Culture of Belfast
Encyclopedia
The culture of Belfast
, much like the city, is a microcosm of the culture of Northern Ireland
. Hilary McGrady, Chief Executive of Imagine Belfast, claimed that "Belfast has begun a social, economic and cultural transformation that has the potential to reverberate across Europe." Belfast is evenly split between two distinct vibrant cultural communities simply described as Catholic
and Protestant both of which have made their own contributions to the city's culture. Throughout the troubles
, Belfast continued to express itself through art and music. Today, it has a growing international cultural reputation as both communities move into the future and prove the relevance of art in education and healthcare environments as well as using it to heal the divisions of the past and promote social growth for the future.
For over two hundred years, Belfast has been a cultural and academic centre giving it the nickname the Athens of Ireland. In fact in 1841, J. Stirling Coyne wrote about Belfast "so celebrated has this town become for its patronage and love of learning, that it has acquired the proud title of the modern Athens".
In 2003, Belfast had an unsuccessful bid for the 2008 European Capital of Culture
. The ambitious bid was run by an independent company called Imagine Belfast and boasted that it would "make Belfast the meeting place of Europe's legends where the meaning of history and belief find a home and a sanctuary from caricature, parody and oblivion." Belfast's bid was based on three main themes: "Through the eyes of a Child", "Made in Belfast", and "To live without walls". These themes of unity and peace and creating a better city for our children became the core of the Imagine Belfast bid. Ultimately the bid may have been wrecked by the city's history and volatile politics.
Imagine Belfast spent £1.2 million of public money and £100,000 of private funding in developing their bid. However, Belfast City Council insist this money was not wasted. The legacy of the failed bid was a new Culture and Arts Plan 2003-2006 to take forward the spirit of the Imagine Belfast bid. The Chief Executive of Belfast City Council described the bid as "a catalytic event leading to a step change in the development of arts and culture in the city". Indeed, the statistics show this to be true. In 2004-05, culture and arts events in Belfast were attended by 1.8 million people (400,000 more than the previous year). The same year, 80,000 people participated in culture and arts activities, twice as many as in 2003-04.
As Belfast becomes more prosperous and its citizens have more disposable income, culture and the arts are becoming economically important to the city. Belfast City Council has promoted culture with the goals of encouraging creativity, bringing communities together to facilitate reconciliation, and creating new jobs. In 2004-05 culture and arts initiatives created the equivalent of 413 full time jobs (37% more than the previous year).
A combination of relative peace, international investment and an active promotion of arts and culture is attracting more tourists to Belfast than ever before. 5.9 million people visited Belfast in 2004-05 (up 10% from the previous year) and spent £262.5 million.
is Belfast's largest festival and one of the biggest community festivals in Europe. It hosts an annual Summer-time festival of Irish and International culture that takes place in and around the Falls Road in Belfast
as well as smaller festivals throughout the year, such as Féile an Earraigh, the Spring festival. It has hosted the likes of Altan, Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh
, Westlife
and Girls Aloud
and also hosts political discussions and debates with international guests.
Queens University hosts the annual international Belfast Festival. The Festival covers all art forms including theatre, dance, classical music, literature, jazz, comedy, visual arts, folk music and popular music, and attracting over 50,000 visitors, making it the largest of its kind in Ireland. 2007 will see the 45th anniversary of the festival.
Tennents ViTal
is popular festival
held in Botanic Gardens
in August each year.
Belsonic is another annual August music festival held in Custom House Square in the Laganside area.
. It is the only full-time producing theatre in the country. The Lyric theatre is where film star Liam Neeson
began his career and local playwrights Martin Lynch and Marie Jones have both written plays for the theatre. Kenneth Branagh
, another British film actor, was also born in Belfast. The Old Museum Arts Centre is a 19th-century building in the city centre which runs a programme of music, theatre, comedy, dance workshops, and a ground floor art gallery with regular exhibitions.
Belfast has several venues for performing arts. The Grand Opera House
, completed in 1895, was bombed several times during the Troubles
but has been restored to its former glory. The Ulster Hall
(1859–1862) was originally designed for grand dances but is now used primarily as a concert and sporting venue. Lloyd George
, Parnell
and Patrick Pearse
all attended political rallies there. It holds 13 paintings of Belfast History. The Mulholland organ costing 3000 guineas was donated and named after a local wealthy industrialist. The Waterfront Hall
was opened in 1997 as part of the redevelopment of the Laganside and already has become an icon of modern Belfast.
