Shankill Road, Belfast
Encyclopedia
The Shankill Road is the arterial road leading through a predominantly loyalist
working-class
area of Belfast
, Northern Ireland
, known as the Shankill. The road stretches westwards for approximately 2.4 km (1.5 mi) from central Belfast and is lined, to an extent, by shops. The residents live in the many streets which branch off the main road. Much of the area along the Shankill Road forms the five wards of Court district electoral area
.
A settlement around the point at which the Shankill Road becomes the Woodvale Road, at the junction with Cambrai Street, was known as Shankill from the Irish
Seanchill meaning 'old church'. Believed to date back to 455AD, it was known as the "Church of St Patrick of the White Ford" and in time had six smaller churches, known as "alterages", attached to it across the west bank of the River Lagan
. As a paved road the Shankill dates back to around the sixteenth century as at the time it was part of the main road to Antrim
, a role now filled by the A6
.
The area expanded greatly in the mid to late 19th century with the growth of the linen
industry. Many of the streets in the Shankill area, such as Leopold Street, Cambrai
Street and Brussels Street, were named after places and people connected with Belgium
or Flanders
, where the flax from which the linen was woven was grown. The linen industry, along with others that had previously been successful in the area, declined in the mid-20th century leading to high unemployment
levels, which remain at the present time. The Harland and Wolff
shipyard, although on the other side of Belfast, was also a traditional employer in the area. It too has seen its workforce numbers decline in recent years.
The area was also a regular scene of rioting in the nineteenth century, often of a sectarian nature after Catholic areas on the Falls Road and Ardoyne
emerged. One such riot occurred on 9 June 1886 following the defeat of the Government of Ireland Bill 1886 when a crowd of around 2000 locals clashed with Royal Irish Constabulary
police attmpeting to stop the mob form looting a liquor store. Local law enforcement officers had to barricade themselves in Bower's Hill barracks where a long siege followed. Bower's Hill was a name applied to the area of the road between Agnes Street and Crimea Street.
The West Belfast Division of the original Ulster Volunteer Force organised on the Shankill and drilled in Glencairn and many of its members saw service in the First World War with the 36th (Ulster) Division. A garden of remembrance beside the graveyard and a mural on Conway Street commemorate those who fought in the war. Recruitment was also high during the Second World War although that conflict saw damage occur to the Shankill Road as part of the Belfast Blitz
when a Luftwaffe
bomb hit a shelter on Percy Street. The site of the destruction was visited by the Duke
and Duchess of Gloucester
soon after the attack.
, the Greater Shankill and its residents were subjected to a number of bombings and shootings by Irish republican paramilitary forces. During 1971 two pub bombings took place on the Shankill, one in May at the Mountainview Tavern at which several people were injured and a second at the Four Step Inn in September which resulted in two deaths. A further bomb exploded at the Balmoral Furnishing Company on 11 December that same year, resulting in four deaths, including two infants. Another pub attack followed on 13 August 1975 when the IRA opened fire on patrons outside the Bayardo Bar
and then left a bomb inside the crowded bar area, killing four civilians and one UVF member. Brendan McFarlane
was given a life sentence for his part in the attack. The most devastating attack is generally known as the Shankill Road bombing
. On the afternoon of Saturday, 23 October 1993, a bomb exploded in Frizzells Fish Shop. The IRA claimed they were targeting a Loyalist meeting above the fish shop when the bomb exploded prematurely as it was being planted; nine people were killed in addition to one of the bombers, Thomas Begley. Begley's accomplice Sean Kelly survived, and was imprisoned.
The Shankill was also a centre for loyalist paramilitarism. The modern Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) had its genesis on the Shankill and its first attack occurred on the road on 7 May 1966 when a group of UVF men led by Gusty Spence
petrol bombed a Catholic-owned pub. Fire also engulfed the house next door, killing the elderly Protestant widow, Matilda Gould (77), who lived there. This was followed on 27 May by the murder of Catholic John Scullion (28) as he walked home. and on 26 June another Catholic civilian, Peter Ward (18), was killed and two others wounded as they left a pub on the Shankill's Malvern Street. Shortly after this attack, Spence and three others were arrested and later convicted. The UVF would continue to be active on the Shankill throughout the Troubles, most notoriously with the Shankill Butchers
led by Lenny Murphy
, as well as the likes of William Marchant
and Frankie Curry
, the latter a member of the UVF's elite Red Hand Commando.
Similarly the Ulster Defence Association
, established in September 1971, also began on the Shankill when vigilante groups such John McKeague
's Shankill Defence Association
and the Woodvale Defence Association
merged into a larger structure. Under the leadership of initially Charles Harding Smith
and later Andy Tyrie
the Shankill Road became the centre of UDA activity with the movement establishing its headquarters on the road and leading members such as James Craig
, Davy Payne
and Tommy Lyttle
making their homes in the area. The Shankill was covered by the West Belfast Battalion of the UDA which was divided into three companies A (Glencairn and Highfield), B (middle Shankill) and C (lower Shankill). During the 1990s C Company under Johnny Adair
became one of the most active units in the UDA with gunmen such as Stephen McKeag
responsible for several murders. C Company would later feud
with both the UVF and the rest of the UDA until 2003 when they were forced out. Following the exile of Adair and his supporters, as well as the murder of some such as William "Buckie" McCullough, the lower Shankill UDA was once again brought into line with the rest of the movement under former Adair supporter Mo Courtney
.
As the district is located between the Falls Road at one end and Ardoyne at the other, local residents (as well as their nationalist neighbours) found themselves as, generally unwilling, targets for crossfire as both sets of paramilitaries attacked each other and each other's communities.
and quickly merges into the Shankill itself at the Westlink. Peter's Hill is adjacent to the Unity Flats/Carrick Hill, a small nationalist area to the north of the city centre. The area of housing on the lower Shankill around Agnes Street was known colloqially as "The Hammer", one of a number of nicknames applied to districts that included "the Nick". The Hammer name is recalled in the Hammer Sports Complex, the home ground of amateur football side Shankill United F.C.
The Lower Shankill has been redeveloped in recent years although during the 1960s the housing was ranked as the worst in Belfast. A Lower Shankill Community Association is active in the area whilst the Shankill Leisure Centre is also located here. The Shankill Women' s Centre, a women's educational initiative established by May Blood
(now Baroness Blood) in 1987, is also located on the lower Shankill. George McWhirter
, a writer and first Poet Laureate of Vancouver
, B.C., Canada
, also came from the area originally.
