Oldpark Road, both of which are adjacent to the Crumlin Road. Another leading figure in the movement, Jim Anderson
, who was a founder member of the Woodvale Defence Association
, was a Crumlin Road native.
On the republican side John Graham was a leading member of St Mary's Church of Ireland
on the Crumlin Road, as well as being an Irish Republican Army activist.
Belfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
, Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
. The road runs from north of Belfast City Centre
Belfast City Centre
Belfast city centre is the central business district of Belfast, Northern Ireland.The city centre was originally centred around the Donegall Street area. Donegall Street is now mainly a business area, but with expanding residential and entertainment development as part of the Cathedral Quarter...
for about four miles to the outskirts of the city. It also forms part of the longer A52 road.
Lower Crumlin Road
The Crumlin Road begins at Carlisle Circus, a roundaboutRoundabout
A roundabout is the name for a road junction in which traffic moves in one direction around a central island. The word dates from the early 20th century. Roundabouts are common in many countries around the world...
north of the city centre just past the Westlink motorway. It is one of four exits from Carlisle Circus, the others being the Antrim Road, a major arterial and residential route that forms part of the A6
A6 road (Northern Ireland)
The A6 road in Northern Ireland runs from the Belfast to Derry, via Antrim. Mostly single carriageway, there is a short dual carriageway section forming the Toome bypass. Towards Derry, there is also a short section of dual carriageway at Altnagelvin. This is one of Northern Ireland's most...
, Clifton Street which leads back to the centre, and Denmark Street which leads to the area of the Lower Shankill Road known locally as Beirut.
The lowest section of the road contains a number of buildings of local and historic interest. The Mater Infirmorum Hospital
Mater Infirmorum Hospital
The Mater Infirmorum Hospital, commonly known as The Mater is an acute hospital in Belfast, Northern Ireland and serves a population of over 200,000 people. It provides services to most of North Belfast and South Antrim, reaching as far as Glengormley, Carrickfergus and Newtownabbey. It also...
, known colloquially as the Mater, is found just past Carlisle Circus and provides healthcare to the north of the city as well as the surrounding area. A 19th century structure, the Hospital is beside the derelict Crumlin Road Gaol which, from 1846 to 1986 was the main prison in Belfast. Facing the prison is the Crumlin Road Courthouse
Crumlin Road Courthouse
The Crumlin Road Courthouse was designed by the architect Charles Lanyon and completed in 1850. It is situated across the road from the Crumlin Road Gaol and the two are linked by an underground passage....
, which now also lies empty. Both buildings were designed by renowned local architect Charles Lanyon
Charles Lanyon
Sir Charles Lanyon DL, JP was an English architect of the 19th century. His work is most closely associated with Belfast, Northern Ireland.-Biography:Lanyon was born in Eastbourne, Sussex in 1813...
.
Oldpark to Ardoyne
The road is intersected by Agnes Street and Clifton Park Avenue and at this section the Oldpark Road divides off. At this point the Crumlin Road remains a largely loyalistUlster loyalism
Ulster loyalism is an ideology that is opposed to a united Ireland. It can mean either support for upholding Northern Ireland's status as a constituent part of the United Kingdom , support for Northern Ireland independence, or support for loyalist paramilitaries...
area although with much of the Oldpark Road republican
Irish Republicanism
Irish republicanism is an ideology based on the belief that all of Ireland should be an independent republic.In 1801, under the Act of Union, the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ireland merged to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland...
it is witness to a series of sectarian interfaces. Belfast City Council
Belfast City Council
Belfast City Council is the local authority with responsibility for the city of Belfast, the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland. The Council serves an estimated population of , the largest of any district council in Northern Ireland, while also being the fourth smallest by area...
has converted a section of waste ground at this junction into a greenfield space whilst local shops have also been redeveloped. Significant levels of new housing have also been built here and as of 2011 this area is still undergoing redevelopment. St Mary's Church of Ireland
Church of Ireland
The Church of Ireland is an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. The church operates in all parts of Ireland and is the second largest religious body on the island after the Roman Catholic Church...
, another 19th century building, is also to be found in this part of the road and it is noted for its historic pipe organ
Pipe organ
The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurized air through pipes selected via a keyboard. Because each organ pipe produces a single pitch, the pipes are provided in sets called ranks, each of which has a common timbre and volume throughout the keyboard compass...
