East Belfast

Tracing the past

Get an atmospheric taste of traditional life in East Belfast on a tour of our past. Start in Queen’s Island, tracing the story of Titanic at the old Harland & Wolff shipyard. See the offices where the great ship was designed, the slipways where she was launched, the pump house and dry dock where her superstructure was added and then step on board the SS Nomadic, her tender ship.

A short bus or cab ride away you can discover how many of the workers on Titanic might have lived. Several streets around the Templemore Avenue area survive from those times, not least the two-up two-down terrace houses of McMaster Street, just off Newtownards Road, many of whose inhabitants would have made the short walk each day to the shipyard.

Those workers would have ‘splashed out’ at the Victorian Templemore Public Baths in nearby Templemore Avenue, where you can still see the old public baths used for personal washing. A popular swimming pool, used by both actor James Ellis and soccer star George Best, it remains an important part of local life.

You can see old-fashioned sweets, as well as honeycomb and fudge, being made in the traditional way at Aunt Sandra’s Candy Factory at 60 Castlereagh Road, while film lovers should head for the wonderful Art Deco Strand Cinema at 165 Holywood Road. Opened in 1935, its design influenced by the proximity of Harland & Wolff, it looks like a ship with its curved walls and foyer lights in the form of portholes.

Arts and Culture

East Belfast has produced an extraordinary number of poets, novelists, playwrights and musicians from world famous names like creator of Narnia, CS Lewis and singer Van Morrison to award-winning playwrights such as Marie Jones and Stewart Parker and actors James Ellis and Dan Gordon. Great novelists from the past, such as Forrest Reid and the present, like Glenn Patterson, have links to East Belfast, while Northern Ireland’s greatest cultural icon, soccer legend Georgie Best grew up here.

Historic Sites and Buildings

East Belfast is packed with fascinating buildings and historic sites. You can trace local history back 5,000 years to the Neolithic period at the amazing Kempe Stones, a Neolithic portal dolmen. Some of the city’s most important buildings can be found in East Belfast too, like the magnificent Parliament Buildings, home to the Northern Ireland Assembly, at the Stormont Estate, and atmospheric buildings beloved of the local community, such as Templemore Baths, the Strand Cinema and the wonderful Belmont Tower with its delightful café.

Things to See

H&W Cranes

Like every major city in the world Belfast has its associated, instantly recognisable land mark…the cranes, Samson and Goliath towering over us here in East Belfast.  Shadowing over what was once the world’s greatest shipyard Harland & Wolff, and birthplace of Titanic - the world’s most famous ship, at over 90m these iconic giants can be seen from many points in the city but you cannot appreciate their size until you enjoy them from ground level. You can find them down at Titanic Quarter, Queen’s Island.

Stormont Castle & Parliament Buildings

No visit to East Belfast would be complete without a visit to the magnificent Stormont Estate and the Parliament Buildings off the Upper Newtownards Road, where the Northern Ireland Assembly meets. An extensive public park, where many stars of music have held spectacular open-air concerts, it has great views of Belfast and features a lovely children's play area near the main gates.

You can’t access the Victorian Castle itself but you will get glimpses of it from around the estate, which was bought by the Northern Ireland government in 1921. The Castle became the official residence of the Northern Ireland Prime Minister and later the office of the British Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.

The classical Parliament Buildings themselves are 365 feet long and made from Portland stone and granite from the Mourne Mountains. Parliament Buildings are not usually open to the public but guided tours are available by prior arrangement. In front of the Parliament Buildings stands a statue of the famous Unionist leader Sir Edward Carson, which he unveiled in 1933, two years before his death.  Nearby is the Reconciliation statue depicting a couple embracing across a great divide. If the weather is good enough the Stormont Estate is a lovely spot for a picnic, while the Stormont Hotel across the road is renowned for food.

Van Morrison’s House

‘Van the Man’ once lived in this two-up two-down terraced house at Hyndford Street, off the Beersbridge Road, where a commemorative plaque records that one of the greatest singer/songwriters in contemporary music was born here on August 1945.

Around the corner, at Beersbridge Road, is his first school, Elmgrove Primary School. A little further away, at Cameronian Drive, near Castlereagh Road, is his secondary school, Orangefield (one of several local areas mentioned in his songs).

Indeed many of the landmarks of his East Belfast childhood found their way into his songs, including ‘Cyprus Avenue’ another short stroll away and ‘Hyndford Street’ itself. This was also the area he worked when he was ‘Cleaning Windows’.