Several streets link the Shankill Road to the neighbouring Crumlin Road
with the area around North Boundary Street formerly the stronghold of Johnny Adair's C Company. Several members of C Company who have died are commemorated on murals around the area, notably Stephen McKeag, William "Bucky" McCullough, who was killed by the Irish National Liberation Army
(INLA) in 1981 as part of a series of tit for tat murders between that group and the UDA and Jackie Coulter, killed by the UVF during a loyalist feud
in 2000. The Shankill theoretically links to the neighbouring Falls Road at a few locations although most of these exits are blocked by peace lines
. The entrance at Northumberland Street is sometimes open although it has lockable gates at the mid-point.
churches are situated in this area including the West Kirk Presbyterian Church
, the Shankill Methodist church and the independent Church of God.
The West Belfast Orange Hall is located near the top of the Road. This building, which houses the No. 9 District Orange Lodge, has been revamped by Belfast City Council
. The same is true of the nearby Shankill Cemetery, a small graveyard that has received burials for around 1000 years. The graveyard is noted for a statue of Queen Victoria as well as the adjacent memorial to the members of the 36th Ulster Division who died at the Battle of the Somme. Amongst those buried in the graveyard is Rev Isaac Nelson
, a Presbyterian minister who was also active in nationalist politics. Nelson lived at Sugarfield House on the Shankill, which has since given its name to Sugarfield Street. Also buried here is 2nd Private W.A. Sterling, killed in action with the Royal Air Force
on 5 November 1918 at the age of 14.
The area includes Lanark Way, one of the few direct links to the neighbouring nationalist areas, which leads directly to the Springfield Road. A regular route for UDA gunmen seeking access to the Falls during the Troubles, it was dubbed the "Yellow Brick Road" by Stephen McKeag and his men.
Also found locally is St. Matthew's Church of Ireland
, which was rebuilt in 1872, taking its name from the original church which had sat in the grounds of the graveyard. The architecture of this church is called trefoil
, which means it is built in the shape of a shamrock
. The shamrock is the national emblem of Ireland
and was supposedly used by St. Patrick, the patron saint
of Ireland to explain the Holy Trinity of Father
, Son
and Holy Ghost. There is a book about the church which says that St. Matthew's is actually a copy of a church in Salonika, as the rounded "leaves" do not have the indentations of the leaves of the shamrock. The water in the stone outside the front door was thought to cure warts and, certainly up to the 1990s, was considered to cure colic if a new, open, safety pin was thrown in. The oldest stone in the Shankill graveyard was known locally as the "Bullaun Stone" and was traditionally said to cure warts if the effected area was rubbed on the stone. It was removed to the grounds of St Matthews in 1911.
Mountain. Previously the estate of the Cunningham family the area was open to the public in 1962. The park features Fernhill House, the ancestral family home, which was not only used by Edward Carson to drill his Ulster Volunteers but was also the setting for the announcement of the Combined Loyalist Military Command
(CLMC) ceasefire on 13 October 1994. It subsequently became a museum but closed down in late 2010-early 2011. The Ballygomartin Road extends as far as the nationalist Upper Whiterock Road although after Springmartin the area is mainly countryside.
tension. As a consequence the Springmartin Road is home to an 18 feet (5.5 m) peace line that runs for the length of the road from the junction with the Springfield Road until near that with the Ballygomartin Road.
, albeit with some strength also held by the labour movement. Belfast Shankill
was established as a constituency of the Parliament of Northern Ireland
in 1929 and existed until the body was abolished in 1973. During that time the seat was held by three men, Tommy Henderson
(1929–1953), Henry Holmes
(1953–1960) and Desmond Boal
(1960–1973). Of these only Holmes belonged to the mainstream Ulster Unionist Party
for the entirety of his career with Boal a sometime member who also designated as both independent Unionist
and Democratic Unionist Party
and Henderson always and independent who for a time was part of the Independent Unionist Association
. Henderson was a native of Dundee Street on the Shankill. A Belfast Shankill constituency
also returned a member to the Parliament of the United Kingdom
from 1918–1922, with Labour Unionist Samuel McGuffin
holding the seat. Further up the road there was also a Belfast Woodvale
seat at Westminster and a seat of the same name
at Stormont. Robert John Lynn of the Irish Unionist Alliance represented the seat at Westminster for the entirety of its existence (1918-1922). The Stormont seat was held by John William Nixon
(independent Unionist) from 1929 to 1950, Ulster Unionists Robert Harcourt
(1950-1955) and Neville Martin
(1955-1958), Billy Boyd
of the Northern Ireland Labour Party
until 1965 then finally John McQuade
, who was variously Ulster Unionist, independent Unionist and Democratic Unionist until the seat was abolished in 1972.
The Shankill is currently part of the Belfast West
constituencies for the Northern Ireland Assembly
and Westminster
. As a consequnce the Shankill is represented by five Sinn Féin
MLAs and one from the Social Democratic and Labour Party
whilst from 1966, when the seat was lost by the last sitting unionist member Jim Kilfedder, it has also always had a nationalist or republican MP. The abstentionist policy of Sinn Féin MP Gerry Adams
, who was West Belfast's MP until his resignation in 2011, led to an attempted legal challenge by local councillor Frank McCoubrey
who argued that Shankill residents were being denied their right to representation. The case was not a success.
On Belfast City Council
the Greater Shankill area is covered by the Court electoral area. At the 2011 election
the five councillors elected were William Humphrey, Naomi Thompson and Brian Kingston of the Democratic Unionist Party, the independent Frank McCoubrey (who is a member of the Ulster Political Research Group
and the Progressive Unionist Party
's Hugh Smyth
.
Robert McCartney
, who led his own UK Unionist Party
and represented North Down
at Westminster, is also originally from the Shankill.
, a gold medalist at the Commonwealth Games
and a world champion in the Bantamweight division is a native of the Shankill. He is one of a number of boxers from the area to be featured on a mural on Gardiner Street celebrating the area's strong heritage in boxing
. The image has since been moved to Hopewell Crescent. McCullough trained in the Albert Foundry boxing club, located in the Highfield estate where he grew up. Other locals to make an impact in the sport have included Jimmy Warnock
, a boxer from the 1930s who beat world champion Benny Lynch
twice, and his brother Billy.
Football is also a popular sport in the area with local teams including Shankill United, Albert Foundry
, who play on the West Circular Road, Lower Shankill, who share the Hammer ground with United and Woodvale who won the Junior Cup in 2011. The main club in the area however is Linfield
with a Linfield superstore trading on the Shankill Road despite the club being based on the Lisburn Road
in south Belfast. A Linfield Supporters and Social Club is situated on Crime Street. An Ulster Rangers
club is also open on the road, with the Glasgow
club widely supported amongst Northern Irish Protestants. Norman Whiteside
, the ex Northern Ireland
and Manchester United midfielder, lived on the Shankill. Whiteside also lends his name to the Norman Whiteside Sports Facility, a community sports area used by Woodvale F.C. The facility is located on Sydney Street West between the Shankill and the neighbouring Crumlin Road.