. A Presbyterian
Presbyterian Church in Ireland
The Presbyterian Church in Ireland , is the largest Presbyterian denomination in Ireland, and the largest Protestant denomination in Northern Ireland...
church further up the road also dates from the 19th century whilst further up the road, facing the Ardoyne
Ardoyne
Ardoyne is an Irish nationalist, working class and mainly Catholic district in north Belfast, Northern Ireland. It gained notoriety due to the large number of incidents during "The Troubles". It is home to approximately 20,000 inhabitants...
area there is a Roman Catholic Church
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
, the Holy Cross Church.
Commercially this area of the Crumlin Road contains some shops, notably a number of cash and carry
Cash and carry (wholesale)
Cash and carry wholesale represents a type of operation within the wholesale sector. Its main features are summarized best by the following definitions:...
and similar wholesale
Wholesale
Wholesaling, jobbing, or distributing is defined as the sale of goods or merchandise to retailers, to industrial, commercial, institutional, or other professional business users, or to other wholesalers and related subordinated services...
retail outlets on the Hillview Road, a conduit linking the Crumlin and Oldpark Roads. Historically however one of the most important commercial properties was the Crumlin Road mill. The mill was built for William Ewart
Sir William Ewart, 1st Baronet
Sir William Ewart, 1st Baronet was an Irish linen manufacturer and Unionist politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1878 to 1889....
, a cotton trader and politician who switched his interests to the production of linen, which at the time became the leading industry in the city. During the Second World War the mill was converted from the production of linen to the manufacture of munitions. The mill employed thousands of local people, mostly young women who were known locally as "millies". Although the mill is no longer in operation its industrial heritage is commemorated in a nearby statue of of one such "Milly". The area around the mill, which straddles the republican Ardoyne area and the loyalist Shankill and Woodvale areas is a major interface area
Interface area
Interface area is the name given to areas where segregated nationalist and unionist residential areas meet in Northern Ireland. They have been defined as "the intersection of segregated and polarised working class residential zones, in areas with a strong link betweenterritory and ethno-political...
on the Crumlin Road with Flax Street, which runs along the side of the mill, ending in a peace line
Peace lines
The peace lines or peace walls are a series of separation barriers in Northern Ireland that separate Catholic and Protestant neighbourhoods. They have been built at urban interface areas in Belfast, Derry, Portadown and elsewhere...
. Similarly access to the Crumlin Road from Leopold Street and Columbia Street, both part of the loyalist Woodvale area, is also blocked by peace lines.
Interface areas
The Crumlin Road reaches another junction just past the Holy Cross Church, where a number of streets branch off into different areas of the city. The Ardoyne Road is an interface areaInterface area
Interface area is the name given to areas where segregated nationalist and unionist residential areas meet in Northern Ireland. They have been defined as "the intersection of segregated and polarised working class residential zones, in areas with a strong link betweenterritory and ethno-political...
, containing both republican and loyalist sections, and it was the scene of the Holy Cross dispute
Holy Cross dispute
The Holy Cross dispute occurred in 2001 and 2002 in the Ardoyne area of Belfast, Northern Ireland, and involved an escalating dispute between on the one hand the pupils and parents of Holy Cross R.C. Primary School and on the other the residents of a loyalist area that lay on the route to the front...
, a series of clashes between the two communities at a Catholic girls school around 2001-2003. The school is close to Alliance Avenue, the effective dividing line between republican Ardoyne and loyalist Glenbryn, and the site of another peace line. The aforementioned junction also leads to Brompton Road, part of Ardoyne, the Woodvale Road, which leads backs down to the Shankill Road, and Twaddell Avenue, which leads to the loyalist Glencairn
Glencairn
Glencairn may refer to:* Glencairn, Belfast, an electoral ward in Belfast, Northern Ireland* Glencairn, or John Erwin House, on the National Register of Historic Places in Greensboro, Alabama...
estate. The roundabout at this junction has been redeveloped as part of the council's initiatives aimed at regenerating the area.
Past the roundabout the Crumlin Road is largely made up of private housing for around a mile. Parts of the road in this area border on Forthriver Park whilst the Mercy Primary School is also found in this area.
