Shankill
Proud heritage
The Shankill has emerged from its history intact. It is an
authentic working-class community, where the murals on almost every
gable wall tell the story of its violent past and its belief in the
future. Predominantly Protestant it is a neighbourhood that is
proud of its heritage which stretches back beyond Celtic lore. This
is real Belfast, with "no frills attached".
The Shankill is much more than the sum of its recent past. Its
history goes back two millennia, when an ancient track, rising out
of marshland (now downtown Belfast) connected counties
Down and Antrim. On this track, likely trodden by St. Patrick, the
first Christian settlement in this part of County Antrim was
founded in 455 AD. (Shankill, or Sean Cill in Irish, means Old
Church). The ancient Shankill Graveyard in which the original
church stood can still be visited today.
St Matthew's
St. Matthew’s stands nearby successor to the “Old Church”. Built
in 1872, of gothic round tower design, in the shape of a shamrock,
its architecture is unique to these islands. At its door sits a
Ballaun stone, recovered from Shankill Graveyard. Of Druid
origins, it was subsequently used by the old church for Christian
baptisms and generations have known it as “the wart stone”
because of its alleged mystical powers to cure warts.
The Shankill was also at the heart of Belfast’s linen industry –
“Irish Linen” and two of the original mills, though no longer
operational, stand nearby on the Crumlin Road and at Conway
Street.
In more recent times the Shankill suffered from major Government
redevelopment programmes which bulldozed many of the original
streets and up-rooted much of the population. But the area is
coming back to life as evidenced by the “Road’s” mile long bustle
of shops, cafes, pubs, churches and community organisations,
including a high quality, low cost hostel at Farset
International.
Memorials
That said, memory of the recent conflict is never far away as
witnessed by the memorials to those who died in the area; the
dozens of paramilitary, political, cultural and community murals
and the ever-present “peace walls” which still snake through the
area, the longest of which in Cupar Way, is being transformed into
an outdoor gallery of world class art works.
If ancient Shankill was “original Belfast”, then modern Shankill
is “authentic Belfast” – a working class community with its rough
edges but friendly people, both open yet reserved. It is more than
just a Road!