The Ballygomartin Road is also home to a cricket
ground of the same name
which in 2005 hosted a List-A match between Canada and Namibia
in the 2005 ICC Trophy
. The ground is the home of Woodvale Cricket Club
, established in 1887.
and Belfast Model School for Girls
due to their location in the Ballysillan area of the neighbouring Crumlin Road
. Pupils from the area also attend Hazelwood College or Malone College
which are both integrated schools, as well as Victoria College
and the Royal Belfast Academical Institution
both of which are grammar schools. Prior to its closure, and before several changes of name, Cairnmartin Secondary School also served the greater Shankill area. Famous pupils include footballer Norman Whiteside
and boxer Wayne McCullough
. The school, by then known as Mount Gilbert Community College
, closed permanently in 2007 after a fall in pupil numbers.
Primary schools in the greater Shankill area included Forth River Primary School on the Ballygomartin Road. Established in 1841, the original building was cramped and inspection reports over the years commented on the high standard of teaching despite the inadequacy of the building. During the 1980s and 1990s, closure and amalgamation were both suggested and vehemently opposed by everyone connected with the school. Ultimately a new £1.4m state-of-the-art school was announced as a replacement for the old building and this new school, which is on the adjacent Cairnmartin Road, was officially opened by Prince Andrew, Duke of York
in 2005. Others primary schools in the area include three on the Shankill Road itself in Glenwood Primary School, established in 1981, Edenbrooke Primary School on Tennent Street and Malvern Primary School as well as Black Mountain Primary School and Springhill Primary School
on Springmartin Road.
s in the first half of the twentieth century and the Shankill was the last part of the city to see this service removed in the 1950s. Public transport
is now provided by the Metro
arm of Translink
with the Shankill forming the eleventh of the company's twelve corridors. Buses link Belfast City Centre
to the estates at the top of the Shankill as well as the Ballysillan area of the Crumlin Road.
Ulster 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...
working-class
Working class
Working class is a term used in the social sciences and in ordinary conversation to describe those employed in lower tier jobs , often extending to those in unemployment or otherwise possessing below-average incomes...
area of 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...
, 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...
, known as the Shankill. The road stretches westwards for approximately 2.4 km (1.5 mi) from central Belfast and is lined, to an extent, by shops. The residents live in the many streets which branch off the main road. Much of the area along the Shankill Road forms the five wards of Court district electoral area
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...
.
History
The first Shankill residents lived at the bottom of what is now known as Glencairn: a small settlement of ancient people inhabited a ring fort, built where the Ballygomartin and Forth rivers meet.A settlement around the point at which the Shankill Road becomes the Woodvale Road, at the junction with Cambrai Street, was known as Shankill from the Irish
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...
Seanchill meaning 'old church'. Believed to date back to 455AD, it was known as the "Church of St Patrick of the White Ford" and in time had six smaller churches, known as "alterages", attached to it across the west bank of the River Lagan
Lagan
Lagan may refer to:*River Lagan, river in Northern Ireland**Laganside Corporation, public body formed to regenerate the Lagan in Belfast**Lagan College, the first integrated school in Northern Ireland**Lagan Valley, valley in Northern Ireland...
. As a paved road the Shankill dates back to around the sixteenth century as at the time it was part of the main road to Antrim
Antrim, County Antrim
Antrim is a town in County Antrim in the northeast of Northern Ireland, on the banks of the Six Mile Water, half a mile north-east of Lough Neagh. It had a population of 20,001 people in the 2001 Census. The town is the administrative centre of Antrim Borough Council...
, a role now filled by 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...
.
The area expanded greatly in the mid to late 19th century with the growth of the linen
Linen
Linen is a textile made from the fibers of the flax plant, Linum usitatissimum. Linen is labor-intensive to manufacture, but when it is made into garments, it is valued for its exceptional coolness and freshness in hot weather....
industry. Many of the streets in the Shankill area, such as Leopold Street, Cambrai
Cambrai
Cambrai is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department.Cambrai is the seat of an archdiocese whose jurisdiction was immense during the Middle Ages. The territory of the Bishopric of Cambrai, roughly coinciding with the shire of Brabant, included...
Street and Brussels Street, were named after places and people connected with Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
or Flanders
Flanders
Flanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp...
, where the flax from which the linen was woven was grown. The linen industry, along with others that had previously been successful in the area, declined in the mid-20th century leading to high unemployment
Unemployment
Unemployment , as defined by the International Labour Organization, occurs when people are without jobs and they have actively sought work within the past four weeks...
levels, which remain at the present time. The Harland and Wolff
Harland and Wolff
Harland and Wolff Heavy Industries is a Northern Irish heavy industrial company, specialising in shipbuilding and offshore construction, located in Belfast, Northern Ireland....
shipyard, although on the other side of Belfast, was also a traditional employer in the area. It too has seen its workforce numbers decline in recent years.
The area was also a regular scene of rioting in the nineteenth century, often of a sectarian nature after Catholic areas on the Falls Road and 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...
emerged. One such riot occurred on 9 June 1886 following the defeat of the Government of Ireland Bill 1886 when a crowd of around 2000 locals clashed with Royal Irish Constabulary
Royal Irish Constabulary
The armed Royal Irish Constabulary was Ireland's major police force for most of the nineteenth and the early twentieth centuries. A separate civic police force, the unarmed Dublin Metropolitan Police controlled the capital, and the cities of Derry and Belfast, originally with their own police...
police attmpeting to stop the mob form looting a liquor store. Local law enforcement officers had to barricade themselves in Bower's Hill barracks where a long siege followed. Bower's Hill was a name applied to the area of the road between Agnes Street and Crimea Street.
The West Belfast Division of the original Ulster Volunteer Force organised on the Shankill and drilled in Glencairn and many of its members saw service in the First World War with the 36th (Ulster) Division. A garden of remembrance beside the graveyard and a mural on Conway Street commemorate those who fought in the war. Recruitment was also high during the Second World War although that conflict saw damage occur to the Shankill Road as part of the Belfast Blitz
Belfast Blitz
The Belfast Blitz was an event that occurred on the night of Easter Tuesday, 15 April 1941 during World War II. Two hundred bombers of the German Air Force attacked the city of Belfast in Northern Ireland. Nearly one thousand people died as a result of the bombing and 1,500 were injured. In terms...
when a Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe is a generic German term for an air force. It is also the official name for two of the four historic German air forces, the Wehrmacht air arm founded in 1935 and disbanded in 1946; and the current Bundeswehr air arm founded in 1956....
bomb hit a shelter on Percy Street. The site of the destruction was visited by the Duke
Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester
The Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester was a soldier and member of the British Royal Family, the third son of George V of the United Kingdom and Queen Mary....
and Duchess of Gloucester
Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester
Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester was a member of the British Royal Family, the wife and then widow of Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester, the third son of George V and Queen Mary.The daughter of the 7th Duke of Buccleuch & Queensberry, Scotland’s largest landowner, her brothers Walter and...
soon after the attack.
