Albion Place, Belfast

Albion Place ca 1900 (Image: A R Hogg/NMNI)

Numbers 16-42 Bradbury Place, Belfast, formerly Albion Place, a terrace of three-storey, early Victorian houses, were built between 1832-48.

The first houses to be constructed had triangular pediments above the first-floor windows; with moulded surrounds at second-floor level.

One of which boasted a balustraded parapet and fluted urns.

The front gardens were all built over with single-storey shops about 1900.

The balustraded building to the left has been absorbed into Lavery's bar.

A section of the terrace was demolished in 1866 to make way for the railway line, leaving the site vacant. 

The original developer of the site, Martin Wallace, was living in Albion Place in 1880.

Marcus Patton, OBE, in his Central Belfast: A Historical Gazetteer, remarks that

"the southern end and the mid-terrace house at nos. 24-26 were demolished in 1990, which has effectively terminated the life of the terrace as a whole." 

"It is a great shame that the terrace was not developed from the rear, as separate access existed to the two-storey mews houses behind from Albion Lane."

30-44 Bradbury Place, 2022 (Timothy Ferres)

Incidentally, I visited Albion Lane in June, 2022, and it was in a sad state, with large council wheeled bins proliferating along the alley, and various obstructions along the entire length of the Lane.

Numbers 30-44 in the terrace were all demolished in 2021, in preparation for a block of student accommodation.

First published in June, 2022.

Lower Crescent, Belfast

Lower Crescent in 2014:  looking towards Botanic Avenue and Cameron Street

Lower Crescent and Upper Crescent, both in the University quarter of south Belfast, have always inspired me, even since childhood.

Lower Crescent, which runs from 4, University Road to Botanic Avenue, is to the north of Upper Crescent.

Upper Crescent runs from 28, University Road to Crescent Gardens.

Number 5 for sale in 2014

The sale of much of Lord Donegall's Belfast estate in the early to mid-19th century freed large areas of land around the town for development.

Timothy Ferres, 2026

The lands to the south, along the Malone Ridge, were particularly attractive to developers and fostered the construction of many fine late Georgian-style terraces from the mid 1830s onwards, a trend accelerated by the establishment of Queen's College (now Queen's University) in the area, in the later 1840s.

These grand, new terraces were occupied by the city's professional and business classes, vacating their former residences in the town centre, which, in turn, were gradually turned into shops and offices.

Upper Crescent was perhaps regarded as the grandest terrace development undertaken to the south of Belfast, an elegantly curving row of three-storey town-houses in a late Regency style, built in 1846 by the timber merchant Robert Corry.

Dr Paul Larmour has suggested that Sir Charles Lanyon may have been consulted about the design.

Corry himself undertook the building work and took up residence at 16 Upper Crescent.

For the first few years of its existence, this row was known as Corry's Crescent.

To the immediate north of Upper Crescent, where Crescent Church now stands, there was a large lawn which Corry used as a garden.

Shortly after this garden was laid out, however, Corry had it ploughed up and used for the cultivation of vegetables for relief of local workers suffering as a result of the famine.

To the north of this garden ran an old water course; to the east, some smaller gardens (belonging to other occupants of Upper Crescent); and further to the east and to the north-east ran Albion Lane.

In 1852, Robert Corry built another terrace to the north of his garden and just south of the old water course.

This new development, Lower Crescent, was much in the same vein as that to the south, and was occupied by the same mix of professionals and businessmen; though, by as early as 1860, the ground floors of some of the properties were used as offices.

In the late 1860s, a railway line was laid to the immediate north of Lower Crescent (along the line of the old water course).

In 1873, the large sandstone building, (originally Ladies Collegiate, later Victoria College), was added to the west end of the terrace, with two houses added to the east end by the end of the decade, the most easterly of which, Rivoli House, originally contained a dance academy run by a Frederick Brouneau.

The new railway line cut across Albion Lane and presaged the laying out of a new, broader thoroughfare, to be named Botanic Avenue.

Upper Crescent also witnessed further building in the 1860s and 70s, with two large William Hastings-designed properties erected to the west end in 1869, one of which, Crescent House (latterly a bank) also fronted on to University Road.

In 1878-79, two further houses were added to this end, on the ground between those of 1869.

In 1885-7, the large Presbyterian church (the present Crescent Church) was erected to plans by the Glasgow architect, John Bennie Wilson, on the west side of Robert Corry's former garden, with a two-storey terrace, the present Crescent Gardens, built on the site of smaller garden plots to the east end, in 1898.

During the first half of the 20th century, most of the properties of Upper and Lower Crescent, as well as Crescent Gardens, remained private dwellings.

However, by 1960 many were given over to business use; others divided into flats, with the former Rivoli House, (later called Dreenagh House), becoming a hotel.

This trend continued, and by the beginning of the 21st century none were occupied as private dwellings.

In the mid 1990s, three of the 1860-70 houses at the west end of Upper Crescent were demolished and a modern office block built in their place; whilst in 2000 the railway cutting to the south of Lower Crescent was built over, in preparation for a new development.

1 LOWER CRESCENT:

occupied by Frederick Gee, commission merchant. Gee appears to have remained there until at least 1882, though a Charles McDowell is listed by 1877. By 1899, it was in the hands of neighbouring Victoria College. When the Victoria College building changed hands to become the Crescent Arts Centre in 1978, this property remained associated with it, becoming The Octagon Gallery. It is largely used as a store by the Arts Centre.

2 LOWER CRESCENT:

One of the eleven houses which made up the original 1852 section of Lower Crescent. In 1858, it was occupied by John Savage, flax merchant. John Corry (a relative of the abovementioned Robert Corry) is listed as resident in 1862; Mrs Cuppage in 1877; and Mrs McDowell in the 1890-1900. The property came into possession of Victoria College at some time between 1910-20 and remained as such until that institution left Lower Crescent in the 1970s; however, for much of this period, it appears to have been leased to various businesses and private tenants. In the 1980s, it became a health centre (which appears to have been integrated with its neighbour, number 3); then a stationery shop; and later, offices.