The Belfast Film Festival
is a growing annual film festival
in the city which started in the mid 1990s. Belfast has been taking full advantage of a new tax deal which makes Northern Ireland more attractive as a film location. Hollywood actress, Heather Graham was recently in the city shooting a new film.
Parts of the recent film "Closing the Ring" were shot in Belfast, namely on Cave Hill.
(1856–1941) was best known for his portraits of rich and famous of his day, while William Conor
(1881–1968) and Paul Henry
changed how the rest of the world viewed Ireland at the time. Belfast has numerous art galleries including Catalyst Arts
and the photography gallery Belfast Exposed
and is home to the photography magazine Source
. The University of Ulster's
Art and Design Campus in Belfast's Cathedral Quarter
is planned to undergo a £30 million development programme.
Sections of the city contain numerous sectarian murals
, political street art reflecting the political and religious allegiances of the communities living there. Areas such as the Shankill Road contain murals that are almost entirely Protestant, depicting republican violence, loyalty to the British Crown, the Ulster Volunteer Force and Ulster Defence Association
. Conversely, murals in areas such as the Falls Road, which is almost entirely Roman Catholic, feature political themes such as a united Ireland
and the Provisional IRA, as well as traditional folklore and the Irish language
. The Gaelic
folk hero Cúchulainn
has appeared on both republican and loyalist murals, representing the heroic Celtic past for the former and legendary battles between Ulster and the other provinces for the latter. In recent years some paramilitary murals have been replaced, in both loyalist and republican areas, with less controversial images. These include murals to the writer C. S. Lewis
and the late Belfast footballer George Best
.
Another popular form of folk art
is banners
for societies such as the Orange Order, the Ancient Order of Hibernians
, the Apprentice Boys of Derry
, and the Royal Black Institution. These are typically painted on silk and are carried in annual parades such as those on Saint Patrick's Day
and the Twelfth of July. While wall murals tend to be of mixed artistic quality, banners are usually painted by professionals and are of a high standard. Because marching
plays a much bigger role in Northern Irish Protestant culture than Catholic, the majority of banners depict Protestant, unionist or loyalist subjects. Of these the most common is William III of England
, whose victory in the Battle of the Boyne
is celebrated each year on 12 July. In addition to 'King Billy', Orange Order banners can depict a wide variety of other subjects, including the Crown and Bible; Biblical scenes; scenes from Ulster-related history including the Battle of the Somme; local landmarks; Britannia
; and deceased members of the Order. Apprentice Boys' banners typically depict scenes from the Siege of Derry
but can also show other unionist topics or deceased members of the organisation. The banners of the Royal Black Institution mostly show Biblical scenes. Catholic banners, also depict a variety of subjects, with Hibernia
(the Irish equivalent of Britannia); Saint Patrick
; and various nationalist heroes being popular. Trade union
s in Northern Ireland sometimes also march with banners.
.
Van Morrison
, one of the most influential vocalists in Rock and Roll
history was born and grew up in Belfast. His prolific and ongoing career spans over five decades. Belfast is also home to Brian Kennedy
, a popular singer-songwriter, and the punk group Stiff Little Fingers
. Derry
rockers, The Undertones were regular visitors to the University of Ulster's student union building. They made their name when Belfast record shop owner Terry Hooley released the Teenage Kicks EP on his Good Vibrations label in September 1978. Belfast has a growing club scene. David Holmes
has represented the city as a DJ, musician and composer and Colin Murray
is a regular DJ on BBC Radio 1
.
In the classical arena, the Ulster Orchestra
, Northern Ireland's only professional symphony orchestra, marks its 40th anniversary in 2007.
Belfast musicians, Sir James Galway
, The Man With the Golden Flute and Barry Douglas
, a classical pianist have both made an impact on the world stage.
Also the band Snow Patrol made their song "Take back the city tonight" which was inspired by the city of Belfast. They lived not far away in the town of Bangor
, author of The Chronicles of Narnia
, was born in Belfast
as were Brian Moore
, Bernard MacLaverty
, Glenn Patterson
and Robert McLiam Wilson
. Poet Louis MacNeice
was born in the city. Seamus Heaney
, Paul Muldoon
, Michael Longley
and Ciarán Carson
were poet participants in The Belfast Group
. Contemporary poets writing in and about Belfast would include Leontia Flynn
, Medbh McGuckian
and Sinéad Morrissey
.
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...
