Ballymacarrett or Ballymacarret () is the name of both a

townland A townland ( ga, baile fearainn; Ulster-Scots: ''toonlann'') is a small geographical division of land, historically and currently used in Ireland and in the Western Isles in Scotland, typically covering . The townland system is of Gaelic orig ...

and

electoral ward A ward is a local authority area, typically used for electoral purposes. In some countries, wards are usually named after neighbourhoods, thoroughfares, parishes, landmarks, geographical features and in some cases historical figures connected to ...

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdom ...

. The townland is in

County Down County Down () is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It covers an area of and has a population of 531,665. It borders County Antrim to th ...

and the electoral ward is part of the Titanic district electoral area of

Belfast City Council Belfast City Council ( ga, Comhairle Cathrach Bhéal Feirste) is the local authority with responsibility for part of the city of Belfast, the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland. The Council serves an estimated population of (), the ...

. The ward was created in 1973 with most of the population coming from the former Pottinger ward. The ward was slightly enlarged in 1985, taking in part of the Island ward. The ward consists of two distinct districts : Ballymacarrett itself, which is almost entirely Protestant, and the

Short Strand The Short Strand ( ga, an Trá Ghearr) is a working class, inner city area of Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is a mainly Catholic and Irish nationalist enclave surrounded by the mainly Protestant and unionist East Belfast. It is on the east ba ...

which is almost entirely Catholic, with the two separated by a peaceline. Consequently, in the 2001 census, the Roman Catholic community background figure was 51%. Set in the shadows of the

Harland and Wolff Harland & Wolff is a British shipbuilding company based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It specialises in ship repair, shipbuilding and offshore construction. Harland & Wolff is famous for having built the majority of the ocean liners for the W ...

cranes Samson & Goliath, large numbers of local men worked in the shipyard during its heyday. The area is also well known for 'Ulster's Freedom Corner', a series of loyalist murals.

History

The Troubles

In some ways the ward has been a microcosm of the Northern Ireland troubles. The June 1970 "Battle of Saint Matthew's" occupies an important place in Irish republican history after a gun battle between republicans and

loyalists Loyalism, in the United Kingdom, its overseas territories and its former colonies, refers to the allegiance to the British crown or the United Kingdom. In North America, the most common usage of the term refers to loyalty to the British Cro ...

, who were accused of attacking the church. Loyalists counter this with claims that three Orange Order members were killed after returning from a parade. The Historical Enquiries Team (HET) confirmed the loyalist version of events. It is seen as one of the key developments in the rise to prominence of the

Provisional IRA The Irish Republican Army (IRA; ), also known as the Provisional Irish Republican Army, and informally as the Provos, was an Irish republican paramilitary organisation that sought to end British rule in Northern Ireland, facilitate Irish re ...

. Similarly on the Ballymacarrett side of the peaceline, Protestant residents have claimed that Republicans are engaged in attacks on Protestant homes which amount to 'ethnic cleansing' – claims which Republicans dispute and deny.

2011 East Belfast riots

Ballymacarrett and the nearby Newtownards Road played a key part in what became known as the

2011 Northern Ireland riots The 2011 Northern Ireland riots were a series of riots between 20 June 2011 and 16 July 2011, starting originally in Belfast, before spreading to other parts of Northern Ireland. They were initiated by the Ulster Volunteer Force. June riots The ...

. At first, the riots were only located in the area and were known as the 2011 East Belfast riots but by July, the riots had spread to other parts of the country. During the riots, the Protestants in the area were going against

Catholics.

Transport

Ballymacarrett was the location of the Ballymacarrett Junction, a large

railway junction A junction, in the context of rail transport, is a place at which two or more rail routes converge or diverge. This implies a physical connection between the tracks of the two routes (assuming they are of the same gauge), provided by ''points'' ( ...

that served the

Belfast and County Down Railway The Belfast and County Down Railway (BCDR) was an Irish gauge () railway in Ireland (later Northern Ireland) linking Belfast with County Down. It was built in the 19th century and absorbed into the Ulster Transport Authority in 1948. All but th ...

from its Queens Quay terminus, to Bangor in the north, and the mainline running south to

Comber Comber ( , , locally ) is a town in County Down, Northern Ireland. It lies south of Newtownards, at the northern end of Strangford Lough. It is situated in the townland of Town Parks, the civil parish of Comber and the historic barony of Ca ...

Downpatrick Downpatrick () is a town in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is on the Lecale peninsula, about south of Belfast. In the Middle Ages, it was the capital of the Dál Fiatach, the main ruling dynasty of Ulaid. Its cathedral is said to be the b ...

and

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

. There was also an interconnection over the river Lagan to the Great Northern Railway and on to

Belfast Central railway station Belfast Lanyon Place (formerly Belfast Central, and known colloquially as Central Station) is a railway station serving the city of Belfast in Northern Ireland. Located on Bridge Street in the Laganside area of central Belfast, it is one of fou ...

. Ballymacarrett was the scene of the Ballymacarrett rail crash which occurred at 7.50am on 10 January 1945 when the 7.40am rail motor Holywood to Belfast crashed into the rear of the 7.10am Bangor to Belfast train. 22 passengers were killed, and 27 injured. The darkness and local fog were a factor but the driver of the rail motor was held to blame. Ballymacarrett Halt railway station was located on the B&CDR route from Belfast to Bangor. It opened on 1 May 1905, but closed on 9 May 1977, when the adjacent Bridge End railway station opened.

References

{{Coord, 54.6014, -5.9058, region:GB-NIR, format=dms, display=title Electoral wards of Belfast Townlands of County Down Civil parish of Knockbreda