Ballysillan and Upper Crumlin Road
The Ballysillan Road leads off the Crumlin Road and is a major area of loyalist housing. Containing the likes of the Silverstream and Carr's Glen districts, the Ballysillan Road continues as far as the North Circular Road which in turn likes to the Antrim Road, which also began at Carlisle Circus. During the Northern Ireland TroublesThe Troubles
The Troubles was a period of ethno-political conflict in Northern Ireland which spilled over at various times into England, the Republic of Ireland, and mainland Europe. The duration of the Troubles is conventionally dated from the late 1960s and considered by many to have ended with the Belfast...
Ballysillan was noted as a centre for loyalist paramilitary activity and was the home base of "D Company" of the Ulster Volunteer Force
Ulster Volunteer Force
The Ulster Volunteer Force is a loyalist paramilitary group in Northern Ireland. It was formed in late 1965 or early 1966 and named after the Ulster Volunteer Force of 1913. The group's volunteers undertook an armed campaign of almost thirty years during The Troubles...
(UVF) under the command of John Bingham
John Bingham (loyalist)
John Dowey Bingham was a prominent Northern Irish loyalist who led "D Company" , 1st Battalion, Ulster Volunteer Force . He was shot dead by the Provisional IRA after they had broken into his home...
Along with Glenbryn, Ballysillan was also at the centre of a loyalist feud
Loyalist feud
A loyalist feud refers to any of the sporadic feuds which have erupted almost routinely between Northern Ireland's various loyalist paramilitary groups since they were founded shortly before and after the religious/political conflict known as The Troubles broke out in the late 1960s...
in 2003 when Jimbo Simpson
Jimbo Simpson
James "Jimbo" Simpson, also known as the Bacardi Brigadier, is a Northern Irish loyalist paramilitary. He is most noted for his time as Brigadier of the North Belfast Ulster Defence Association...
, who had recently been ousted as head of the North Belfast Brigade of the Ulster Defence Association
Ulster Defence Association
The Ulster Defence Association is the largest although not the deadliest loyalist paramilitary and vigilante group in Northern Ireland. It was formed in September 1971 and undertook a campaign of almost twenty-four years during "The Troubles"...
(UDA), attacked a number of houses in the area as part of a failed attempt to retake control of the Brigade and force out his replacement William Borland
William Borland (loyalist)
William John "Bonzer" Borland is a Northern Irish former footballer and loyalist activist. He came to prominence in the early years of the 21st century when he served as leader of the North Belfast Brigade of the Ulster Defence Association and, as such, one of the six commanders of the movement...
. The Crumlin Road entrance to Ballysillan houses another historic church, the Ballysillan Presbyterian Church.
Further up the road, in what is still part of Ballysillan but what is frequently known as Glenbank, another interface area is found around Ligoniel Road and the area known as Legoniel. Glenbank remains predominantly loyalist whilst much of Legoniel is republican and was noted as an area of Provisional Irish Republican Army
Provisional Irish Republican Army
The Provisional Irish Republican Army is an Irish republican paramilitary organisation whose aim was to remove Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom and bring about a socialist republic within a united Ireland by force of arms and political persuasion...
activity during the Troubles. The 1971 Scottish soldiers' killings
1971 Scottish soldiers' killings
The three Scottish soldiers' killings was an incident that took place in Northern Ireland during The Troubles. It happened on 10th March 1971, when the Provisional Irish Republican Army ambushed and shot dead three British Army soldiers of the 1st Battalion, Royal Highland Fusiliers. Two of the...
, in which three members of the British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
were killed by the PIRA, took place in this area.
The upper end of the Crumlin Road is much less densely populated with much of the road passing through fields and wilderness areas, although the road continues to overlook the estates of Ballysillan on lower lands below the upper Crumlin Road. The road turns sharply near the entrance to Cavehill Country Park, veering in a south-westerly direction towards Crumlin. At this juncture the Upper Hightown Road forks off, ultimately linking the area with the Glengormley
Glengormley
Glengormley or Glengormly is the name of a townland and electoral ward in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. Glengormley is within the urban area called Newtownabbey and the wider Newtownabbey Borough.-Location:...
area of Newtownabbey
Newtownabbey
Newtownabbey is a large town north of Belfast in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. Sometimes considered to be a suburb of Belfast, it is separated from the rest of the city by Cavehill and Fortwilliam golf course...