, much like the city, is a microcosm of the culture of Northern Ireland
Culture of Northern Ireland
The culture of Northern Ireland relates to the traditions of Northern Ireland and its resident communities.Elements of the culture of Ireland, the culture of Ulster and the culture of the United Kingdom are to be found.-Heritage:...
. Hilary McGrady, Chief Executive of Imagine Belfast, claimed that "Belfast has begun a social, economic and cultural transformation that has the potential to reverberate across Europe." Belfast is evenly split between two distinct vibrant cultural communities simply described as Catholic
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
and Protestant both of which have made their own contributions to the city's culture. Throughout the troubles
The 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...
, Belfast continued to express itself through art and music. Today, it has a growing international cultural reputation as both communities move into the future and prove the relevance of art in education and healthcare environments as well as using it to heal the divisions of the past and promote social growth for the future.
History
In 2003, Belfast had an unsuccessful bid for the 2008 European Capital of Culture
European Capital of Culture
The European Capital of Culture is a city designated by theEuropean Union for a period of one calendar year during which it organises a series of cultural events with a strong European dimension....
. The ambitious bid was run by an independent company called Imagine Belfast and boasted that it would "make Belfast the meeting place of Europe's legends where the meaning of history and belief find a home and a sanctuary from caricature, parody and oblivion." Belfast's bid was based on three main themes: "Through the eyes of a Child", "Made in Belfast", and "To live without walls". These themes of unity and peace and creating a better city for our children became the core of the Imagine Belfast bid. Ultimately the bid may have been wrecked by the city's history and volatile politics.
Imagine Belfast spent £1.2 million of public money and £100,000 of private funding in developing their bid. However, Belfast City Council insist this money was not wasted. The legacy of the failed bid was a new Culture and Arts Plan 2003-2006 to take forward the spirit of the Imagine Belfast bid. The Chief Executive of Belfast City Council described the bid as "a catalytic event leading to a step change in the development of arts and culture in the city". Indeed, the statistics show this to be true. In 2004-05, culture and arts events in Belfast were attended by 1.8 million people (400,000 more than the previous year). The same year, 80,000 people participated in culture and arts activities, twice as many as in 2003-04.
As Belfast becomes more prosperous and its citizens have more disposable income, culture and the arts are becoming economically important to the city. Belfast City Council has promoted culture with the goals of encouraging creativity, bringing communities together to facilitate reconciliation, and creating new jobs. In 2004-05 culture and arts initiatives created the equivalent of 413 full time jobs (37% more than the previous year).
A combination of relative peace, international investment and an active promotion of arts and culture is attracting more tourists to Belfast than ever before. 5.9 million people visited Belfast in 2004-05 (up 10% from the previous year) and spent £262.5 million.
Festivals
Féile an PhobailFeile an Phobail
Féile an Phobail , also known as the West Belfast Festival is a community arts organisation known for its August Féile . The organisation is prominent for its promotion of Irish and international culture...
is Belfast's largest festival and one of the biggest community festivals in Europe. It hosts an annual Summer-time festival of Irish and International culture that takes place in and around the Falls Road in Belfast
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...
as well as smaller festivals throughout the year, such as Féile an Earraigh, the Spring festival. It has hosted the likes of Altan, Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh
Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh
Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh is an Irish fiddler and the lead vocalist for the Irish traditional band Altan.-Biography:Ní Mhaonaigh grew up in Gweedore , County Donegal, on the northwest coast of Ireland....
, Westlife
Westlife
Westlife are an Irish boy band established on 3 July 1998. They are to disband in 2012. The group's line-up was Nicky Byrne, Kian Egan, Mark Feehily, Shane Filan, and Brian McFadden . The group are the only act in British and Irish history to have their first seven singles peak at number one...
and Girls Aloud
Girls Aloud
Girls Aloud are a British and Irish pop girl group based in London. They were created through the ITV1 talent show Popstars The Rivals in 2002. The group consists of Cheryl Cole , Nadine Coyle, Sarah Harding, Nicola Roberts and Kimberley Walsh. They are signed to Fascination Records, a Polydor...
and also hosts political discussions and debates with international guests.
Queens University hosts the annual international Belfast Festival. The Festival covers all art forms including theatre, dance, classical music, literature, jazz, comedy, visual arts, folk music and popular music, and attracting over 50,000 visitors, making it the largest of its kind in Ireland. 2007 will see the 45th anniversary of the festival.
