14-34 Dublin Road, Belfast

Royal Ulster Works with Grounds to the left (NLI, Lawrence Collection)

14-34, DUBLIN ROAD, Belfast, Marcus Patton, OBE, remarks in his invaluable guide Central Belfast: A Historical Gazetteer, used to be the grounds of Bankmore House, including the Royal Ulster Works, a Victorian block of 1873, which served as the premises of Marcus Ward and Company until they suffered bankruptcy in 1901.

The grounds adjacent to the Royal Ulster Works became a car-park; and about 1993 a large, red-brick block was built, comprising mainly a multi-screen cinema (Virgin Cinemas, followed by Moviehouse Cinemas), with a multi-storey car-park to the rear.

Site of 14-34 Dublin Road, Belfast (Timothy Ferres, 2022)

The cinema block facing Dublin Road was demolished in December, 2021, and the site has been cleared (January, 2022) in preparation for a new building which will become the premises of the software company, Kainos.

First published in January, 2022.