The Troubles
During The 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...
, the Greater Shankill and its residents were subjected to a number of bombings and shootings by Irish republican paramilitary forces. During 1971 two pub bombings took place on the Shankill, one in May at the Mountainview Tavern at which several people were injured and a second at the Four Step Inn in September which resulted in two deaths. A further bomb exploded at the Balmoral Furnishing Company on 11 December that same year, resulting in four deaths, including two infants. Another pub attack followed on 13 August 1975 when the IRA opened fire on patrons outside the Bayardo Bar
Bayardo Bar attack
The Bayardo Bar attack took place on 13 August 1975 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. A unit of the Provisional IRA Belfast Brigade, led by Brendan McFarlane, launched a bombing and shooting attack on the pub on Aberdeen Street , which was frequented by Ulster Volunteer Force members...
and then left a bomb inside the crowded bar area, killing four civilians and one UVF member. Brendan McFarlane
Brendan McFarlane
Brendan "Bik" McFarlane is an Irish republican activist. Born into a Roman Catholic family, he was brought up in the Ardoyne area of north Belfast, Northern Ireland. At 16, he left Belfast to train as a priest in a north Wales seminary...
was given a life sentence for his part in the attack. The most devastating attack is generally known as the Shankill Road bombing
Shankill Road bombing
The Shankill Road bombing was carried out by the Provisional Irish Republican Army on 23 October 1993 and is one of the most notorious incidents of the Troubles in Northern Ireland. The Provisional IRA's intended target was a meeting of loyalist paramilitary leaders, which was to take place above...
. On the afternoon of Saturday, 23 October 1993, a bomb exploded in Frizzells Fish Shop. The IRA claimed they were targeting a Loyalist meeting above the fish shop when the bomb exploded prematurely as it was being planted; nine people were killed in addition to one of the bombers, Thomas Begley. Begley's accomplice Sean Kelly survived, and was imprisoned.
Gusty Spence
Augustus Andrew "Gusty" Spence was a leader of the Ulster Volunteer Force and a leading loyalist politician. One of the first UVF members to be convicted of murder, Spence was a senior figure in the organisation for over a decade but later renounced violence and joined the Progressive Unionist...
petrol bombed a Catholic-owned pub. Fire also engulfed the house next door, killing the elderly Protestant widow, Matilda Gould (77), who lived there. This was followed on 27 May by the murder of Catholic John Scullion (28) as he walked home. and on 26 June another Catholic civilian, Peter Ward (18), was killed and two others wounded as they left a pub on the Shankill's Malvern Street. Shortly after this attack, Spence and three others were arrested and later convicted. The UVF would continue to be active on the Shankill throughout the Troubles, most notoriously with the Shankill Butchers
Shankill Butchers
The Shankill Butchers is the name given to an Ulster loyalist gang, many of whom were members of the Ulster Volunteer Force . The gang conducted paramilitary activities during the 1970s in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It was most notorious for its late-night kidnapping, torture and murder of random...
led by Lenny Murphy
Lenny Murphy
Hugh Leonard Thompson Murphy, who commonly went by the name Lenny , was an Ulster loyalist from Belfast, Northern Ireland. Murphy was a member of the Ulster Volunteer Force and leader of the infamous Shankill Butchers a gang which became notorious for its torture and murder of Catholic men...
, as well as the likes of William Marchant
William Marchant (loyalist)
William "Frenchie" Marchant was a Northern Irish loyalist and a middle-ranking volunteer in the Ulster Volunteer Force . He was on a Garda list of suspects in the 1974 Dublin car bombings which left a total of 26 people dead, and close to 300 injured...
and Frankie Curry
Frankie Curry
Frankie Curry nicknamed "Pigface", was an Ulster loyalist who was involved with a number of paramilitary groups during his long career...
, the latter a member of the UVF's elite Red Hand Commando.
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"...
, established in September 1971, also began on the Shankill when vigilante groups such John McKeague
John McKeague
John McKeague was a prominent Ulster loyalist who founded the paramilitary group the Red Hand Commando in 1972. Authors on the Troubles in Northern Ireland claim that McKeague, a homosexual, was a paedophile who abused young boys during the Kincora Boys' Home scandal and was a long-time agent of...
's Shankill Defence Association
Shankill Defence Association
The Shankill Defence Association was a loyalist vigilante group formed in May 1969 for the defence of the loyalist Shankill Road area of Belfast, Northern Ireland during the communal disturbances that year....
and 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...
merged into a larger structure. Under the leadership of initially Charles Harding Smith
Charles Harding Smith
Charles Harding Smith was a loyalist leader in Northern Ireland and the first effective leader of the Ulster Defence Association...
and later Andy Tyrie
Andy Tyrie
Andrew "Andy" Tyrie is an Ulster loyalist and served as commander of the Ulster Defence Association during much of its early history...
the Shankill Road became the centre of UDA activity with the movement establishing its headquarters on the road and leading members such as 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...
, Davy Payne
Davy Payne
David "Davy" Payne was a senior Northern Irish loyalist and a high-ranking member of the Ulster Defence Association during the Troubles serving as brigadier of the North Belfast Brigade. He was second-in-command of the Shankill Road brigade of the Ulster Freedom Fighters , which was the "cover...
and Tommy Lyttle
Tommy Lyttle
Tommy "Tucker" Lyttle , was a high-ranking Northern Irish loyalist who was a member of the Ulster Defence Association . He served as the UDA's spokesman as well as the leader of the organisation's West Belfast Brigade from 1975 until his arrest and imprisonment in 1990...
making their homes in the area. The Shankill was covered by the West Belfast Battalion of the UDA which was divided into three companies A (Glencairn and Highfield), B (middle Shankill) and C (lower Shankill). During the 1990s C Company under 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...
became one of the most active units in the UDA with gunmen such as 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...
responsible for several murders. C Company would later 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...
with both the UVF and the rest of the UDA until 2003 when they were forced out. Following the exile of Adair and his supporters, as well as the murder of some such as William "Buckie" McCullough, the lower Shankill UDA was once again brought into line with the rest of the movement under former Adair supporter Mo Courtney
Mo Courtney
William "Mo" Courntey was an Ulster Defence Association activist. He was a leading figure in Johnny Adair's C Company, one of the most active sections of the UDA, before later falling out with Adair and serving as West Belfast brigadier.-Early years:In the late 1970s and early 1980s Courtney was...