. From this point on the Crumlin Road continues for around a mile and a half through a largely rural area before merging with the Ballyutoag Road.
The A52
The Crumlin Road forms the Belfast section of the A52, an A road linking the city to Crumlin, County AntrimCrumlin, County Antrim
Crumlin is a village in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is at the head of a wooded glen on the Camlin River, near Lough Neagh, and west of Belfast city centre. It had a population of over 4,259 people in the 2001 Census...
. The A52 is known by a number of street names with it changing from the Crumlin Road to Ballyutoag Road once it leaves the urban area. It is subsequently known as the Ballykeel Road and then the Belfast Road until the junction with the A26
A26 road (Northern Ireland)
The A26 is a road in Northern Ireland. It travels in a North-South direction from Coleraine, County Londonderry to Banbridge, County Down.The road is a primary route between Coleraine and its junction with the M1, and a secondary route between Lurgan and Banbridge...
in Crumlin. It continues as the Nutts Corner Road into the centre of Crumlin.
Politics
The Crumlin Road is covered by two Belfast City Council electoral areas - OldparkOldpark (District Electoral Area)
Oldpark is one of the nine district electoral areas in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Located in the west of the city, the district elects six members to Belfast City Council and contains the wards of Ardoyne; Ballysillan; Cliftonville; Legoniel; New Lodge and Water Works...
(the Ardoyne, Ballysillan and Legoniel wards) and Court
Court (District Electoral Area)
Court is one of the nine district electoral areas in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Located in the west of the city, the district elects five members to Belfast City Council and contains the wards of Crumlin; Glencairn; Highfield; Shankill and Woodvale...
(the Crumlin ward). Oldpark is represented by six councillors i.e. Daniel Lavery, Conor Maskey and Gerard McCabe of Sinn Fein
Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin is a left wing, Irish republican political party in Ireland. The name is Irish for "ourselves" or "we ourselves", although it is frequently mistranslated as "ourselves alone". Originating in the Sinn Féin organisation founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffith, it took its current form in 1970...
, Ian Crozier and Gareth McKee of the Democratic Unionist Party
Democratic Unionist Party
The Democratic Unionist Party is the larger of the two main unionist political parties in Northern Ireland. Founded by Ian Paisley and currently led by Peter Robinson, it is currently the largest party in the Northern Ireland Assembly and the fourth-largest party in the House of Commons of the...
(DUP) and Nichola Mallon of the Social Democratic and Labour Party
Social Democratic and Labour Party
The Social Democratic and Labour Party is a social-democratic, Irish nationalist political party in Northern Ireland. Its basic party platform advocates Irish reunification, and the further devolution of powers while Northern Ireland remains part of the United Kingdom...
(SDLP). Court has only five councillors, namely William Humphrey, Brian Kingston and Naomi Thompson of the DUP, Hugh Smyth
Hugh Smyth
Cllr Hugh Smyth is a former leader of the Progressive Unionist Party. He is a long-serving member of Belfast City Council and former Lord Mayor of Belfast. He is also the longest-serving member of the council, having represented the Upper Shankill areas since 1973...
of the Progressive Unionist Party
Progressive Unionist Party
The Progressive Unionist Party is a small unionist political party in Northern Ireland. It was formed from the Independent Unionist Group operating in the Shankill area of Belfast, becoming the PUP in 1979...
and the independent
Independent (politician)
In politics, an independent or non-party politician is an individual not affiliated to any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, a viewpoint more extreme than any major party, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do...
Frank McCoubrey
Frank McCoubrey
Frank McCoubrey is a Unionist politician and loyalist in Northern Ireland, as well as a community activist and researcher. He is a leading member of the Ulster Political Research Group and a member of Belfast City Council, representing the Court area...
.