3 LOWER CRESCENT:

In 1858, was listed as vacant, but was occupied by Henry Smith in 1860; the Rev John Moore in 1861; and William Moffat, 1877. In the 1890s and early 1900s, it was occupied by Mrs Margaret Byers, ounder of Victoria College. It was still in possession of Victoria College for some years after Mrs Byers' decease in 1912, but was either sold or leased out by the school by 1930, for by this date it had become a private dwelling once again. The property remained a dwelling house until the 1970s.

4 LOWER CRESCENT:

Thomas Hanlon, of Messrs George McTear & Company, Steam Packet Agents, Donegall Quay; Miss Jane Vance, by 1860. Miss Vance was followed a few years later by Dr Peter Redfern, who remained there until ca 1915. The property appears to remained a private dwelling until the 1950s, when it was divided into flats. It remained as such until the early 1980s, when the flats were converted to offices. The return is recorded as two storey in the valuation of 1860. The decoration to the second floor landing (which matches that to the first floor) suggests that it may have been raised a storey not long after this date.

5-6 LOWER CRESCENT:

Number 5 was occupied by Mrs Andrews; Henry Dickson resided at number 6. By 1860, number 5 was occupied by Aylward Connor, with its ground floor used as offices. Connor appears to have remained there until the late 1870s, when the property became home to Colonel Audain. Number 6 passed to Mrs Charnock in 1870, with both she and the Audain family occupying both houses until 1910 at least. Both buildings appear to have remained private dwellings until the 1970s, but by 1980 number 6 was an office. In the late 1980s, number 5 was coverted to a bar and night club, The Fly. In the late 1990s, this bar was greatly expanded, when its owners acquired number 6 and added a large extension to the rear of the newly-created single property.

7 LOWER CRESCENT:

Robert Cassidy, a solicitor, who, (by 1860 at least) used the ground floor as an office. In 1870,  James Campbell is listed as resident; Henry F Thomas in 1877; Samuel Alexander in 1882; and Mrs Orr in 1910. The property appears to have been divided into flats in the 1960s, but had become an office (once again) by 1980.

8 LOWER CRESCENT:

Tobias Porter, Belfast Flour Mills Manager, who appears to have remained there until at least 1882. In 1899, Mrs Lyons is recorded as resident; with Miss Lyons in occupation from about 1910-40s. From the mid 1950s until the late 1970s, this property and number 9 served as the canteen for Victoria College. No doubt much of the internal changes to both buildings date from this period. The building has housed various offices from the late 1970s onwards.

9 LOWER CRESCENT:

Samuel Delacherois, gentleman. In 1860, it was occupied by a John K McCausland, who appears to have remained there until at least 1882. The next occupant was Miss Vance, who was followed by Mrs Jackson about 1915. In the 1940s, the property came into the possession of Victoria College; and in the following decade became, (along with neighbouring number 8), the college's canteen. After the departure of Victoria College from Lower Crescent in the late 1970s, the property was converted to offices.

10 LOWER CRESCENT:

And its neighbour to the east (11) were used as offices for the Ordnance Survey, but by 1860, number 10 was a private dwelling once again, occupied by Robert W Corry. Corry was followed in 1862 by John Arnold, who remained there until the mid 1880s at least. In 1899, Mrs McKnight is listed as resident; Miss Warner in 1910; Mr T Kernaghan, linen merchant, in 1920. By 1940, the property appears to have been divided into two flats. In 1960, three flats are recorded, with four in 1970. These fluctuating divisions of the property appear to have changed again in the later 1970s, when the first floor became amalgamated with the first floors of numbers 8 and 9 to form a large office suite.

11 LOWER CRESCENT:

Was, by 1860, occupied by Charles Gaussen, who was followed in 1861 by Henry Cuppage, who remained there until at least 1882. In 1899, William Pedlow, District Inspector, National Schools, Belfast South, is listed as resident; then David Wright, bottle merchant and representative of the Chilean Nitrate Committee; T  Kernaghan in 1920; and Mr S E Fitchie, wholesale stationer, in 1930. By 1940, the property became a nursing home; then a guest house in 1951; but reverted to a private residence from the late 1950s to the 1970s. By 1980, the property was converted to offices.

12 LOWER CRESCENT:

Built in 1877-78 to designs by architect William Hastings, who had also worked on the larger property to the east (13) two years earlier. The building was originally occupied by William J Morrison, with William Campbell in residence in 1899. Campbell remained there until some time between 1910-20. Miss Gardener occupyed the house in 1921. In 1930, a journalist named Alex Riddle and Professor Ivor Arnold are recorded as residents; with three occupants listed in 1940, two in 1951 and three in the 1960s and 1970s. Clearly the property must have been split into flats ca 1930. In the late 1980s, the building was converted to a restaurant, linked with the neighbouring hotel (13), with hotel rooms to the upper floors. In the late 1990s, the restaurant was converted to a public bar. 

Sources: Henderson's Belfast Directory; Belfast & Province of Ulster Directory; ST Carleton, The Growth of South Belfast (QUB MA thesis, 1967); John Caughey, Seize Then The Hour: A history of James P Corry & Compnay (Belfast, 1974), pp.28-29; David Evans, Historic buildings of Queen's University (revised edition, 1980); Alison Jordan: Margaret Byers, Pioneer of Women's Education (QUB Institute of Irish Studies).

First published in March, 2014.

Upper Crescent, Belfast

Upper Crescent in 2014

Lower Crescent and Upper Crescent, both in the University Quarter of south Belfast, have inspired me since childhood.