.
As the district is located between the Falls Road at one end and Ardoyne at the other, local residents (as well as their nationalist neighbours) found themselves as, generally unwilling, targets for crossfire as both sets of paramilitaries attacked each other and each other's communities.
Lower Shankill
The Shankill Road begins at Peter's Hill, a road that flows from North Street in Belfast city centreBelfast 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...
and quickly merges into the Shankill itself at the Westlink. Peter's Hill is adjacent to the Unity Flats/Carrick Hill, a small nationalist area to the north of the city centre. The area of housing on the lower Shankill around Agnes Street was known colloqially as "The Hammer", one of a number of nicknames applied to districts that included "the Nick". The Hammer name is recalled in the Hammer Sports Complex, the home ground of amateur football side Shankill United F.C.
Shankill United F.C.
Shankill United is a Northern Irish football club playing in the Premier Division of the Northern Amateur Football League. They play their home matches at the Hammer pitch on Agnes Street in the Shankill area of Belfast. The club was founded in 1971 as Harland & Wolff Rec., changing its name to...
The Lower Shankill has been redeveloped in recent years although during the 1960s the housing was ranked as the worst in Belfast. A Lower Shankill Community Association is active in the area whilst the Shankill Leisure Centre is also located here. The Shankill Women' s Centre, a women's educational initiative established by May Blood
May Blood, Baroness Blood
May Blood, Baroness Blood of Blackwatertown MBE is a Labour member of the British House of Lords.Blood was born and raised in Belfast and worked in a linen mill from 1952-90 where she soon became an active member of the trade union and a shop steward. She was involved in creating the women's...
(now Baroness Blood) in 1987, is also located on the lower Shankill. George McWhirter
George McWhirter
George McWhirter is a Northern Irish-Canadian writer, translator, editor, teacher and Vancouver’s first Poet Laureate....
, a writer and first Poet Laureate of Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
, B.C., Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, also came from the area originally.
Several streets link the Shankill Road to the neighbouring Crumlin Road
Crumlin Road
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.-Lower Crumlin Road:...
with the area around North Boundary Street formerly the stronghold of Johnny Adair's C Company. Several members of C Company who have died are commemorated on murals around the area, notably Stephen McKeag, William "Bucky" McCullough, who was killed by the Irish National Liberation Army
Irish National Liberation Army
The Irish National Liberation Army or INLA is an Irish republican socialist paramilitary group that was formed on 8 December 1974. Its goal is to remove Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom and create a socialist united Ireland....
(INLA) in 1981 as part of a series of tit for tat murders between that group and the UDA and Jackie Coulter, killed by the UVF during 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 2000. The Shankill theoretically links to the neighbouring Falls Road at a few locations although most of these exits are blocked by peace lines
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...
. The entrance at Northumberland Street is sometimes open although it has lockable gates at the mid-point.
Middle and upper Shankill
Although there is no precise dividing line between the Lower, Middle and Upper Shankill locally it is usually said that the lower Shankill ends at Agnes Street. The area was redevloped some time before the lower Shankill leading to feelings locally that those in the upper part of the road were better off compared to the "Apaches" of the lower Shankill as they were colloqiually known. A number of ProtestantProtestantism
Protestantism is one of the three major groupings within Christianity. It is a movement that began in Germany in the early 16th century as a reaction against medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices, especially in regards to salvation, justification, and ecclesiology.The doctrines of the...
churches are situated in this area including the West Kirk Presbyterian Church
Presbyterian Church in Ireland
The Presbyterian Church in Ireland , is the largest Presbyterian denomination in Ireland, and the largest Protestant denomination in Northern Ireland...
, the Shankill Methodist church and the independent Church of God.
The West Belfast Orange Hall is located near the top of the Road. This building, which houses the No. 9 District Orange Lodge, has been revamped by 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...
. The same is true of the nearby Shankill Cemetery, a small graveyard that has received burials for around 1000 years. The graveyard is noted for a statue of Queen Victoria as well as the adjacent memorial to the members of the 36th Ulster Division who died at the Battle of the Somme. Amongst those buried in the graveyard is Rev Isaac Nelson
Isaac Nelson
Isaac Nelson was a Presbyterian minister and an Irish Nationalist politician.Nelson stood for Parliament while minister of the Donegall Street Congregation of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland...
, a Presbyterian minister who was also active in nationalist politics. Nelson lived at Sugarfield House on the Shankill, which has since given its name to Sugarfield Street. Also buried here is 2nd Private W.A. Sterling, killed in action with the Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
on 5 November 1918 at the age of 14.
The area includes Lanark Way, one of the few direct links to the neighbouring nationalist areas, which leads directly to the Springfield Road. A regular route for UDA gunmen seeking access to the Falls during the Troubles, it was dubbed the "Yellow Brick Road" by Stephen McKeag and his men.
Greater Shankill
The terms Greater Shankill is used by a number of groups active in the area, most notably the Greater Shankill Partnership, to refer to both the Shankill Road and the unionist/loyalist areas that surround it. The main areas identified within this area are Woodvale, Glencairn and Highfield. The Greater Shankill as a whole has a population of around 22,000.Woodvale
The Woodvale area begins after Ainsworth Avenue when the road changes from Shankill Road to Woodvale Road. As well as extensive housing the Woodvale area also contains the Woodvale Presbyterian Church, a building on the corner of the Woodvale and Ballygomartin Roads that dates back to 1899. The area takes its name from Woodvale Park, a public gardens and sports area that was opened in 1888.Also found locally is St. Matthew'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...
, which was rebuilt in 1872, taking its name from the original church which had sat in the grounds of the graveyard. The architecture of this church is called trefoil
Trefoil
Trefoil is a graphic form composed of the outline of three overlapping rings used in architecture and Christian symbolism...
, which means it is built in the shape of a shamrock
Shamrock
The shamrock is a three-leafed old white clover. It is known as a symbol of Ireland. The name shamrock is derived from Irish , which is the diminutive version of the Irish word for clover ....