Tennents ViTal
Tennents ViTal
Tennent's ViTal is an annual music festival in Northern Ireland. It was first held near Botanic Gardens in 2002 then later moved to Ormeau Park in 2007, both of these venues were in Belfast...
is popular festival
Festival
A festival or gala is an event, usually and ordinarily staged by a local community, which centers on and celebrates some unique aspect of that community and the Festival....
held in Botanic Gardens
Belfast Botanic Gardens
Belfast Botanic Gardens is a public park in Belfast, Northern Ireland.Occupying of south Belfast, the gardens are popular with office workers, students and tourists. They are located on Stranmillis Road in Belfast's university area, with Queen's University nearby...
in August each year.
Belsonic is another annual August music festival held in Custom House Square in the Laganside area.
Performance arts and film
Belfast has one major theatre, The LyricLyric Players' Theatre
The Lyric Players' Theatre, more commonly known as The Lyric Theatre, or simply The Lyric, is the main full-time producing theatre in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The theatre was first established as the Lyric Players in 1951 at the home of its founders Mary and Pearse O’Malley in Derryvolgie Ave.,...
. It is the only full-time producing theatre in the country. The Lyric theatre is where film star Liam Neeson
Liam Neeson
Liam John Neeson, OBE is an Irish actor who has been nominated for an Oscar, a BAFTA and three Golden Globe Awards.He has starred in a number of notable roles including Oskar Schindler in Schindler's List, Michael Collins in Michael Collins, Peyton Westlake in Darkman, Jean Valjean in Les...
began his career and local playwrights Martin Lynch and Marie Jones have both written plays for the theatre. Kenneth Branagh
Kenneth Branagh
Kenneth Charles Branagh is an actor and film director from Northern Ireland. He is best known for directing and starring in several film adaptations of William Shakespeare's plays including Henry V , Much Ado About Nothing , Hamlet Kenneth Charles Branagh is an actor and film director from...
, another British film actor, was also born in Belfast. The Old Museum Arts Centre is a 19th-century building in the city centre which runs a programme of music, theatre, comedy, dance workshops, and a ground floor art gallery with regular exhibitions.
Grand Opera House (Belfast)
The Grand Opera House is a theatre in Belfast, Northern Ireland, designed by the most prolific theatre architect of the period, Frank Matcham. It opened on 23 December 1895....
, completed in 1895, was bombed several times during the Troubles
The 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...
but has been restored to its former glory. The Ulster Hall
Ulster Hall
The Ulster Hall is a concert hall and grade B1 listed building in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Situated on Bedford Street in Belfast city centre, the hall hosts concerts, classical recitals, craft fairs and political party conferences...
(1859–1862) was originally designed for grand dances but is now used primarily as a concert and sporting venue. Lloyd George
David Lloyd George
David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor OM, PC was a British Liberal politician and statesman...
, Parnell
Charles Stewart Parnell
Charles Stewart Parnell was an Irish landowner, nationalist political leader, land reform agitator, and the founder and leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party...
and Patrick Pearse
Patrick Pearse
Patrick Henry Pearse was an Irish teacher, barrister, poet, writer, nationalist and political activist who was one of the leaders of the Easter Rising in 1916...
all attended political rallies there. It holds 13 paintings of Belfast History. The Mulholland organ costing 3000 guineas was donated and named after a local wealthy industrialist. The Waterfront Hall
Waterfront Hall
The Waterfront Hall is a multi-purpose facility, in Belfast, Northern Ireland, designed by local architects' firm Robinson McIlwaine. Practice partner Peter McGukin was the project architect....
was opened in 1997 as part of the redevelopment of the Laganside and already has become an icon of modern Belfast.
The Belfast Film Festival
Belfast Film Festival
Founded in 1995 by author Laurence McKeown, in its early stages of development the West Belfast Film Festival was part of Féile an Phobail. In its third and fourth year, it was autonomous and under the stewardship of Michele Devlin and Laurence McKeown, the Film Festival ran as a citywide event...
is a growing annual film festival
Film festival
A film festival is an organised, extended presentation of films in one or more movie theaters or screening venues, usually in a single locality. More and more often film festivals show part of their films to the public by adding outdoor movie screenings...
in the city which started in the mid 1990s. Belfast has been taking full advantage of a new tax deal which makes Northern Ireland more attractive as a film location. Hollywood actress, Heather Graham was recently in the city shooting a new film.
Parts of the recent film "Closing the Ring" were shot in Belfast, namely on Cave Hill.
