Poleglass () is an area of west

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

. It is the name of a

townland A townland (; Ulster-Scots: ''toonlann'') is a traditional small land division used in Ireland and in the Western Isles of Scotland, typically covering . The townland system is of medieval Gaelic origin, predating the Norman invasion, and mo ...

, a modern

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, and a working class

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser or less densely populated ...

. The townland is situated in the

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

Derriaghy Derriaghy, (; also known as Derryaghy), (), is a townland (of 538 acres) and civil parish in County Antrim, Northern Ireland, south-west of Belfast city centre. The townland is situated in the historic barony of Belfast Upper and the civil pari ...

and the historic

Barony Barony may refer to: * Barony, the peerage, office of, or territory held by a baron * Barony, the title and land held in fealty by a feudal baron * Barony (county division), a type of administrative or geographical division in parts of the British ...

Belfast Upper Belfast Upper is a barony in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. To its east lies the barony of Belfast and Belfast Lough, and it is bordered by five other baronies: Belfast Lower to the north-east; Antrim Upper to the north-west; Massereene Lowe ...

. It is mainly an

Irish nationalist Irish nationalism is a nationalist political movement which, in its broadest sense, asserts that the people of Ireland should govern Ireland as a sovereign state. Since the mid-19th century, Irish nationalism has largely taken the form of cult ...

area. Due to its proximity to both Belfast and

Lisburn Lisburn ( ; ) is a city in Northern Ireland. It is southwest of Belfast city centre, on the River Lagan, which forms the boundary between County Antrim and County Down. First laid out in the 17th century by English and Welsh settlers, with t ...

, it has become popular with commuters. This has led to the swift growth of housing in the area and a sharp rise in house prices. Addresses in Poleglass are classed as being in Belfast, and the telephone numbers in the area generally start with '90' as with the rest of Belfast.

Early history

The area currently known as Poleglass has a long history of human habitation, with a

ringfort Ringforts or ring forts are small circular fortification, fortified settlements built during the Bronze Age, Iron Age and early Middle Ages up to about the year 1000 AD. They are found in Northern Europe, especially in Ireland. There are ...

having existed in the area yielding artefacts from the early Christian era. A thirteenth century silver coin was also excavated. By the early 20th century the area had become part of the

green belt A green belt or greenbelt is a policy, and land-use zone designation used in land-use planning to retain areas of largely undeveloped, wilderness, wild, or agricultural landscape, land surrounding or neighboring urban areas. Similar concepts ...

between Belfast and Lisburn and was largely uninhabited. Cloona House is a substantial country house, a few miles from Belfast when it was built. It was the childhood home of

Beatrice Grimshaw Beatrice Ethel Grimshaw (3 February 1870 – 30 June 1953) was an Irish writer and traveller. Beginning in 1903, she worked as a travel writer for the ''Daily Graphic'' and ''The Times'', leading her to move to the Territory of Papua, wh ...

, journalist and adventurer. It was taken over by the Ministry of Defence in 1940, and served as the home of the

General Officer Commanding General officer commanding (GOC) is the usual title given in the armies of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth (and some other nations, such as Ireland) to a general officer who holds a command appointment. Thus, a general might be the GOC ...

of the British Army in

. In 1980 it was bought by the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

. It has been used for a community projects and since 2011 has been occupied by Colin Neighbourhood Partnership.

Development

Poleglass was one of a number of housing schemes established in the forty years or so after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

as an attempt to alleviate the overcrowding of the Catholic areas of west Belfast, in particular the lower Falls Road, which underwent extensive redevelopment during the period. The building of the estate was first mooted in 1973 but its location within the boundaries of Lisburn, a town at the time with a significant Protestant majority, led to vehement protests from

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 Cr ...

. Building did not begin until 1979 and as a result of pressure from both Unionist politicians and the

Ulster Defence Association The Ulster Defence Association (UDA) is an Ulster loyalist paramilitary group in Northern Ireland. It was formed in September 1971 as an umbrella group for various loyalist groups and undertook an armed campaign of almost 24 years as one of t ...

the original Department of Environment plan for 4,000 houses had been scaled back to 1,563. The first areas, Old Colin and Colinmill, opened in 1980 with the first residents moved in on the morning of 28 November 1980. By the year 2000 Poleglass had expanded to around 2,000 dwellings. This expansion was necessitated by the demolition of parts of the Divis flats on the lower Falls, with the residents rehoused in Poleglass. It is made up of small estates, such as Glenbank, Glenbawn, Merrion Park, Woodside, Glenwood, Glenkeen, Laurelbank, Old Colin, Colinmill, Springbank, Colinbrook, Colinvale, Ardcaoin and Brianswell. Each of these vary in their size and age, some being fairly recent developments, others being original housing from when Poleglass first emerged. Notable landmarks include the Dairy Farm Shopping Centre, Footprints Women's Centre, the Church of the Nativity and Colin Glen Forest Park. The home of youth team Colin Valley football is situated behind the Olde Mill and they have won several trophies world-wide. Most memorably, they were winners of the Holland Youth Cup 1997. The Colin Valley senior side are also based at Good Shepherd Road in Poleglass. They compete in the intermediate sections of the

Northern Amateur Football League The Northern Amateur Football League, also known as the Northern Amateur League and often simply as the Amateur League, is an association football league in Northern Ireland. It contains 13 divisions. These comprise four intermediate sections: ...