. The shamrock is the national emblem of Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
and was supposedly used by St. Patrick, the patron saint
Patron saint
A patron saint is a saint who is regarded as the intercessor and advocate in heaven of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or person...
of Ireland to explain the Holy Trinity of Father
God
God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
, Son
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
and Holy Ghost. There is a book about the church which says that St. Matthew's is actually a copy of a church in Salonika, as the rounded "leaves" do not have the indentations of the leaves of the shamrock. The water in the stone outside the front door was thought to cure warts and, certainly up to the 1990s, was considered to cure colic if a new, open, safety pin was thrown in. The oldest stone in the Shankill graveyard was known locally as the "Bullaun Stone" and was traditionally said to cure warts if the effected area was rubbed on the stone. It was removed to the grounds of St Matthews in 1911.
Glencairn
Glencairn is an area based around the Ballygomartin Road, which runs off the Woodvale Road, as well the Forthriver Road. It is bordered by the Crumlin Road. As well as a large housing estate the area also includes Glencairn Park, a large woodland area at the bottom of DivisDivis
Divis is a large mountain and area of sprawling moorland to the north-west of Belfast in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. The mountain is 478 m tall, making it the highest of the Belfast Hills...
Mountain. Previously the estate of the Cunningham family the area was open to the public in 1962. The park features Fernhill House, the ancestral family home, which was not only used by Edward Carson to drill his Ulster Volunteers but was also the setting for the announcement of the Combined Loyalist Military Command
Combined Loyalist Military Command
The Combined Loyalist Military Command was an umbrella body for loyalist paramilitary groups in Northern Ireland set up in the early 1990s, recalling the earlier Ulster Army Council and Ulster Loyalist Central Co-ordinating Committee....
(CLMC) ceasefire on 13 October 1994. It subsequently became a museum but closed down in late 2010-early 2011. The Ballygomartin Road extends as far as the nationalist Upper Whiterock Road although after Springmartin the area is mainly countryside.
Highfield
Highfield is a housing estate situated around the West Circular and Springmartin Roads, both of which run off the Ballygomartin Road. Highfield comes close to the nationalist Springfield Road and there is limited access between the two areas through West Circular and Springmartin. Highfield is seen as an enclave and has been the scene of frequent sectarianSectarianism
Sectarianism, according to one definition, is bigotry, discrimination or hatred arising from attaching importance to perceived differences between subdivisions within a group, such as between different denominations of a religion, class, regional or factions of a political movement.The ideological...
tension. As a consequence the Springmartin Road is home to an 18 feet (5.5 m) peace line that runs for the length of the road from the junction with the Springfield Road until near that with the Ballygomartin Road.
Politics
The Shankill has been traditionally unionist and 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...
, albeit with some strength also held by the labour movement. Belfast Shankill
Belfast Shankill (Northern Ireland Parliament constituency)
Belfast Shankill was a constituency of the Parliament of Northern Ireland.-Boundaries:Belfast Shankill was a borough constituency comprising part of northern Belfast...
was established as a constituency of the Parliament of Northern Ireland
Parliament of Northern Ireland
The Parliament of Northern Ireland was the home rule legislature of Northern Ireland, created under the Government of Ireland Act 1920, which sat from 7 June 1921 to 30 March 1972, when it was suspended...
in 1929 and existed until the body was abolished in 1973. During that time the seat was held by three men, Tommy Henderson
Tommy Henderson
Thomas Gibson Henderson was an Ulster independent Unionist politician. He served in the House of Commons of Northern Ireland from 1925 to 1953 in vigorous opposition to the Unionist governments on all issues other than the partition of Ireland, and is famous for having at one stage spoken for...
(1929–1953), Henry Holmes
Henry Holmes (Northern Ireland politician)
Henry Holmes , often known as Harry Holmes, was a politician in Northern Ireland.Holmes worked as the managing director of a draper's shop...
(1953–1960) and Desmond Boal
Desmond Boal
Desmond Boal is a former Unionist politician and barrister from Northern Ireland.Boal had a legal career before he entered politics in 1960. He was the Unionist member of the Parliament of Northern Ireland for the Shankill constituency between 1960 and 1972...
(1960–1973). Of these only Holmes belonged to the mainstream Ulster Unionist Party
Ulster Unionist Party
The Ulster Unionist Party – sometimes referred to as the Official Unionist Party or, in a historic sense, simply the Unionist Party – is the more moderate of the two main unionist political parties in Northern Ireland...
for the entirety of his career with Boal a sometime member who also designated as both independent Unionist
Independent Unionist
See also Independent .Independent Unionist has been a label sometimes used by candidates in elections in the United Kingdom, indicating a support for Unionism, retaining the unity of the British state....
and 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...
and Henderson always and independent who for a time was part of the Independent Unionist Association
Independent Unionist Association
The Independent Unionist Association or Independent Unionist Party was a political party in Northern Ireland.The organisation was founded in 1937, shortly before the announcement of the Northern Ireland general election, 1938. It consisted of a disparate group of independent Unionists, and...
. Henderson was a native of Dundee Street on the Shankill. A Belfast Shankill constituency
Belfast Shankill (UK Parliament constituency)
Shankill, a division of Belfast, was a UK parliamentary constituency in Ireland. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom to 1918 to 1922.-Boundaries and Boundary Changes:...
also returned a member to the Parliament of the United Kingdom
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...
from 1918–1922, with Labour Unionist Samuel McGuffin
Samuel McGuffin
Samuel McGuffin was Labour Unionist MP for Belfast Shankill from 1918 to 1922, and Ulster Unionist MP for Belfast North from 1921 to 1925....
holding the seat. Further up the road there was also a Belfast Woodvale
Belfast Woodvale (UK Parliament constituency)
Woodvale, a division of Belfast, was a UK parliamentary constituency in Ireland. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom from 1918 to 1922.-Boundaries and Boundary Changes:...
seat at Westminster and a seat of the same name
Belfast Woodvale (Northern Ireland Parliament constituency)
Belfast Woodvale was a constituency of the Parliament of Northern Ireland.-Boundaries:Belfast Woodvale was a borough constituency comprising part of western Belfast...
at Stormont. Robert John Lynn of the Irish Unionist Alliance represented the seat at Westminster for the entirety of its existence (1918-1922). The Stormont seat was held by John William Nixon
John William Nixon
John William Nixon, MBE was a Unionist politician in Northern Ireland.Born in Graddum, County Cavan, Nixon became a district inspector in the Royal Irish Constabulary, and transferred to its successor in the new state of Northern Ireland, the Royal Ulster Constabulary...
(independent Unionist) from 1929 to 1950, Ulster Unionists Robert Harcourt
Robert Harcourt
Sir Robert John Rolston Harcourt, JP was a Northern Irish politician.Robert Harcourt became the director of F. E. Harcourt and Company coal merchants. He was High Sheriff of Belfast in 1949, and later in the year unsuccessfully stood as the Ulster Unionist Party candidate for South Down...