Visual arts
Belfast has produced some significant artists. Sir John LaveryJohn Lavery
Sir John Lavery was an Irish painter best known for his portraits.Belfast-born John Lavery attended the Haldane Academy, in Glasgow, in the 1870s and the Académie Julian in Paris in the early 1880s. He returned to Glasgow and was associated with the Glasgow School...
(1856–1941) was best known for his portraits of rich and famous of his day, while William Conor
William Conor
William Conor OBE was a Belfast, Northern Ireland born artist.Celebrated for his warm and sympathetic portrayals of working-class life in Ulster, William Conor studied at the Government School of Design in Belfast in the 1890s...
(1881–1968) and Paul Henry
Paul Henry (painter)
Paul Henry was a Northern Irish artist noted for depicting the west of Ireland landscape with a spare post-impressionist style....
changed how the rest of the world viewed Ireland at the time. Belfast has numerous art galleries including Catalyst Arts
Catalyst Arts
Catalyst Arts is Belfast's primary non-profit artist led organisation.Catalyst Arts was formed in 1993 in response to what was seen as a cultural vacuum...
and the photography gallery Belfast Exposed
Belfast Exposed
Belfast Exposed was Northern Ireland's first dedicated photographic gallery. Established in Belfast in 1983, it houses a 20×7 m gallery for the exhibition of contemporary photography, digital archive browsing facilities, a spacious black-and-white photographic darkroom and a digital editing suite...
and is home to the photography magazine Source
Source (photography magazine)
Source is a quarterly photography magazine published in Belfast. It is distributed throughout the UK, Ireland and internationally. It is the longest running photographic review in the UK since the closing of in 2001 and is comparable to other international photography titles such as Aperture in...
. The University of Ulster's
University of Ulster
The University of Ulster is a multi-campus, co-educational university located in Northern Ireland. It is the largest single university in Ireland, discounting the federal National University of Ireland...
Art and Design Campus in Belfast's Cathedral Quarter
Cathedral Quarter, Belfast
The Cathedral Quarter in Belfast, Northern Ireland is a developing area of the city, roughly situated between Royal Avenue near where the Belfast Central Library building is, and the Dunbar Link in the city centre. From one of its corners, the junction of Royal Avenue, Donegall Street and York...
is planned to undergo a £30 million development programme.
Northern Irish murals
Murals in Northern Ireland have become symbols of Northern Ireland, depicting the region's past and present political and religious divisions.Northern Ireland contains arguably the most famous political murals. Almost 2,000 murals have been documented in Northern Ireland since the 1970s...
, political street art reflecting the political and religious allegiances of the communities living there. Areas such as the Shankill Road contain murals that are almost entirely Protestant, depicting republican violence, loyalty to the British Crown, the Ulster Volunteer Force and 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"...
. Conversely, murals in areas such as the Falls Road, which is almost entirely Roman Catholic, feature political themes such as a united Ireland
United Ireland
A united Ireland is the term used to refer to the idea of a sovereign state which covers all of the thirty-two traditional counties of Ireland. The island of Ireland includes the territory of two independent sovereign states: the Republic of Ireland, which covers 26 counties of the island, and the...
and the Provisional IRA, as well as traditional folklore and the Irish language
Irish language
Irish , also known as Irish Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family, originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish people. Irish is now spoken as a first language by a minority of Irish people, as well as being a second language of a larger proportion of...
. The Gaelic
Irish mythology
The mythology of pre-Christian Ireland did not entirely survive the conversion to Christianity, but much of it was preserved, shorn of its religious meanings, in medieval Irish literature, which represents the most extensive and best preserved of all the branch and the Historical Cycle. There are...
folk hero Cúchulainn
Cúchulainn
Cú Chulainn or Cúchulainn , and sometimes known in English as Cuhullin , is an Irish mythological hero who appears in the stories of the Ulster Cycle, as well as in Scottish and Manx folklore...
has appeared on both republican and loyalist murals, representing the heroic Celtic past for the former and legendary battles between Ulster and the other provinces for the latter. In recent years some paramilitary murals have been replaced, in both loyalist and republican areas, with less controversial images. These include murals to the writer C. S. Lewis
C. S. Lewis
Clive Staples Lewis , commonly referred to as C. S. Lewis and known to his friends and family as "Jack", was a novelist, academic, medievalist, literary critic, essayist, lay theologian and Christian apologist from Belfast, Ireland...
and the late Belfast footballer George Best
George Best
George Best was a professional footballer from Northern Ireland, who played for Manchester United and the Northern Ireland national team. He was a winger whose game combined pace, acceleration, balance, two-footedness, goalscoring and the ability to beat defenders...