Crumlin Road is part of the North Belfast parliamentary constituency
Belfast North (UK Parliament constituency)
Belfast North is a Parliamentary Constituency in the United Kingdom House of Commons.-Boundaries:The seat was created in 1922 when, as part of the establishment of the devolved Stormont Parliament for Northern Ireland, the number of MPs in the Westminster Parliament was drastically cut...
and its Assembly equivalent
Belfast North (Assembly constituency)
Belfast North is a constituency in the Northern Ireland Assembly.The seat was first used for a Northern Ireland-only election for the Northern Ireland Assembly, 1973...
. In the House of Commons it is represented by Nigel Dodds
Nigel Dodds
Nigel Alexander Dodds, OBE, MP, BL is a barrister and Northern Irish unionist politician. He is Member of Parliament for Belfast North, and deputy leader of the Democratic Unionist Party. He has been Lord Mayor of Belfast twice, and from 1993 has been General Secretary of the DUP...
of the DUP whilst in the Northern Ireland Assembly
Northern Ireland Assembly
The Northern Ireland Assembly is the devolved legislature of Northern Ireland. It has power to legislate in a wide range of areas that are not explicitly reserved to the Parliament of the United Kingdom, and to appoint the Northern Ireland Executive...
the MLAs are Paula Bradley
Paula Bradley
Paula Bradley is a Democratic Unionist Party politician who was elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly in 2011 representing Belfast North. She also currently serves as Mayor of Newtownabbey....
, William Humphrey and Nelson McCausland
Nelson McCausland
Nelson McCausland, MLA is a unionist politician from Northern Ireland. He is the current Minister for Social Development in the Northern Irish Government.-Education:...
of the DUP, Gerry Kelly
Gerry Kelly
Gerard "Gerry" Kelly is an Irish republican politician and former Provisional Irish Republican Army volunteer who played a leading role in the negotiations that led to the Good Friday Agreement on 10 April 1998...
and Carál Ní Chuilín
Carál Ní Chuilín
Carál Ní Chuilín, MLA is an Irish politician in Belfast, Northern Ireland. She was elected in 2007 to the Northern Ireland Assembly as a Sinn Féin member for North Belfast...
of Sinn Fein, and the SDLP's Alban Maginness
Alban Maginness
Alban Maginness is a Nationalist politician in Northern Ireland.Maginness was born in Holywood, County Down, Northern Ireland. He completed his secondary education at St. Malachy's College, Belfast. He then attended the New University of Ulster and subsequently Queen's University of Belfast where...
.
The Troubles
As an interface area containing considerable Protestant and Catholic populations the Crumlin Road was the scene of a number of murders and attacks during the course of the Northern Ireland Troubles.A series of attacks occurred on the road in 1972, mainly carried out by loyalist groups. The Red Hand Commando murdered two Catholic civilians on the road, one on 8 February and another on 11 November. In between the UVF, with which group was closely linked, murdered a Catholic on 15 April whilst on the 30th November the UDA killed another Catholic outside the Mater Hospital. Meanwhile on 21 July 1972, as part of its Bloody Friday
Bloody Friday (1972)
Bloody Friday is the name given to the bombings by the Provisional Irish Republican Army in Belfast on 21 July 1972. Twenty-two bombs exploded in the space of eighty minutes, killing nine people and injuring 130....
series of bomb attacks, the PIRA exploded a device at a petrol station on the road, albeit without deaths. A further PIRA attack occurred on 19 November 1974 when gunmen entered a glazier's shop and shot Jim Anderson
Jim Anderson (loyalist)
James "Jim" Anderson was a Northern Irish loyalist paramilitary who from April to December 1972 was the acting leader of the Ulster Defence Association while its commander and the founder of the organisation, Charles Harding Smith was in jail on remand for gun-running...
and fellow UDA veteran Billy Hull
Billy Hull
Billy Hull was a loyalist activist in Northern Ireland.Hull worked at the Harland and Wolff engine shop in Belfast, and became the convenor of shop stewards there. He joined the Northern Ireland Labour Party, but resigned in 1969 in protest at the Northern Ireland policy of the British Labour Party...
. Although both were wounded neither man died in the attack.