CS Lewis Statue

‘The Searcher’, a statue sculpted by local artist Ross Wilson, was commissioned to mark the centenary of the birth of CS Lewis, author of ‘The Chronicles of Narnia’, and stands outside Holywood Arches library, near to where Lewis grew up. It shows Professor Digory Kirke, hero of ‘The Magician’s Nephew’, entering the magical wardrobe into Narnia.

East Belfast murals

Many visitors come to Belfast to see the famous murals and while East Belfast has many political murals, not all murals are political; there are also those related to its sporting, musical and military heroes. There are various bus, walking and black cab tours (enquire at the Belfast Welcome Centre) which will take you around the most famous murals.

Football Heroes

Local legend George Best lives on and can be spotted on murals on the Woodstock Road and the Cregagh Estate where he spent his childhood.  And another to look out for is the portrayal of David Healey’s famous winning goal for Northern Ireland against England in 2005, commemorated on Montrose Street off the Albertbridge Road.

Titanic

Just around the corner where Dee Street meets the Newtownards Road, is a magnificent mural showing Captain Smith over-looking the ill-fated Titanic with a commemoration to those who lost their lives on the world’s most famous ship, built just a stone’s throw away.

CS Lewis

On Convention Court you’ll find East Belfast born writer CS Lewis and creator of the Narnia Chronicles depicted on a mural along with scenes from his most famous book “The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe”.  Close by is another mural just off East Belfast’s Dee Street.

War Heroes

War hero James Magennis, who received the Victoria Cross for his bravery in the Second World War, is immortalised on a mural in Tullycarnet. Also in the Cregagh Estate, a mural commemorates First World War hero Private William McFadzean of the 14th Battalion Royal Irish Rifles, who was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross for his heroism at the Battle of the Somme.

"Teenage Kicks All Through The Night"

The famous Undertones song title blazes across the wall under the M3 flyover at Bridge End.  “John Peel 1939-2004 RIP” was added on the death of the Radio 1 DJ and one of the Undertones greatest supporter's. 

What to Do

Aunt Sandra’s Candy Factory

Hard to miss with it’s brightly coloured shop front Aunt Sandra's Candy Factory in Belfast has been making homemade candy and chocolate since 1953. Aunt Sandra (yes, she does exist!) started as a young girl in the small shop and trained to make old time favourites such as: honeycomb, nutty lumps, mint humbugs, traditional fudge and much more- many of the recipes are over 100 years old and all are made by hand!! 

Aunt Sandra has now retired but the traditional hand made candy lives on, thanks to nephew David Moore.  Take your taste-buds on a trip down memory lane or give the kids a real treat with a visit to Aunt Sandra's Candy Factory and see candy making as it used to be.  They can be found at 60 Castlereagh Road, Belfast.

The Odyssey Complex

You could spend a whole holiday at the amazing Odyssey Pavilion in Queen’s Island.  With a range of attractions to captivate all from the multi-award winning interactive discovery centre, W5, where the kids will be having so much fun they won’t realise how much they’re learning, to the state-of-the-art tenpin bowling and amusements; at the Odyssey there really is something for everyone!!

Look out for the Belfast Giant’s ice hockey games at the adjacent Odyssey Arena too or when the Giant’s aren’t at home the arena hosts some of the biggest names in the entertainment industry from Oasis and The Killers to Pink, Take That and local boys Snow Patrol.  And with a range of great value eateries and restaurants and the amazing Storm Cinema it really has everything under one roof!

Dundonald International Ice-Bowl

Now it’s time to let the kids loose at Dundonald Ice Bowl, Northern Ireland's only Olympic sized ice rink, perfect for experienced skaters and beginners alike. But that’s just part of the story. There are also 30 lanes of tenpin bowling, with the amazing ‘Extreme Bowling’ experience, with atmospheric lighting and glow in the dark flooring. Younger children will be captivated by Indiana Land, one of the largest indoor play worlds in Northern Ireland, where they’ll find slides, rope bridges, tunnels and ball swamps, and plenty of padded mats!

That’s still not the end of your family fun! Step next door to the exciting Pirates Adventure Golf, 36 holes of incredible US-style crazy golf in the shadow of a fully rigged pirate schooner, with waterfalls, fountains, floodlights and the chance to win golden doubloons for a free game.

Streamvale Open Farm

Streamvale is a working Dairy Farm only 5 miles from Belfast’s City Centre.  Here you can see all the traditional farm animals in their homes, from tiny chicks to the massive shaggy Highland cattle.

The Farm is open to visitors of all ages and specialises in tours which are tailored to suit each group.  Kids can get back to nature, meeting a range of animals up close, watching cows being milked and the animals’ feeding time, taking nature trails and barrel and tractor rides, picking fruit in season and so much more. There’s a fabulous café too. It’s closed in January, February and November.