Lower Crescent, which runs from 4 University Road to Botanic Avenue, is to the north of the Upper Crescent; whereas Upper Crescent runs from 28 University Road to Crescent Gardens.

Timothy Ferres, 2026

Most of the 2nd Marquess of Donegall's Belfast estate was sold in the early to mid-19th century, thereby freeing large areas of land around the town for development.

The lands to the south, along the Malone Ridge, were particularly attractive to developers, and fostered the construction of many fine late Georgian-style terraces from the mid 1830s onwards, a trend accelerated by the establishment of the prestigious Queen's College (Queen's University) in the area, in the later 1840s.

13-15 Upper Crescent in 2014

These new, grand terraces were occupied by the city's professional and business classes, who vacated their older residences in the centre of the town (like College Square North); which, in turn, eventually became shops and offices.

Timothy Ferres, 2026

Upper Crescent was perhaps the grandest terrace development undertaken in south Belfast.

This was an elegantly curving row of three-storey dwellings in a late Regency style, built in 1846 by the timber merchant Robert Corry.

It has been suggested that the celebrated Belfast architect Sir Charles Lanyon may have been involved in the design of the crescents.

Corry himself undertook the building work and took up residence at 16 Upper Crescent.

For the first few years of its existence it was known as Corry's Crescent.

To the immediate north of Upper Crescent, where Crescent Church now stands, there was a large, grassed area which formed part of Mr Corry's gardens.

Shortly after this plot was laid out, however, Corry had it ploughed up and used for the cultivation of vegetables (for the relief of local workers suffering as a result of the famine).

To the north of this garden ran an old water course; to the east, some smaller gardens (belonging to other residents of Upper Crescent); and further to the east and to the north-east, Albion Lane.

In 1852, Robert Corry built another terrace to the north of his garden and just south of the old water course.

This new development, called Lower Crescent, was much in the same vein as that to the south and was occupied by the same mix of professional and business men; though, by as early as 1860, the ground floors of some of the properties were utilized as offices.

In the late 1860s, a railway line was laid to the immediate north of Lower Crescent (along the line of the old water course).

In 1873, the large sandstone building, (originally Ladies Collegiate, later Victoria College), was added to the west end of the terrace, with two houses added to the east end by the end of the decade, the most easterly of which, Rivoli House, originally contained a dance academy run by a Frederick Brouneau.

The railway line cut across Albion Lane and presaged the laying out of a new, broader thoroughfare, to be named Botanic Avenue.

Upper Crescent was further extended in the 1860s and 70s, with two large William Hastings-designed properties erected to the west end in 1869, one of which, Crescent House (latterly a bank) also fronted on to University Road.

In 1878-79, two further houses were added at this end.

In 1885-7, a large Presbyterian church (the present Crescent Church) was erected to plans by the Glasgow architect, John Bennie Wilson, on the west side of Robert Corry's former garden, with a two-storey terrace, the present Crescent Gardens, built on the site of smaller garden plots to the east end in 1898.

During the first half of the 20th century, most of the properties of Upper and Lower Crescent, as well as Crescent Gardens, remained private residences.

By 1960, however, many had become businesses; while others were divided into flats, and Rivoli House (later Dreenagh House) became a hotel.

This trend continued and by the beginning of the 21st century none of the properties were occupied as private dwellings.

In the mid 1990s, three of the 1860-70 houses at the west end of Upper Crescent were demolished and a modern office block was built in their place.

In 2000, the railway cutting to the south of Lower Crescent was built over in preparation for a new development.

1 UPPER CRESCENT:

Originally named Crescent House, was built in 1869 to designs by William Hastings. Its original resident was Dr Wilberforce Arnold, whose family remained there until the early 1900s. The next occupant was Dr John Campbell, who was followed by a Dr William Campbell (presumably his son). Both Campbells (and possibly Dr Arnold before them) appear have used the University Road section of the property as a surgery. In the 1970s, the building was acquired by Queen's University and served as the University's Institute of Professional Legal Studies. In 2001-02 the property was converted to a branch of the Bank of Ireland (and practically rebuilt in the process), with half of the first floor and all of the second floor converted to offices, linked to the large modern office block to the east.

7 UPPER CRESCENT:

Built in 1849, occupied by Robert Workman, who remained there until the mid-1850s, when he was followed by John Coates, secretary of the County Antrim Grand Jury. By 1860, the building was in the hands of a John P Corry, a relative of the builder of the Crescent, Robert Corry. At this stage (according to valuation records), the ground floor was used as offices. James P Corry remained in residence until 1877, when he was succeeded by MrWilliam Dobbin. John Morrow, of the Ayr Steamship Company, is listed as the householder in 1899 and 1910; with P T Crymble in 1920. In the later 1920s, the property was acquired by a Miss Wallace, who remained there until the 1970s; and for part of this time used the premises as a nursing home. Thereafter the property was converted to offices. The current occupant acquired the building in 1983.

8 UPPER CRESCENT:

Occupied, in 1849, by a merchant named Edward Tucker, who was followed by the Rev William Patterson (Professor of Mathematics, Queen's College) in the early 1850s; Peter Keegan, wine merchant, in the later 1850s; James Glass from ca 1860-77; and then Mrs Shillington. In the 1899 directory, Robert Workman, Junior, is listed as the occupant; William Harper in 1910; Joseph Walsh, 1915-40s; then H M Hamilton; and Herbert Kearney. In the 1970s the property was converted to offices.

9 UPPER CRESCENT:

Mrs Grueber; followed in the mid 1850s by Professor Charles McDowell, who remained there until the early 1880s. In the 1899 and 1910 directories, a W H Ward (of the Ulster Damask & Linen Company) is listed as the occupant; with a Robert Robinson in 1920-30. By 1951, the property had become converted to offices, occupied firstly by the Forestry Division of the NI Department of Agriculture, and then by a firm of quantity surveyors.