(1950-1955) and Neville Martin
Neville Martin
John Wesley Neville Martin was a Northern Irish politician who served as a member of the Parliament of Northern Ireland for the Ulster Unionist Party.-Biography:...
(1955-1958), Billy Boyd
Billy Boyd (politician)
Billy Boyd was a politician from Northern Ireland.Boyd worked in the shipyards of Belfast and became active in the Northern Ireland Labour Party and stood unsuccessfully in Belfast Woodvale in the Northern Ireland general election, 1953, then again in a 1955 by-election...
of the Northern Ireland Labour Party
Northern Ireland Labour Party
The Northern Ireland Labour Party was an Irish political party which operated from 1924 until 1987.In 1913 the British Labour Party resolved to give the recently formed Irish Labour Party exclusive organising rights in Ireland...
until 1965 then finally John McQuade
John McQuade
John McQuade , known as Johnny McQuade, was a Northern Ireland politician. He was a professional boxer under the name of Jack Higgins....
, who was variously Ulster Unionist, independent Unionist and Democratic Unionist until the seat was abolished in 1972.
The Shankill is currently part of the Belfast West
Belfast West (Assembly constituency)
Belfast West 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...
constituencies for 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...
and Westminster
Belfast West (UK Parliament constituency)
Belfast West is a parliamentary constituency in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom.-Boundaries:The seat was restored 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...
. As a consequnce the Shankill is represented by five 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...
MLAs and one from 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...
whilst from 1966, when the seat was lost by the last sitting unionist member Jim Kilfedder, it has also always had a nationalist or republican MP. The abstentionist policy of Sinn Féin MP Gerry Adams
Gerry Adams
Gerry Adams is an Irish republican politician and Teachta Dála for the constituency of Louth. From 1983 to 1992 and from 1997 to 2011, he was an abstentionist Westminster Member of Parliament for Belfast West. He is the president of Sinn Féin, the second largest political party in Northern...
, who was West Belfast's MP until his resignation in 2011, led to an attempted legal challenge by local councillor 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...
who argued that Shankill residents were being denied their right to representation. The case was not a success.
On 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...
the Greater Shankill area is covered by the Court electoral area. At the 2011 election
Northern Ireland local elections, 2011
The most recent Northern Ireland local government elections took place on Thursday 5 May 2011.European Union and Commonwealth citizens who were aged 18 or over on election day were entitled to vote...
the five councillors elected were William Humphrey, Naomi Thompson and Brian Kingston of the Democratic Unionist Party, the independent Frank McCoubrey (who is a member of the Ulster Political Research Group
Ulster Political Research Group
The Ulster Political Research Group is an advisory body connected to the Ulster Defence Association , providing advice to them on political matters...
and 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...
's 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...
.
Robert McCartney
Robert McCartney (politician)
Robert Law McCartney QC is a Northern Ireland barrister and former leader of the UK Unionist Party.He was initially a member of the Ulster Unionist Party but was expelled in June 1987 when he refused to withdraw from the general election of that year...
, who led his own UK Unionist Party
UK Unionist Party
The UK Unionist Party was a small unionist political party operating in Northern Ireland from 1995 to 2008. It was nominally formed by Robert McCartney, formerly of the Ulster Unionist Party, to contest a by-election the North Down by-election, 1995 and then further constituted to contest the 1996...
and represented North Down
North Down (UK Parliament constituency)
North Down is a Parliamentary Constituency in the United Kingdom House of Commons. The current MP is Sylvia Hermon, elected as an Independent in the 2010 General Election. -Boundaries:The county constituency was first created in 1885 from the northern part of Down...
at Westminster, is also originally from the Shankill.
Sport
Wayne McCulloughWayne McCullough
Wayne William McCullough is a professional boxer. During his professional career, which spans back to 1993, he held the WBC title in the Bantamweight category...
, a gold medalist at the Commonwealth Games
Commonwealth Games
The Commonwealth Games is an international, multi-sport event involving athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930 and takes place every four years....
and a world champion in the Bantamweight division is a native of the Shankill. He is one of a number of boxers from the area to be featured on a mural on Gardiner Street celebrating the area's strong heritage in boxing
Boxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
. The image has since been moved to Hopewell Crescent. McCullough trained in the Albert Foundry boxing club, located in the Highfield estate where he grew up. Other locals to make an impact in the sport have included Jimmy Warnock
Jimmy Warnock
James "Jimmy" Warnock was a southpaw boxer from the Shankill Road, Belfast, United Kingdom..Jimmy Warnock began his early boxing career at Belfast's Chapel Fields in prize fights organised by Clara Copley...
, a boxer from the 1930s who beat world champion Benny Lynch
Benny Lynch
Benny Lynch was a Scottish professional boxer who fought in the flyweight division. He is considered by some to be one of the finest boxers below the lightweight division in his era and Ring Magazine has described him as the greatest fighter that Scotland has ever produced...
twice, and his brother Billy.
Football is also a popular sport in the area with local teams including Shankill United, Albert Foundry
Albert Foundry F.C.
Albert Foundry is a Northern Irish football club from Belfast playing in the Premier Division of the Northern Amateur Football League. Its home ground Paisley Park on the West Circular Road...
, who play on the West Circular Road, Lower Shankill, who share the Hammer ground with United and Woodvale who won the Junior Cup in 2011. The main club in the area however is Linfield
Linfield F.C.
Linfield F.C. , is a semi-professional, Northern Irish football club, whose home ground is Windsor Park in Belfast, which is also the home of the Northern Ireland international team....
with a Linfield superstore trading on the Shankill Road despite the club being based on the Lisburn Road
Lisburn Road
The Lisburn Road is a main arterial road linking Belfast and Lisburn, in Northern Ireland.The Lisburn Road is now an extension of the "Golden Mile" with many shops, boutiques, wine bars, restaurants and coffee houses. The road runs almost parallel to the Malone Road, the two being joined by many...
in south Belfast. A Linfield Supporters and Social Club is situated on Crime Street. An Ulster Rangers
Rangers F.C.
Rangers Football Club are an association football club based in Glasgow, Scotland, who play in the Scottish Premier League. The club are nicknamed the Gers, Teddy Bears and the Light Blues, and the fans are known to each other as bluenoses...
club is also open on the road, with the Glasgow
Glasgow
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...
club widely supported amongst Northern Irish Protestants. Norman Whiteside
Norman Whiteside
Norman Whiteside is a former Northern Ireland international footballer who played in two World Cups.He appeared for Manchester United and Everton, before his career was ended by injury at the age of 26. He won the FA Cup twice during his time playing for Manchester United, in 1983 and 1985...