Activity continued and on 21 March 1975 a Protestant civilian died four months after being shot by the UVF during a bank robbery on the road whilst on 10 June a UVF member was killed by the PIRA in his shop. The following year the UDA killed two Catholics on a bus on 17 June whilst on the 28 October a joint operation by the UVF and UDA saw gunmen enter the Mater Hospital where they shot and killed former Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin is a left wing, Irish republican political party in Ireland. The name is Irish for "ourselves" or "we ourselves", although it is frequently mistranslated as "ourselves alone". Originating in the Sinn Féin organisation founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffith, it took its current form in 1970...
vice-president Máire Drumm
Máire Drumm
Máire Drumm was the vice president of Sinn Féin and a commander in Cumann na mBan. She was assassinated by loyalists while recovering in Belfast's Mater Hospital....
who was a patient at the time.
During the failed 1977 Ulster Workers' Council strike UDA member Kenny McClinton
Kenny McClinton
Kenneth McClinton is a Northern Irish pastor and sometime political activist. During his early years McClinton was an active member of the Ulster Defence Association...
boarded a bus on which he shot dead Harry Bradshaw, a Protestant who was driving the vehicle. Following the killing the UDA wrote to his widow Sheila Bradshaw stating that they were sorry for the murder and that they believed her husband to be a Catholic, enclosing a ten pound note as compensation. However according to Martin Dillon
Martin Dillon
Martin Dillon is an author and journalist from Northern Ireland. He worked for eighteen years at the BBC and has written a number of plays and novels, but he is best known for his non-fiction books about the Troubles....
the attack had been ordered by leading UDA figure James Craig
James Craig (loyalist)
James Pratt "Jim" Craig was a Northern Irish loyalist, who served as a fund-raiser for the Ulster Defence Association and sat on its Inner Council. He also ran a large protection racket from west Belfast's Shankill Road area, where he lived...
who knew that any Citybus driver on the Crumlin Road would be a Protestant. Craig wanted to send out a message to other Protestant bus drivers that their failure to support the stike as they had done in 1974
Ulster Workers' Council Strike
The Ulster Workers' Council strike was a general strike that took place in Northern Ireland between 15 May and 28 May 1974, during "The Troubles". The strike was called by loyalists and unionists who were against the Sunningdale Agreement, which had been signed in December 1973...
was not going unnoticed. On 10 May an off-duty Ulster Defence Regiment
Ulster Defence Regiment
The Ulster Defence Regiment was an infantry regiment of the British Army which became operational in 1970, formed on similar lines to other British reserve forces but with the operational role of defence of life or property in Northern Ireland against armed attack or sabotage...
soldier was killed by a UVF bomb at a petrol station on the road. This attack was also linked to the strike as the petrol station had continued to trade during the stoppage.
On 16 September 1986 a Catholic civilian was shot and killed on the grounds of the Holy Cross Church in an attack claimed by the "Protestant Action Force", a UVF cover name. The murder was said to be in retaliation for the killing of UVF member John Bingham
John Bingham (loyalist)
John Dowey Bingham was a prominent Northern Irish loyalist who led "D Company" , 1st Battalion, Ulster Volunteer Force . He was shot dead by the Provisional IRA after they had broken into his home...
two days earlier. With tit-for tat killings become the norm the Crumlin Road saw evidence of this strategy by republican and loyalist groups in 1987. On 3 July a Catholic civilian, who had formerly been an internee, was found dead at a disused quarry off the Upper Crumlin Road after being murdered by the "Ulster Freedom Fighters". Four days later a member of this group was killed by the PIRA in a Ligoniel Road snooker hall.
The road became associated with UVF activity and in February 1988 a UVF arms haul, containing an RPG7 rocket launcher with 26 warheads, 38 assault rifles, 15 Brownings, 100 grenades and 40,000 rounds of ammunition was found following searches in the Upper Crumlin Road. The UVF killed a further Catholic civilian on the road on 2 September 1989 but had one of their own gunmen shot and killed by the British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
immediately after the attack. On 20 December 1992 the UVF killed a Catholic at his Upper Crumlin Road home whilst on the 12 May 1994 the UFF killed another Catholic, this time at the home of a relative.