.
Folk art
Folk art encompasses art produced from an indigenous culture or by peasants or other laboring tradespeople. In contrast to fine art, folk art is primarily utilitarian and decorative rather than purely aesthetic....
is banners
Banners in Northern Ireland
Banners are a significant part of the Culture of Northern Ireland, particularly for the Protestant/unionist community, and one of the region's most prominent types of folk art. They are typically carried in parades such as those held on the Twelfth of July, Saint Patrick's Day and other times...
for societies such as the Orange Order, the Ancient Order of Hibernians
Ancient Order of Hibernians
The Ancient Order of Hibernians is an Irish Catholic fraternal organization. Members must be Catholic and either Irish born or of Irish descent. Its largest membership is now in the United States, where it was founded in New York City in 1836...
, the Apprentice Boys of Derry
Apprentice Boys of Derry
The Apprentice Boys of Derry is a Protestant fraternal society with a worldwide membership of over 80,000, founded in 1814. They are based in the city of Derry, Northern Ireland. However, there are Clubs and branches across Ireland, Great Britain and further afield...
, and the Royal Black Institution. These are typically painted on silk and are carried in annual parades such as those on Saint Patrick's Day
Saint Patrick's Day
Saint Patrick's Day is a religious holiday celebrated internationally on 17 March. It commemorates Saint Patrick , the most commonly recognised of the patron saints of :Ireland, and the arrival of Christianity in Ireland. It is observed by the Catholic Church, the Anglican Communion , the Eastern...
and the Twelfth of July. While wall murals tend to be of mixed artistic quality, banners are usually painted by professionals and are of a high standard. Because marching
Marching
See also: Loaded marchMarching refers to the organized, uniformed, steady and rhythmic walking forward, usually associated with military troops.Marching is often performed to march music, and often associated with military parades....
plays a much bigger role in Northern Irish Protestant culture than Catholic, the majority of banners depict Protestant, unionist or loyalist subjects. Of these the most common is William III of England
William III of England
William III & II was a sovereign Prince of Orange of the House of Orange-Nassau by birth. From 1672 he governed as Stadtholder William III of Orange over Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel of the Dutch Republic. From 1689 he reigned as William III over England and Ireland...
, whose victory in the Battle of the Boyne
Battle of the Boyne
The Battle of the Boyne was fought in 1690 between two rival claimants of the English, Scottish and Irish thronesthe Catholic King James and the Protestant King William across the River Boyne near Drogheda on the east coast of Ireland...
is celebrated each year on 12 July. In addition to 'King Billy', Orange Order banners can depict a wide variety of other subjects, including the Crown and Bible; Biblical scenes; scenes from Ulster-related history including the Battle of the Somme; local landmarks; Britannia
Britannia
Britannia is an ancient term for Great Britain, and also a female personification of the island. The name is Latin, and derives from the Greek form Prettanike or Brettaniai, which originally designated a collection of islands with individual names, including Albion or Great Britain. However, by the...
; and deceased members of the Order. Apprentice Boys' banners typically depict scenes from the Siege of Derry
Siege of Derry
The Siege of Derry took place in Ireland from 18 April to 28 July 1689, during the Williamite War in Ireland. The city, a Williamite stronghold, was besieged by a Jacobite army until it was relieved by Royal Navy ships...
but can also show other unionist topics or deceased members of the organisation. The banners of the Royal Black Institution mostly show Biblical scenes. Catholic banners, also depict a variety of subjects, with Hibernia
Hibernia
Hibernia is the Classical Latin name for the island of Ireland. The name Hibernia was taken from Greek geographical accounts. During his exploration of northwest Europe , Pytheas of Massilia called the island Ierne . In his book Geographia Hibernia is the Classical Latin name for the island of...
(the Irish equivalent of Britannia); Saint Patrick
Saint Patrick
Saint Patrick was a Romano-Briton and Christian missionary, who is the most generally recognized patron saint of Ireland or the Apostle of Ireland, although Brigid of Kildare and Colmcille are also formally patron saints....
; and various nationalist heroes being popular. Trade union
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
s in Northern Ireland sometimes also march with banners.
Music
In recent years, the development of world class venues like the Waterfront Hall and the Odyssey has meant that Belfast now regularly attracts big name stars who previously would have played in Dublin or GlasgowGlasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
.