10 UPPER CRESCENT:

Mrs Murdock in 1849; followed in the 1850s by James Green and then James P Corry (a relative of the above mentioned Robert). Corry was succeeded by Jane Vance, who remained there until the later 1870s. The next resident was Alexander Taylor; with a solicitor, J S Mahon, listed in the 1899 and 1910 directories. About 1918, the property was acquired by a family named Matthews, who remained there until the 1950s, when the building was converted into offices (financiers, then a travel agent).

11 UPPER CRESCENT:

James Greene, (1st clerk, Custom House); followed by Mrs Herdman; and, by 1860, William McNeill; and, by the late 1870s, James Festu. By 1899, the building was home to William Yates; then, pre-1920, the Rev William Beatty; and then T Bell, who remained there from the mid 1920s to the 1960s. By 1970 the property had been converted to an office.

12 UPPER CRESCENT:

Between 1849-1910/20, the house was occupied by Robert Boag, of Albion Clothing Company, possibly the same person, though likely a father and son. By 1920, it had become The Crescent Private Nursing Home, but had reverted to an conventional dwelling again by 1930, with Miss Mabel Simms in residence. Miss Simms remained there until at least 1960, but by 1970 the building had been converted to an office.

13 UPPER CRESCENT:

William Brown, of Day, Bottomley & Company, who, in the 1850s, leased the house to Mrs Esther Orr, who remained there until about 1880. The next occupant was James Hyndman; followed in the early 1900s by Mrs Cron. Mr E Matthews and his family remained there from the 1920s until the 1960s. By 1970, the house was being used by a group of elocution teachers, but appears to have reverted to a private dwelling in the late 1970s. The property appears to have become offices from the mid 1980s.

14 UPPER CRESCENT:

Mrs Dickey; Henry Smith, linen manufacturer, by 1852; and Jane Millford by 1860. The Rev W S Darley became resident in the later 1870s; with Mrs Thompson listed in the 1899 directory; William Galloway (damask designer) in 1920; and the Rev R H White in 1930. In the 1950s, this building and its two neighbours to the east (nos.15 & 16) served as the Ulster Nature Cure Clinic. In the 1960s all three were acquired by Queen's University and converted to student residences. It was probably at this point that the major internal changes to the buildings were carried out; however, it's not improbable that the earlier presence of the Ulster Nature Cure Clinic probably entailed some alterations, perhaps the creation of doorways between the formerly separate properties.

15 UPPER CRESCENT:

Robert Cassidy, solicitor, who remained here until about 1853, when he moved to the newly-built Lower Crescent; followed by the Rev Robert Wilson, whose family in turn were followed by Mr John Downing. By 1899, Mrs Manley was in residence; and by 1920 a "druggist" named John Clarke; Mrs Rankin, by 1930. A decade later the property served as a nursing home. In the 1950s, this building and its two neighbours to each side (nos.14 and 16) were the Ulster Nature Cure Clinic.

Sources: Henderson's Belfast Directory; Belfast & Province of Ulster Directory; ST Carleton, The Growth of South Belfast (QUB MA thesis, 1967); John Caughey, Seize Then The Hour: A history of James P Corry & Compnay (Belfast, 1974), pp.28-29; David Evans, Historic buildings of Queen's University (revised edition, 1980); Alison Jordan: Margaret Byers, Pioneer of Women's Education (QUB Institute of Irish Studies).

First published in March, 2014.

The Ulster Club

The Ulster Club, 23 Castle Place, Belfast, was established in 1856 by a group of gentlemen landowners.

It was frequented by aristocracy and gentry, including the Marquess of Downshire, the Earl of Antrim, the Earl of Enniskillen, the Viscount Bangor, the Lord O'Neill, and landed families like the Perceval-Maxwells of Finnebrogue.

The three-storey building, designed by SIR CHARLES LANYON, occupied a commanding position across the junction from the Bank Buildings.

It was built in the Regency style, stuccoed, with a cast-iron balcony attached to a bow-fronted central bay.

Which building stood at this site before the premises of the Ulster Club, I wonder?

This elegant Victorian building of ca 1863 was demolished in 1981 to make way for for Calvert House (1983-4), a four-storey glass structure.

Calvert house itself was effectively demolished in late 2019, and is now (2022) another glass-fronted structure.

I recall the Ulster Club, sadly derelict and ruinous at the height of "the Troubles", before it was razed to the ground.

The 5th Earl of Enniskillen was staying in the club when he received the calamitous news that his ancestral seat in County Fermanagh, Florence Court, was on fire.

Lady Enniskillen telephoned him at the club and he was said to have exclaimed, "what the hell do you expect me to do?", or words to that effect.

The Club sold its premises at Castle Place in the late 1960s and removed to one floor of River House in High Street.

It merged with the Ulster Reform Club in 1982.

First published in July, 2014.

Commercial Buildings, Belfast

Commercial Buildings: Engraved for Smyth's Belfast Directory (Hogg Collection/ NMNI)

"WHERE the Commercial Buildings now stand, there were, in the year 1800, a row of low cottages, thatched with straw. This has been affirmed by respectable persons who saw them. They have been mentioned the names of those who lived, or had their places of business, in them; these were Thomas McCabe, Valentine Joyce, Russell, and others."

Thus wrote George Benn, the Belfast historian, in 1880.

The United Irishman Samuel Neilson (1761-1803) is said to have occupied one of the cottages.

Commercial Buildings are located at the corner of Waring Street and Bridge Street in Belfast.

Construction of the Buildings began on St Patrick's Day, 1819, when the foundation stone was laid by GEORGE, 2ND MARQUESS OF DONEGALL KP.

