Shankill Road, Belfast
The Shankill Road is the arterial spine of West Belfast, stretching approximately 1.5 miles from the city centre towards the suburb of Woodvale. It arises from the Irish 鈥渞oad of the old church鈥�, in reference to a 5th-century church once located here, remnants of which survive in the adjacent graveyard. Today, the road is a bustling portrait of working鈥慶lass loyalist life, lined with shops, schools, churches, and local services serving the Court district.
Once a 19th-century linen hub with streets named after Belgian flax regions, Shankill Road later became a center of loyalist activity during the Troubles. Groups like the Shankill Defence Association and UVF formed here, and the 1993 bombing at Frizzell鈥檚 Fish Shop marked a tragic chapter. Today, murals and memorials reflect both pride and remembrance.
Visitors will notice vibrant murals and peace lines peppered along the route, reflecting sectarian tensions while signaling hope. The famous Shankill Graveyard, dating back over a millennium, and the Somme memorial beside it, pay tribute to generations鈥攊ncluding soldiers from the 36th Ulster Division. Nearby lie community treasures: the Shankill Women鈥檚 Centre, old pubs like the Rex Bar, and various sports facilities dedicated to boxing and football鈥攈alls of fame where locals such as Norman Whiteside and Wayne McCullough once trained.
Today, the Shankill Road offers tourists a genuine and complex Belfast experience. From its roots in early Christianity to its industrial heyday and through periods of conflict and reconciliation, this thoroughfare embodies a living neighbourhood. Visitors can explore its poignant memorials, admire street art, and enjoy the community spirit in local caf茅s, shops, or on a guided walking tour.
Once a 19th-century linen hub with streets named after Belgian flax regions, Shankill Road later became a center of loyalist activity during the Troubles. Groups like the Shankill Defence Association and UVF formed here, and the 1993 bombing at Frizzell鈥檚 Fish Shop marked a tragic chapter. Today, murals and memorials reflect both pride and remembrance.
Visitors will notice vibrant murals and peace lines peppered along the route, reflecting sectarian tensions while signaling hope. The famous Shankill Graveyard, dating back over a millennium, and the Somme memorial beside it, pay tribute to generations鈥攊ncluding soldiers from the 36th Ulster Division. Nearby lie community treasures: the Shankill Women鈥檚 Centre, old pubs like the Rex Bar, and various sports facilities dedicated to boxing and football鈥攈alls of fame where locals such as Norman Whiteside and Wayne McCullough once trained.
Today, the Shankill Road offers tourists a genuine and complex Belfast experience. From its roots in early Christianity to its industrial heyday and through periods of conflict and reconciliation, this thoroughfare embodies a living neighbourhood. Visitors can explore its poignant memorials, admire street art, and enjoy the community spirit in local caf茅s, shops, or on a guided walking tour.
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Shankill Road on Map
Sight Name: Shankill Road
Sight Location: Belfast, Ireland (See walking tours in Belfast)
Sight Type: Attraction/Landmark
Guide(s) Containing This Sight:
Sight Location: Belfast, Ireland (See walking tours in Belfast)
Sight Type: Attraction/Landmark
Guide(s) Containing This Sight:
Walking Tours in Belfast, Ireland
Create Your Own Walk in Belfast
Creating your own self-guided walk in Belfast is easy and fun. Choose the city attractions that you want to see and a walk route map will be created just for you. You can even set your hotel as the start point of the walk.
Belfast Victorian Architecture Jewels
Described as 鈥渕odestly scaled, undemonstrative, somewhat solid in aspect, and usually restrained (sometimes even austere) in its use of external decoration鈥�, the urban landscape of Belfast has been influenced by the demands of shipbuilding and linen industry, much as transitioning between culture, arts, commerce, and education. Still, the architectural spectrum of the city is quite broad and... view more
Tour Duration: 2 Hour(s)
Travel Distance: 2.9 Km or 1.8 Miles
Tour Duration: 2 Hour(s)
Travel Distance: 2.9 Km or 1.8 Miles
The Troubles and Peace Process Landmarks
Decades past the official end of The Troubles in Belfast, the price of peace in Northern Ireland remains high. One of the means with which to secure it, back in 1969, was erecting a wall to physically separate the capital's warring Protestant and Catholic communities. Known since as the Peace Wall, the structure has become a popular tourist attraction for the multiple murals painted thereon... view more
Tour Duration: 1 Hour(s)
Travel Distance: 2.1 Km or 1.3 Miles
Tour Duration: 1 Hour(s)
Travel Distance: 2.1 Km or 1.3 Miles
Belfast Introduction Walking Tour
For over a century, the political situation of Belfast, the capital of Northern Ireland, has been the source of strife, first between the Crown-loyal Protestants and Irish Catholics, and more recently between the United Kingdom and the European Union.
Sitting on the banks of the River Lagan where it meets the Irish Sea, the city owes its name to this coastal condition, with "Belfast"... view more
Tour Duration: 2 Hour(s)
Travel Distance: 3.8 Km or 2.4 Miles
Sitting on the banks of the River Lagan where it meets the Irish Sea, the city owes its name to this coastal condition, with "Belfast"... view more
Tour Duration: 2 Hour(s)
Travel Distance: 3.8 Km or 2.4 Miles