Van Morrison
Van Morrison
Van Morrison, OBE is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician. His live performances at their best are regarded as transcendental and inspired; while some of his recordings, such as the studio albums Astral Weeks and Moondance, and the live album It's Too Late to Stop Now, are widely...
, one of the most influential vocalists in Rock and Roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
history was born and grew up in Belfast. His prolific and ongoing career spans over five decades. Belfast is also home to Brian Kennedy
Brian Kennedy (singer)
Brian Edward Patrick Kennedy is an Irish singer-songwriter and author, known for his ballads, and has represented Ireland at Eurovision 2006. He is the younger brother of musician Bap Kennedy.-Personal life:...
, a popular singer-songwriter, and the punk group Stiff Little Fingers
Stiff Little Fingers
Stiff Little Fingers are a punk rock band from Belfast, Northern Ireland. They formed in 1977, at the height of the Troubles. They started out as a schoolboy band called Highway Star , doing rock covers, until they discovered punk. They split up after six years and four albums, although they...
. Derry
Derry
Derry or Londonderry is the second-biggest city in Northern Ireland and the fourth-biggest city on the island of Ireland. The name Derry is an anglicisation of the Irish name Doire or Doire Cholmcille meaning "oak-wood of Colmcille"...
rockers, The Undertones were regular visitors to the University of Ulster's student union building. They made their name when Belfast record shop owner Terry Hooley released the Teenage Kicks EP on his Good Vibrations label in September 1978. Belfast has a growing club scene. David Holmes
David Holmes (musician)
David Holmes is a Northern Irish DJ, musician and composer.-Career:Holmes began djing in Belfast from the age of 15. His first hit was the song "DeNiro", with Ashley Beedle, in 1992. In the early to mid 1990s he ran two club nights in the Belfast Art College known as Sugar Sweet and Shake Yer Brain...
has represented the city as a DJ, musician and composer and Colin Murray
Colin Murray
Colin Murray is a Northern Irish sports and music radio and television presenter. He is the current host of the BBC Television show Match of the Day 2 on BBC Two, and the BBC Radio 5 Live shows 5 Live Sport and Fighting Talk, as well as a show on BBC Radio Ulster. He has previously hosted regular...
is a regular DJ on BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation which also broadcasts internationally, specialising in current popular music and chart hits throughout the day. Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7:00pm including electronic dance, hip hop, rock...
.
In the classical arena, the Ulster Orchestra
Ulster Orchestra
The Ulster Orchestra is a symphony orchestra based in Belfast, the only full-time professional orchestra in Northern Ireland. The orchestra plays the majority of its concerts in Belfast's Ulster Hall and Waterfront Hall...
, Northern Ireland's only professional symphony orchestra, marks its 40th anniversary in 2007.
Belfast musicians, Sir James Galway
James Galway
- External links : IMGArtists.com 15 September 2008. AllAboutJazz.com 5 August 2008.*...
, The Man With the Golden Flute and Barry Douglas
Barry Douglas
Barry Douglas OBE is a classical pianist and conductor. He studied piano, cello, clarinet and organ while growing up in Belfast. He first studied in Belfast while attending Methodist College Belfast and, at 16, had lessons with Felicitas LeWinter, a pupil of Emil von Sauer and grand-pupil of...
, a classical pianist have both made an impact on the world stage.
Also the band Snow Patrol made their song "Take back the city tonight" which was inspired by the city of Belfast. They lived not far away in the town of Bangor
Literature
Belfast has been home to a number of significant, novelists, poets and playwrights. C. S. LewisC. S. Lewis
Clive Staples Lewis , commonly referred to as C. S. Lewis and known to his friends and family as "Jack", was a novelist, academic, medievalist, literary critic, essayist, lay theologian and Christian apologist from Belfast, Ireland...
, author of The Chronicles of Narnia
The Chronicles of Narnia
The Chronicles of Narnia is a series of seven fantasy novels for children by C. S. Lewis. It is considered a classic of children's literature and is the author's best-known work, having sold over 100 million copies in 47 languages...
, was born in Belfast
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...
as were Brian Moore
Brian Moore (novelist)
Brian Moore was a Northern Irish novelist and screenwriter who emigrated to Canada and later lived in the United States. He was acclaimed for the descriptions in his novels of life in Northern Ireland after the Second World War, in particular his explorations of the inter-communal divisions of The...