. One of the newest developments within Poleglass would be the 'Páirc Nua Chollann' a new park program situated in the Southwest Colin area brought forward by elected Sinn Fein representatives at

Belfast City Council Belfast City Council () is the Local government in Northern Ireland, local authority with responsibility for part of Belfast, the largest city of Northern Ireland. The council serves an estimated population of (), the largest of any district c ...

to suit the needs of Poleglass's youth. The public was consulted over the naming of the park, with a majority local vote opting for the “full” Irish translation Páirc Nua Chollann. It received 317 responses, and accounted for 42.4 percent of the public vote. It replaced a previous option, the English/Irish hybrid “Páirc Nua Colin.”

Crime

In keeping with a number of social housing areas in Northern Ireland Poleglass has gained a reputation for the anti-social behaviour of gangs of " hoods" who indulge in such acts as joyriding. During the late 1990s a "Neighbourhood Watch" scheme was organised by local residents, with activities such as night-time patrols, the blocking of small streets to prevent access to joy riders and curfews for large groups of youth undertaken. The scheme was criticised by some as vigilantism with claims made by the families of some youths that they were forced out of the estate although members of the Neighbourhood Watch rejected these allegations. This followed an incident in September 1996 when the

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

expelled seven men aged between 17 and 30 from the area after they had been accused of a spate of arson attacks on vehicles. The dissident Arm Na Poblachta has shown a level of activity in the Polegrass area. Summary justice in the form of punishment beatings and knee cappings dealt out to transgressors by paramilitaries have continued to be a feature of life in Poleglass after the end of

the Troubles The Troubles () were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted for about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it began in the late 1960s and is usually deemed t ...

. One such attack occurred in August 2008 when a 20-year-old man was discovered after being shot in the legs. In 2011 a 46-year-old man was seriously injured in the area in a case treated by police as attempted murder although no suggestion was made that this attack was connected to paramilitaries or punishment attacks.

Transport

Poleglass is served by the

Metro Metro may refer to: Geography * Metro City (Indonesia), a city in Indonesia * A metropolitan area, the populated region including and surrounding an urban center Public transport * Rapid transit, a passenger railway in an urban area with high ...

arm of Translink bus services as part of the 10c Colin Connect feeder service Poleglass to City Centre services are the, 10f, 10x and the 530a. The Poleglass to Lisburn service is the 530a. The West Belfast Taxi Association, which provides a

hackney carriage A hackney or hackney carriage (also called a cab, black cab, hack or taxi) is a carriage or car for hire. A hackney of a more expensive or high class was called a remise. A symbol of London and Britain, the black taxi is a common sight on t ...

taxibus A share taxi, shared taxi, taxibus, or jitney or dollar van in the US, or marshrutka in former Soviet countries, is a mode of transport which falls between a taxicab and a bus. Share taxis are a form of paratransit. They are vehicles for hire an ...

" service to the outlying estates beyond the Falls Road, also connects the city centre with Poleglass.

Politics

Poleglass is part of the Collin District Electoral Area. Poleglass, like most of West Belfast, overwhelmingly votes for nationalist parties like

Sinn Fein In the philosophy of language, the distinction between sense and reference was an idea of the German philosopher and mathematician Gottlob Frege in 1892 (in his paper "On Sense and Reference"; German: "Über Sinn und Bedeutung"), reflecting the ...

and the

SDLP The Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP; ) is a social democratic and Irish nationalist political party in Northern Ireland. The SDLP currently has eight members in the Northern Ireland Assembly ( MLAs) and two members of Parliament (MPs ...

. Since 2014, Poleglass has had a Sinn Fein councillor as their representative. Cllr Magennis led from 2014 till 2022 after being elected twice, he was later co-opted by Cllr McCann who is pushing to be elected for the first time in the

2023 Northern Ireland Local Elections Local government in Northern Ireland, Local elections were held in Northern Ireland on 18 May 2023. The elections were delayed by two weeks to avoid overlapping with the Coronation of Charles III and Camilla, coronation of King Charles III. Foll ...

Adjacent areas

Poleglass is bordered on the east by the Stewartstown Road, which originates in the Andersonstown area of west Belfast. There are two main areas of housing on this road apart from Poleglass i.e. Twinbrook and Lagmore. Notable residents of Twinbrook have included

Bobby Sands Robert Gerard Sands (; 9 March 1954 – 5 May 1981) was a member of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) who died on hunger strike while imprisoned at HM Prison Maze in Northern Ireland. Sands helped to plan the 1976 Balmoral Furnit ...

who led an IRA active service unit on the estate from his parents' Laburnum Way home before his imprisonment prior to his death on hunger strike. Twinbrook has also long been home to several

Irish Traveller Irish Travellers (, meaning ''the walking people''), also known as Mincéirs (Shelta: ''Mincéirí'') or Pavees, are a traditionally List of nomadic peoples#Peripatetic, peripatetic Indigenous peoples, indigenous Ethnic group, ethno-cultural g ...

families. Like Poleglass, Twinbrook gives its name to an electoral ward in the Dunmurry Cross area of Lisburn City Council. The Lagmore housing estate lies to the south of Poleglass, in the Derriaghy area of

. Lagmore is a more recent development than Poleglass or Twinbrook and indeed as of 2012 houses are still being built on the estate. Its Catholic church, Christ the Redeemer, was only created as a breakaway parish from St Luke's Twinbrook in 1997 whilst the local primary school of the same name dates to only 1999.

Notable people

* Belle Steel * Michael Ferguson * Frank Pantridge * Chris Ward *

References

{{Reflist Geography of Belfast Wards of Northern Ireland Civil parish of Derriaghy