Commercial Buildings from Donegall Street painted by W A Maguire ca 1830-30 (NMNI)

The designer was John McCutcheon, the architect who oversaw the erection of Royal Belfast Academical Institution five years previously, in 1814.

The building is said to have cost £20,000 to build, equivalent to about £2 million in 2021.

Commercial Buildings remain in splendid condition to this day, doubtless due to its construction with Dublin granite.

The ground-floor stonework is rusticated, with arched window apertures.

Decorative feature (Timothy Ferres. 2022)

There is a pair of Doric porches in the Waring Street elevation, which clearly terminates the vista from Donegall Street.

The most prominent features of this elevation are eight large Ionic columns, paired at each end.

Directly above these columns is a date stone inscribed with the Roman numerals "MDCCCXX."

(Timothy Ferres, 2022)

The Historic Buildings database of the Northern Ireland Department of Communities has already written a comprehensive document about Commercial Buildings, including the fact that the Northern Whig newspaper acquired the property and operated there from 1919 until 1963.

Marcus Patton, OBE, in his Historical Gazetteer of Belfast (1993), also includes the Commercial Buildings on pages 326-7.

Bridge Street façade in 1942 (Belfast Telegraph/NMNI

High Street and Bridge Street suffered catastrophic damage caused by bombing during the Blitz in 1941; and as a consequence of this the Bridge Street elevation of Commercial Buildings was virtually destroyed.

The Waring Street frontage, however, remained largely unscathed.

Prospect from Donegall Street in 2022 (Timothy Ferres)

The historic buildings database remarks:

"With the closure of the news-press in 1963, the former Northern Whig headquarters was reconverted into commercial office space; the structure was listed in 1975. Utilised as office space for over three decades the Northern Whig was purchased by the Botanic Inns in 1997 who converted the majority of the building into a licensed restaurant and bar called ‘The Northern Whig;’ a portion of the upper floor continues to be utilised as office space."

Cabin Hill

CABIN HILL COMPRISED 39 ACRES OF LAND DURING THE VICTORIAN ERA

CABIN HILL, Upper Newtownards Road, Belfast, is a fairly large and considerably extended two-to-four storey house, built around a sandstone Tudor-Revival gentleman’s residence of ca 1860, itself extended in similar style ca 1903-5.

A large, modern, flat-roofed, four-storey, rendered block was added to the rear by the school in 1946 with an adjacent, equally large and equally modern, brick wing of about 1980.

When it was built, Cabin Hill was originally closer to the village of Dundonald - or, indeed, Knock - than the city of Belfast.

This small farm in the townland of Ballycloghan was adjacent to the Belmont estate and the Clelands' Stormont estate.

The name Cabin Hill refers to a farmhouse built in 1786-7 by Samuel McTier and his wife, Martha (née Drennan), on a small parcel of land they had acquired for £50 (about £6,700 today).

The house itself, as the name implies, was a single storey, thatched farmhouse; however, a painting of 1847 shows that, by the standards of the day, it had a fairly prosperous appearance, being relatively large and prosperous looking ~ not the "cabin" one might have expected.

After Samuel McTier's death in 1795, Martha continued to use Cabin Hill as a country retreat, being joined on frequent occasions by her brother, the Belfast radical and founder of the United Irishmen, Dr William Drennan.

Historic map of Cabin Hill ca 1830

Drennan died in 1820 and Martha in 1837; however, the property appears to have been disposed of some time before the latter date, for in the 1833 valuation it is recorded as the home of a Mr Tomb.

David Tomb was connected with the Batesons in Belfast, and acquired considerable property in the neighbourhood. His sons were Henry Joy Tomb (d 1840), a Belfast merchant, and George Tomb QC. 

Benn believes that the Tombs were amongst the oldest families in Belfast. Henry Joy Tomb was a brother to the first wife of the Rev Dr Drummond.

By 1852, it had been acquired by John Dinnen, a Belfast solicitor.

Dinnen appears to have retained the original house for some years, though, by 1861, a new, much larger building appears to have been built.

This new dwelling, a two-storey gentleman's villa in the Tudor-Revival style, remained in possession of Dinnen's descendants until 1903, when it was acquired by Robert James McMordie QC, Lord Mayor of Belfast.

About 1903-5, McMordie greatly extended the house by adding the large section to the eastern side and the new entrance conservatory, all to designs by Hugh Brown.

Mr McMordie died at Cabin Hill in 1914.

Between 1920 and 1922, his widow leased the property to Sir James Craig Bt (afterwards 1st Viscount Craigavon), the first Prime Minister of Northern Ireland.

Several cabinet meetings were held at the house.

In 1924-25, McMordie's widow sold Cabin Hill to Campbell College, which converted it for use as their preparatory school.

Ca 1935, the school added a porter's lodge to the main gateway and, in 1946, the large four storey modern style wing was added to the rear of the main building itself.

Further separate classrooms were built to the north east side of the building in 1973, with a further modernist extension added to the main school later.

These books give no indication of major building work at Cabin Hill between 1864 and the McMordie extension of ca 1903-5, suggesting that the original section of the Tudor Revival house is pre 1864.

Cabin Hill was for sale in April, 2021.

It is currently (2026) being redeveloped into a new residential community featuring private detached homes and two and three-bedroom apartments.

First published in May, 2014.

Chapel of the Resurrection

The Chapel, with Belfast Castle in the background (picture post card)

THE CHAPEL OF THE RESURRECTION, 21, Innisfayle Park, Belfast, was constructed between 1865-69 in the Gothic-Revival style as a mortuary chapel for the 3rd Marquess of Donegall.

This charming little chapel predates Belfast Castle, which was constructed in 1868-70.