Activity slowed down considerably following the 1994 ceasefires although attacks linked to loyalist feud
Loyalist feud
A loyalist feud refers to any of the sporadic feuds which have erupted almost routinely between Northern Ireland's various loyalist paramilitary groups since they were founded shortly before and after the religious/political conflict known as The Troubles broke out in the late 1960s...
s have been recorded. In 1997 Ulster Independence Movement
Ulster Independence Movement
The Ulster Independence Movement was an Ulster nationalist political party founded on 17 November 1988. The group emerged from the Ulster Clubs, after a series of 15 public meetings across Northern Ireland...
politician Clifford Peeples
Clifford Peeples
Clifford Peeples is a Northern Irish pastor who has been associated with Ulster loyalist activity...
had his Crumlin Road flower shop ransacked in an attack that he blamed on UVF members. Peeples, a former UVF member, had left the movement and become associated with the Loyalist Volunteer Force
Loyalist Volunteer Force
The Loyalist Volunteer Force is a loyalist paramilitary group in Northern Ireland. It was formed by Billy Wright in 1996 when he and the Portadown unit of the Ulster Volunteer Force's Mid-Ulster Brigade was stood down by the UVF leadership. He had been the commander of the Mid-Ulster Brigade. The...
, a splinter group involved in a feud with the UVF. The UVF struck again on 21 August 2000 when two loyalists associated with UDA brigadier Johnny Adair
Johnny Adair
Jonathan Adair, better known as Johnny "Mad Dog" Adair is the former leader of the "C Company", 2nd Battalion Shankill Road, West Belfast Brigade of the "Ulster Freedom Fighters" . This was a cover name used by the Ulster Defence Association , an Ulster loyalist paramilitary organisation...
, Jackie Coulter and Bobby Mahood, were shot and killed whilst sitting in a jeep on the Crumlin Road. Later that year on 24 September Stephen McKeag
Stephen McKeag
Stephen McKeag , known as Topgun or Top Gun, was a Northern Irish loyalist who became one of the most notorious figures within the Ulster Defence Association's 'C' Company in the 1990s...
, a former associate of Adair's who had fallen out of favour, was found dead at his home at Florence Court off the Crumlin Road on 24 September 2000. It was initially speculated that Adair had had McKeag killed although a post-mortem revealed his death was caused by an overdose of painkillers and cocaine
Cocaine
Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic...
. Some of his supporters continued to blame Adair however, and claimed that Adair's men had entered the house, attacked McKeag and forced him to swallow a lethal dose of cocaine, although no evidence to support the claim existed.
Noted residents
Chaim HerzogChaim Herzog
Chaim Herzog served as the sixth President of Israel , following a distinguished career in both the British Army and the Israel Defense Forces .-Early life:...
, who served as President of Israel
President of Israel
The President of the State of Israel is the head of state of Israel. The position is largely an apolitical ceremonial figurehead role, with the real executive power lying in the hands of the Prime Minister. The current president is Shimon Peres who took office on 15 July 2007...
, was born on Clifton Park Avenue, just off the lower Crumlin Road. His birthplace is marked by a blue plaque erected by the Ulster History Circle
Ulster History Circle
The Ulster History Circle is one of a number of heritage organisations that administers Blue Plaques in Northern Ireland. It is a voluntary, not for profit organisation, placing commemorative plaques in public places in honour of people and locations that have contributed to all genres of history...
.
Ulster Defence Association brigadier Johnny Adair also grew up around this area, as he was born on the Old Lodge Road and raised on the lower Oldpark Road, both of which are adjacent to the Crumlin Road. Another leading figure in the movement, Jim Anderson
Jim Anderson (loyalist)
James "Jim" Anderson was a Northern Irish loyalist paramilitary who from April to December 1972 was the acting leader of the Ulster Defence Association while its commander and the founder of the organisation, Charles Harding Smith was in jail on remand for gun-running...
, who was a founder member of the Woodvale Defence Association
Woodvale Defence Association
The Woodvale Defence Association was a loyalist vigilante group in the Woodvale district of Belfast.The organisation grew from a few smaller vigilante groups. It initially met in a pigeon fancier's club on Leopold Street, a location found on the initiative of Charles Harding Smith, who kept some...
, was a Crumlin Road native.
On the republican side John Graham was a leading member of St Mary's Church of Ireland
Church of Ireland
The Church of Ireland is an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. The church operates in all parts of Ireland and is the second largest religious body on the island after the Roman Catholic Church...
on the Crumlin Road, as well as being an Irish Republican Army activist.