, the ex Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland national football team
The Northern Ireland national football team represents Northern Ireland in international association football. Before 1921 all of Ireland was represented by a single side, the Ireland national football team, organised by the Irish Football Association...
and Manchester United midfielder, lived on the Shankill. Whiteside also lends his name to the Norman Whiteside Sports Facility, a community sports area used by Woodvale F.C. The facility is located on Sydney Street West between the Shankill and the neighbouring Crumlin Road.
The Ballygomartin Road is also home to a cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
ground of the same name
Ballygomartin Road
Ballygomartin Road is a cricket ground in the Greater Shankill area of Belfast, Northern Ireland. The first recorded major match on the ground was in 1966, when Ulster Town played North West...
which in 2005 hosted a List-A match between Canada and Namibia
Namibia national cricket team
The Namibia cricket team is the team that represents the country of Namibia in international cricket matches. It is governed by Cricket Namibia, an associate member of the International Cricket Council since 1992 and became part of the High Performance Program in 2007. They took part in the 2003...
in the 2005 ICC Trophy
2005 ICC Trophy
Ireland beat Bermuda easily as Ed Joyce made 103 for the hosts in Stormont.----Denmark beat Uganda by 28 runs as Thomas Munkholt Hansen took 6 for 30 to carry Denmark to a 28-run win over Uganda in Muckamore. Denmark made 197 with Henrik Saxe Hansen making 71...
. The ground is the home of Woodvale Cricket Club
Woodvale Cricket Club
Woodvale Cricket Club is a cricket club in Belfast, Northern Ireland, playing in Section 1 of the NCU Senior League.The club was formed in 1887.-Honours:*NCU Senior League: 6 **1935, 1943, 1948, 1955, 1958 , 1966*NCU Challenge Cup: 9...
, established in 1887.
Education
Secondary schools serving the Shankill area include the Belfast Boys' Model SchoolBelfast Boys' Model School
Belfast Boys' Model School is a secondary school located in Belfast, Northern Ireland.- History :...
and Belfast Model School for Girls
Belfast Model School for Girls
Belfast Model School for Girls is an all-girls ICT Specialist School located in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Also Known as "G.M.S" . In 2006 the school was granted Specialist school status for ICT, one of only 12 schools in Northern Ireland to achieve this...
due to their location in the Ballysillan area of the neighbouring Crumlin Road
Crumlin Road
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.-Lower Crumlin Road:...
. Pupils from the area also attend Hazelwood College or Malone College
Malone College (Northern Ireland)
Malone College is an integrated co-educational, multi-cultural and multi-ethnic secondary school in Belfast, Northern Ireland.- Curriculum :Malone College believes that all pupils, regardless of ability, are entitled to the best that education can offer...
which are both integrated schools, as well as Victoria College
Victoria College, Belfast
Victoria College, Belfast is a voluntary non-denominational grammar school in Cranmore Park, Belfast, Northern Ireland. In 2007, the college had 867 pupils aged 11 – 18 and a Preparatory Department with 175 girls, aged 3 – 11....
and the Royal Belfast Academical Institution
Royal Belfast Academical Institution
The Royal Belfast Academical Institution, is a Grammar School in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Locally referred to as Inst, the school educates boys from ages 11–18...
both of which are grammar schools. Prior to its closure, and before several changes of name, Cairnmartin Secondary School also served the greater Shankill area. Famous pupils include footballer Norman Whiteside
Norman Whiteside
Norman Whiteside is a former Northern Ireland international footballer who played in two World Cups.He appeared for Manchester United and Everton, before his career was ended by injury at the age of 26. He won the FA Cup twice during his time playing for Manchester United, in 1983 and 1985...
and boxer Wayne McCullough
Wayne McCullough
Wayne William McCullough is a professional boxer. During his professional career, which spans back to 1993, he held the WBC title in the Bantamweight category...
. The school, by then known as Mount Gilbert Community College
Mount Gilbert Community College
Mount Gilbert Community College was a mixed, non-denominational secondary school created in 1993 as an amalgamation of Forth River and Cairnmartin secondary schools. It had about 500 pupils then, but the number dropped to half that in 2001...
, closed permanently in 2007 after a fall in pupil numbers.
Primary schools in the greater Shankill area included Forth River Primary School on the Ballygomartin Road. Established in 1841, the original building was cramped and inspection reports over the years commented on the high standard of teaching despite the inadequacy of the building. During the 1980s and 1990s, closure and amalgamation were both suggested and vehemently opposed by everyone connected with the school. Ultimately a new £1.4m state-of-the-art school was announced as a replacement for the old building and this new school, which is on the adjacent Cairnmartin Road, was officially opened by Prince Andrew, Duke of York
Prince Andrew, Duke of York
Prince Andrew, Duke of York KG GCVO , is the second son, and third child of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh...
in 2005. Others primary schools in the area include three on the Shankill Road itself in Glenwood Primary School, established in 1981, Edenbrooke Primary School on Tennent Street and Malvern Primary School as well as Black Mountain Primary School and Springhill Primary School
Springhill Primary School
Springhill Primary School is situated on the Ballygomartin Road in north-west Belfast, Northern Ireland. The school building is built to the identical design of the now closed Ulidia Primary School in Ballynafeigh, south Belfast. The school last year celebrated is 50th birthday. This was marked...
on Springmartin Road.
Transport
Although the Shankill Road initially grew as part of the main road to Antrim it is no longer part of any wider network linking Belfast to neighbouring towns with its peripheral roads all either terminating in the mountains or linking to the Springfiled Road. Belfast was served by a network of tramTram
A tram is a passenger rail vehicle which runs on tracks along public urban streets and also sometimes on separate rights of way. It may also run between cities and/or towns , and/or partially grade separated even in the cities...
s in the first half of the twentieth century and the Shankill was the last part of the city to see this service removed in the 1950s. Public transport
Public transport
Public transport is a shared passenger transportation service which is available for use by the general public, as distinct from modes such as taxicab, car pooling or hired buses which are not shared by strangers without private arrangement.Public transport modes include buses, trolleybuses, trams...
is now provided by the Metro
Metro (Belfast)
Metro is the trading name for bus company Citybus in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is a subsidiary of the Northern Ireland Transport Holding Company, within the common management structure of Translink, along with Ulsterbus and Northern Ireland Railways....
arm of Translink
Translink (Northern Ireland)
Translink is the brand name of the Northern Ireland Transport Holding Company , a public corporation in Northern Ireland which provides the public transport in the region. NI Railways, Ulsterbus and Metro are all part of Translink....
with the Shankill forming the eleventh of the company's twelve corridors. Buses link 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...
to the estates at the top of the Shankill as well as the Ballysillan area of the Crumlin Road.