The late Sir Charles Brett remarked that the 3rd Marquess found his previous dwelling of Ormeau House an ‘ill-constructed residence’, and Lord Donegall himself wrote that his estate was "under a disadvantage for want of a more suitable family residence.’

Despite being in constant debt, Lord Donegall decided to construct a new mansion house on lands he still owned in the deer park to the north of Belfast.

The Donegall family chapel, designed by Lanyon, Lynn & Lanyon, was built as a mortuary chapel that served as a memorial to the 3rd Marquess's son Frederick Richard, Earl of Belfast, who had died prematurely in 1853.

The chapel was not only a memorial to their son, but was also to be used as a burial place for members of the Chichester family (who had heretofore been interred at Carrickfergus).

The Chapel of the Resurrection was consecrated on the 20th December, 1869, by the Rt Rev Dr Robert Knox, Lord Bishop of Down, Connor and Dromore.

The Natural Stone Database records that the chapel was constructed with locally-quarried Scrabo sandstone, with Portland limestone used as a secondary material.

The interior of the chapel originally possessed a white marble monument to Lord Belfast which depicted him on his deathbed (sculpted by Patrick McDowell).

Following the completion of the site, the remains of Lord Belfast were moved to the Chapel of the Resurrection and interred in its vault.

It is said that the chapel was converted into a private chapel for the use of the owners and occupants of the Castle in 1891.

The conversion of the building included the decoration of the interior and the addition of an altar, reading-desk, organ and stained-glass windows.

The refurbishment of the interior was carried out by Cox & Sons, London, and Buckley's of Youghal, County Cork.

The church organ was built by Wordsworth of Leeds.

Following the death of the 3rd Marquess in 1883, Belfast Castle and its estate passed to his son-in-law, Anthony Ashley-Cooper (styled Lord Ashley), later 8th Earl of Shaftesbury, who had married the Lady Harriet Chichester in 1857.

The Shaftesbury family continued to own Belfast Castle until 1934, when the 9th Earl of Shaftesbury granted the building and the 200 acre estate to Belfast Corporation.

The Shaftesburys are thought to have continued using the chapel for private and semi-private services thereafter, even though they had no need of it, as they could worship in an Oratory located inside the Castle itself; but during the 1st World War services in the chapel were discontinued, except very occasionally.

Having been utilised as a private dwelling for only 65 years, Belfast Castle was granted to Belfast Corporation on 1st February 1935.

Lord Shaftesbury retained the chapel until 1938, when it was transferred to the Church of Ireland.

Brian Barton remarks that the chapel effectively became the responsibility of St Peter’s parish church from that year.

The first public service was held at the Chapel of the Resurrection on the 18th September, 1938.

The building suffered minor damage during the Belfast Blitz, and repairs were subsequently carried out to the damaged roof and windows.

The chapel continued to be used regularly for services between 1938 and the 1960s; due to the decline in church attendance, however, the change in the make-up of the local population and the vandalism of the building (following the development of post-war housing around it in the 1950s and 1960s), regular services were abandoned in 1965.

The last service was held on the 27th august, 1972.

(Timothy Ferres, 2014)

The congregation of St Peter’s endeavoured to maintain the chapel, but by 1974 recurrent acts of vandalism had forced the Select Vestry to remove all furnishings from the building and to sell the organ to a rural church.

By the 1980s the church had fallen into an advanced state of disrepair and was curtailed behind a barbed-wire fence.

In 1982 the vaults beneath the chapel were vandalised and the remaining tombs (the remains of the Chichester family) desecrated by vandals.

Sadly the chapel has continued to lie vacant since the 1970s.

In 2007-08 holding repairs were carried out to the chapel, which included repairs to its roof, the restoration of its roof trusses and the cleaning of its stonework.

The restoration aimed to make the chapel safe and restrict further acts of vandalism; all openings and doors were blocked up.

Some of the original furnishings of the chapel survive at St Peter’s parish church, Antrim Road, Belfast.

In a side chapel of St Peter's (opened in 2000; named the Chapel of the Resurrection) are a number of artefacts from the derelict chapel, including its reredos, the altar, a number of statues, the credence table and the original lectern.

(Timothy Ferres, 2014)

The chapel has a heavily-pitched, natural slate roof, with masonry cross finial to gabled façade and metal cross finial to apse.

Rock-faced masonry walls have cut-stone dressings, including string-courses and stepped buttresses.

Pointed arch window openings to nave have tracery, forming a bipartite arrangement.

There is a rose window at the gabled façade, and trefoil-arch openings to belfry.

(Timothy Ferres, 2014)

A pointed arched door opening is set within a cusped and sprocketed, gabled surround.

The chapel's interior was of great beauty and charm.

Two effigies or statues of Lord Belfast, one of which was a life-size representation in pure white marble of him on his death-bed, his mother holding his right hand; the other, a plaster statue of the young nobleman.

Both are now in Belfast City Hall.

First published in February, 2014.  See the Mausolea & Monuments Trust.

Hamilton Tower

Hamilton Tower (Archiseek.com)

HAMILTON TOWER, built in 1906 by the architect Dr Robert Cochrane, served as the porter's gate lodge for The Queen's College, now The Queen's University of Belfast.

This building was designed in the Tudor-Revival style.

A single-storey lodge was beside the tower.

There was a fine carriage arch below the two-storey entrance tower.

Hamilton Tower (Alexander Hogg/NMNI)

The spandrel had elegant stone carving and there were armorial bearings above the arch-way.

Behind the tower was an octagonal, battlemented turret.

The elegant wrought-iron railings, which surrounded the Lanyon Building's campus, were probably removed during the 2nd World War and are notable for their absence today.

The Hamilton Tower existed for a mere sixteen years, before it was demolished in 1922.