, Bernard MacLaverty
Bernard MacLaverty
Bernard MacLaverty is a writer of fiction. He was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, on 14 September 1942, and lived there until 1975 when he moved to Scotland with his wife, Madeline, and four children...
, Glenn Patterson
Glenn Patterson
Glenn Patterson, born in Belfast in 1961, is a novelist.He attended Methodist College Belfast. He graduated from the University of East Anglia where he studied Creative Writing under Malcolm Bradbury...
and Robert McLiam Wilson
Robert McLiam Wilson
Robert McLiam Wilson is a Northern Irish novelist. He attended St Malachy's College and studied at University of Cambridge; however, he dropped out and, for a short time, was homeless. This period of his life profoundly affected his later life and influenced his works...
. Poet Louis MacNeice
Louis MacNeice
Frederick Louis MacNeice CBE was an Irish poet and playwright. He was part of the generation of "thirties poets" which included W. H. Auden, Stephen Spender and Cecil Day-Lewis; nicknamed "MacSpaunday" as a group — a name invented by Roy Campbell, in his Talking Bronco...
was born in the city. Seamus Heaney
Seamus Heaney
Seamus Heaney is an Irish poet, writer and lecturer. He lives in Dublin. Heaney has received the Nobel Prize in Literature , the Golden Wreath of Poetry , T. S. Eliot Prize and two Whitbread prizes...
, Paul Muldoon
Paul Muldoon
Paul Muldoon is an Irish poet. He has published over thirty collections and won a Pulitzer Prize for Poetry and the T. S. Eliot Prize. He held the post of Oxford Professor of Poetry from 1999 - 2004. At Princeton University he is both the Howard G. B. Clark ’21 Professor in the Humanities and...
, Michael Longley
Michael Longley
Michael Longley, CBE is a Northern Irish poet from Belfast.-Life and career:Longley was educated at the Royal Belfast Academical Institution and subsequently read Classics at Trinity College, Dublin, where he edited Icarus...
and Ciarán Carson
Ciaran Carson
Ciaran Gerard Carson is a Belfast, Northern Ireland-born poet and novelist.-Early years:Ciaran Carson was born in Belfast into an Irish-speaking family...
were poet participants in The Belfast Group
The Belfast Group
The Belfast Group was a poets' workshop which was organized by Philip Hobsbaum when he moved to Belfast in October 1963 to lecture in English at Queen's University....
. Contemporary poets writing in and about Belfast would include Leontia Flynn
Leontia Flynn
Leontia Flynn is an Irish poet born in Downpatrick, Northern Ireland. Flynn grew up in Ballyloughlin, south County Down, between the towns of Newcastle and Dundrum, very close to the well known Murlough Nature Reserve...
, Medbh McGuckian
Medbh McGuckian
Medbh McGuckian is a poet from Northern Ireland.-Biography:She was born the third of six children as Maeve McCaughan to Hugh and Margaret McCaughan in North Belfast. Her father was a school headmaster and her mother an influential art and music enthusiast...
and Sinéad Morrissey
Sinead Morrissey
Sinéad Morrissey is a poet from Northern Ireland.-Life:Raised in Belfast, she was educated at Trinity College, Dublin, where she took BA and PhD degrees, and won the Patrick Kavanagh Poetry Award in 1990...
.
See also
- Culture of Northern IrelandCulture of Northern IrelandThe culture of Northern Ireland relates to the traditions of Northern Ireland and its resident communities.Elements of the culture of Ireland, the culture of Ulster and the culture of the United Kingdom are to be found.-Heritage:...
- Culture of IrelandCulture of IrelandThis article is about the modern culture of Ireland and the Irish people. It includes customs and traditions, language, music, art, literature, folklore, cuisine and sport associated with Ireland and Irish people today. However, the culture of the people living in Ireland is not homogeneous...
- Culture of the United KingdomCulture of the United KingdomThe culture of the United Kingdom refers to the patterns of human activity and symbolism associated with the United Kingdom and its people. It is informed by the UK's history as a developed island country, major power, and its composition of four countries—England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and...
- Notable Belfast peopleNotable Belfast People-Arts:* Derek Bell , harpist and composer.* Duke Special, musician.* James Bingham -Arts:* Derek Bell (1935 - 2002), harpist and composer.* Duke Special, musician.* James Bingham -Arts:* Derek Bell (1935 - 2002), harpist and composer.* Duke Special, musician.* James Bingham (b. 1925, artist.*...