Entrance front today

It was named after the Rt Hon and Rev Thomas Hamilton, the third President of Queen’s College and the first Vice-Chancellor of The Queen’s University of Belfast.

He was the longest serving President and Vice-Chancellor.

He was in office for almost thirty-five years, until his retirement in 1923.

The Lanyon Building in 2018

Hamilton played a vital role in persuading Government and the local community to support generously the expansion of the College and later the University.

It was felt that Hamilton is not sufficiently acknowledged for the hugely significant contribution he made to Queen’s.

No portrait exists of him, only a photograph.

The Tower and gate lodge were criticised at the time on aesthetic grounds; and subsequently demolished in 1922, a year before Hamilton’s retirement.

First published in February, 2014.

11 Wellington Place, Belfast

11 Wellington Place (Timothy Ferres, 2024)

11, Wellington Place, Belfast, has rather an interesting history.

Today it fast approaches its bicentenary, having been completed in 1830 with five other town-houses, forming a terrace.

Of the six, numbers seven, nine, and eleven survive.

The terrace was erected by the Belfast business man and, indeed, amateur architect, Adam McClean.

This Georgian property comprises four storeys and three bays.

Behind today's dour grey paint at first floor level the bricks are red.

Portico, 11 Wellington Place (Timothy Ferres, 2024)

The entrance boasts an Ionic portico.

The first recorded occupant of number eleven was Thomas Ferguson, who lived here for about 12 years; followed by a physician, Dr Robert Stephenson, who resided in the house until 1869.

Greek key pattern featuring above porch (Timothy Ferres, 2024)

Dr Stephenson purchased number 11 from the McClean Estate.

When he died in 1869, the house passed to his nephew, David McCance (who himself lived at the adjacent number 9).

Partial view of 11 Wellington Place,
to the left (Image: Hogg Collection/NMNI)

A dental surgeon, Dr Richard Barnett, was residing at number eleven in 1877.

Residential ownership seemed to cease by 1898, when the property had been bought by Alex McCullough,  and occupied by Ellen Brady, who converted it into the Royal Hotel, with no less than 22 rooms.

The Royal Hotel ceased trading by 1914, when the property was converted into commercial premises; and a shop-front was fitted.

The ground floor operated as a florist's shop and nursery, Frank E Smith and Co.

By 1918, the ground floor had become an emporium known as "Edison House," which sold "Cycles, Household Utensils, Phonographs, Gramophones, Pathéphones, and Records; Books, Filters, Mangles, Oil Stoves, Doall Mop Wringer, Bissell Carpet Sweepers and Palestine Olivewood Goods."

This general store lasted for 12 years, and in 1930 Jane Hackney carried out business in the premises.

In 1954, the Carlton lounge bar and grill moved from their original premises in Donegall Place, and remained till at least 1993.

Today an Indian restaurant operates on the ground floor.

Shaftesbury Square

Shaftesbury Square ca 1900

Shaftesbury Square, Belfast, was first recorded in 1887.

It runs from Fulton Street to Dublin Road.

The square was named after the Earl of Shaftesbury.

There was a drinking fountain at the centre of the Square, designed by W J Barre.

Number 1-11 was a three-storey terrace with dormers, known as Shaftesbury Buildings.

Shaftesbury Buildings were built between 1884-87, though they suffered a devastating fire in 1968.

This curved terrace was replaced about 1973 by Carlton House, an office block which housed social security offices and a post office on the ground floor.

Number 12-13, at the corner of Botanic Avenue and Bradbury Place, used to be Oxford Buildings.

A new three-storey, neo-Georgian block was built ca 1961, which opened as the Northern Bank.

14-15, Shaftesbury Square, is located at the beginning of Donegall Road.

This building is now called Shaftesbury House, built about 1845, though re-faced in 1935.

It is of three storeys and has elevations at  1-7 Donegall Road.

The black marble cladding masks the original houses which remain behind it.

In 1974, Number 14 was B S Loughheed, menswear and dress hire.

Number 16-24 is a three-storey Georgian terrace of 1822-35, though the façade now protrudes with shop-fronts.

In 1900, this terrace had small gardens with railings fronting on to the Square.

The original terrace is now barely recognizable, though a few traces remain.

In 1974, occupants included a hairdresser, a bar, a laundry, an off-licence, and a ladies fashion retailer.

We now have a bookmaker's, a restaurant, a football supporters' club; Paul Rankin's Roscoff restaurant was at the end of the terrace.

Lesley House, built in 1986, is located at 25-31 Shaftesbury Square.

This used to be a continuation of numbers 16-24 and in the 20th century was occupied by various businesses, including the Belfast School of Motoring, Christie's Wallpapers, Kayley's carpets, a chiropodist, and another hairdresser.

Number 32-34, built in 1863, was a pair of three-storey stucco houses with tulip-pot chimneys.

Number 34, swept away in 1993, was a manse, presumably for the minister of Great Victoria Street Presbyterian Church.

Shaftesbury Square also had underground municipal toilets, built ca 1935.

I gather that these former conveniences were closed many years ago and could have potential use as a bar or restaurant.

The Ulster Bank premises, technically at 136-142 Great Victoria Street, were built in 1960.

This used to be the Magdalene School House, built in 1853 by Sir Charles Lanyon.

It was formerly a Sunday school and church hall for St Mary Magdelene parish church in Donegall Pass, prior to demolition in 1930.

Magdalene School House (1853-1930)

The old schoolhouse had a square pinnacled tower, a gable looking on to the Square, and a taller tower behind it.

In 1888, it was decided not to carry on with the day school because of the danger to children owing to heavy traffic in the growing area.

The schoolhouse became used solely as a parochial hall.

During 1916-17, it was decided to sell the old schoolhouse and parochial hall.

It was considered unsuitable because of the distance from the church and the increasing volume of traffic.

It was finally sold at the end of 1919 for £5,000 (about £220,000 today), demolished, and replaced by a block of shops.

First published in February, 2014.  See Central Belfast: A Historical Gazetteer, by M Patton OBE, p298.

College Green House

College Green House (Timothy Ferres, 2011)

The following account is taken from HEARTH’s website:-

COLLEGE GREEN HOUSE, located at the corner of Botanic Avenue and College Green, Belfast, was designed in 1870 by James McKinnon for the merchant, Archibald McCollum.

The apartment on the ground floor can be rented. 

The former coach-house adjacent to the house is now the restaurant and bistro, Molly's Yard.

Botanic Avenue elevation (Timothy Ferres, 2011)

It is not clear whether McCollum ever lived here, but by 1880 the house had become a Church of Ireland Collegiate School (traces of the school name can still be seen over one of the corner windows). 

In 1890, the house was occupied as a private residence once more, by John MacCormac, physician to the Belfast Institution for Nervous Diseases, Paralysis and Epilepsy.

College Green elevation (Timothy Ferres, 2011)

One year later it was acquired by John McConnell, managing director of Messrs Dunville & Co, whiskey distillers, who lived there until his death in 1928.

McConnell was a magistrate and Freemason, and a friend of James Craig, first Prime Minister of Northern Ireland (whose father owned Dunville's).

He had a car that was kept in the former coach house, and employed a chauffeur to drive it. 

His five children were brought up at College Green House, and most of them developed liberal views that must have shocked their establishment father.

Botanic Avenue elevation (Timothy Ferres, 2011)

Notable amongst them was his youngest daughter Mabel, who became a suffragette and a committee member of the Gaelic League. 

For a while after she graduated from Queen's University she was a secretary to George Bernard Shaw and to George Moore, but then she met and eloped with Desmond FitzGerald, a young English poet of Irish extraction. 

Although he continued his literary interests, being an acquaintance of Ezra Pound and T S Eliot, FitzGerald became heavily involved with the Irish Volunteers in Kerry in 1913. 

It is recorded that Mabel and Desmond spent Christmas 1913 at College Green House, before having tea with James Connolly after a republican meeting. 

College Green House (Timothy Ferres, 2024)

The couple also met with Roger Casement on this Belfast visit before going back to Kerry, where Desmond organised and drilled volunteers.

He went on to fight in the Easter Rising of 1916 and to become a Minister in the Irish Free State government that ensued.

Union Theological College

College Green House must therefore have hosted gatherings of very different political persuasions over the years, particularly as the first Northern Ireland Parliament met in the Union Theological College, which the house overlooks.

It is not unlikely that McConnell would have been visited by his old friend James Craig at the end of the day for tea or billiards. 

Mabel's fourth son, Garret, must have absorbed some of this political atmosphere as he went on to become a Taoiseach [Irish Prime Minister] aware of his Belfast roots as well as his Dublin ones.

On McConnell's death, the house passed to new owners who, unfortunately, subdivided the house very crudely into flats in 1934.

The early occupants of the flats included spinsters, academics and at least one man of the cloth. 

In the 1950s, they acquired an artistic neighbour, a civil servant called Alfred Armentières Kitchener Arnold, who hosted many of the local artists of his day from visiting actors and dancers to artists like George McCann and Dan O'Neill, and writers like Louis MacNeice. 

Arnold was a keen amateur actor himself, and when he later retired to the island of Gozo near Malta he is reputed to have translated The Pirates of Penzance into Gozitan. 

Rumours abound of other flamboyant visitors like the architect Henry Lynch Robinson and Erroll Flynn the film star.

The playwright Stewart Parker lived in one of the flats briefly about 1970.

Latterly the house was entirely occupied by young artists, among them Susan Philips who organised an exhibition in 1998 called Rev Todd's Full House, which assembled the work of some fifty artists who had lived or stayed in the house up to that time. 

The building was used as a location in the film Divorcing Jack during that period. 

Unfortunately the flats did not meet current fire regulations and the house was closed shortly thereafter.

Hearth negotiated a long lease on the property in 2000, and then sought finance to restore the building to its former glory. 

College Green House was de-listed because of the extent of its alterations, but it was re-listed in 2002, which made an application to the Heritage Lottery Fund feasible. 

During the interim, Hearth put in caretakers drawn from the pool of artists interested in the building and provided studio space for artists such as Rita Duffy and Martin Wedge.

Work started as soon as planning permission was granted in 2004. 

In addition to upgrading the services to the building the main work involved was the reinstatement of the elevation to College Green which had been disfigured in the conversion to flats, with steel picture windows replacing the original round headed windows and stone dormers. 

Restoration involved considerable repairs to brickwork and stonework as the 1930s windows were in different positions from the originals and many chimneys lacked their stone cappings. 

Metal finials and the cresting at the top of the roof were reinstated, along with the unusual barley-sugar railings, pillars and gates. 

The 1930s entrance to the flats from College Green was retained, but the old front door in Botanic Avenue which had become a window has been reinstated as a doorway. 

A three-storey bay added at the rear of the house was removed to restore the cubical design of the building, and that permitted restoration of the arch linking it to the former coach house. 

Internally, plasterwork was restored using moulds taken from no.2 College Green which had been part of the same development.

The staircase dado was restored using painted and grained Lincrusta, while the flat entrance doors were grained.

Following extensive structural repairs to the outbuildings they have now opened as Molly's Yard.

The house of the former whiskey magnate is now linked to one of the few sources of real ale in Belfast.

And as for its Headless Dog brew? 

If you look carefully at the base of the coach-house, you will see the silhouette of a headless dog, a symbol of the group of artists who were here in the 1990s: history tends to be circular, but the history of this house is more spherical than most. 

First published in August, 2011.