Woodvale Park is a park in

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 Kingdo ...

, Northern Ireland. Opened in 1888 and run by the

city council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counc ...

, it provides a venue for

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

and bowls as well as a children's play area and landscaped areas for walking. The park is home to the Peace Tree, an oak planted in 1919 to commemorate the end of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, which was voted Northern Ireland's Tree of the Year for 2015. The European War Memorial honouring those from all sides killed during the

was unveiled in the park in 2014.

Description

The park lies in the Woodvale district of Belfast adjacent to Woodvale Road and Ballygomartin Road. The park is a current holder of a

Green Flag Award The Green Flag Award is an international accreditation given to publicly accessible parks and open spaces, managed under licence from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, a UK Government department, by Keep Britain Tidy, ...

. Woodvale park has full size

pitches, 7-a-side football pitches, a bowls green and pavilion, a children's playground, a toddlers play area, an outdoor exercise area, a community garden and allotments. Its landscape features a bandstand, landscaped flower beds and shrubberies. It has several trails said to be popular with walkers. The park opens at 7.30 a.m. each day and some of the grounds are lit.

History

The park was originally the site of Woodvale House, which was located in southern portion of the grounds adjacent to Woodvale Road. The house and grounds were sold to the

Belfast Corporation 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 l ...

by Reverend Glover in 1888. The corporation planned to open the park to the public under the name "Shankhill Park", but this was changed to "Woodvale Park" shortly before it opened. The park opened to the public on 18 August 1888. It was scheduled to be opened by local dignitaries at 3pm. There was a delay in the representatives arriving and at 3.35pm a park ranger unlocked the gates and opened the park to a large waiting crowd. The park originally featured a pond that was used for ice skating in the winter. This was filled in at some point after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and the children's play area constructed on the site. The park underwent a £2 million refurbishment that was completed in August 2013. A formal reopening was to have been carried out by the

Sinn Féin Sinn Féin ( , ; en, " eOurselves") is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active throughout both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur Gri ...

Lord Mayor of Belfast The Lord Mayor of Belfast is the leader and chairperson of Belfast City Council, elected annually from and by the City's 60 councillors. The Lord Mayor also serves as the representative of the city of Belfast, welcoming guests from across the Un ...

Máirtín Ó Muilleoir Máirtín Ó Muilleoir ( Martin Millar; born 1959) is an Irish Sinn Féin politician, author, publisher and businessman, who served as the 58th Lord Mayor of Belfast (2013–14). Ó Muilleoir's siblings include writer, blogger and '' Huffington ...

. During the ceremony he came under attack by

loyalist 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 ...

members of the crowd. Ó Muilleoir sought refuge in a nearby shed and remained there for 20 minutes whilst his police escort organised an escape. Three men later appeared in court charged with disorder over the incident. The park's bandstand was granted protection as a listed structure in March 2016. That October a statue was unveiled in the park to commemorate Shankill's contribution to boxing history. In 2017 the council, in conjunction with the Northern Ireland Housing Executive opened elf-themed children's trails within the park. An accompanying puzzle booklet was also produced. In July 2018 the park hosted the first Woodvale Festival, a free event featuring pop music, fairground amusements and traditional local dancing and music. In September 2018 a sculpted metal bench was placed in the park as a memorial to those lost to suicide and to encourage people to talk about their mental health.

War memorial

An oak tree ('' Quercus robur''), known as the Peace Tree, was planted in the park on Empire Day 1919 to remember those killed during the

. It became a focal point for veterans in the local area. A similar tree was planted at the same time in Falls Park but died of natural causes. Discussions have taken place recently between local politicians with a view to replacing the tree. The Woodvale Park tree was later forgotten until its rediscovery during preparations for the 90th anniversary of start of the

Battle of the Somme The Battle of the Somme ( French: Bataille de la Somme), also known as the Somme offensive, was a battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British Empire and French Third Republic against the German Empire. It took place bet ...

in 2006. At this time the original railing around the tree, which had been lost, was replaced. The tree and its planting ceremony are recounted in Robert Scott's work ''A Breath of Fresh Air, The Story of Belfast Parks''. The Peace Tree was voted Northern Ireland's Tree of the Year for 2015. It was nominated for the European Tree of the Year competition of 2016 and came 13th out of 15 trees with 628 votes. A memorial for the First World War was unveiled in the park in October 2014, near to the Peace Tree. Known as the European War Memorial, it commemorates the dead from all sides, including Germany, and was said to be unique in this respect. The memorial is a 6.5 tonne chunk of granite cut with six sides to resemble a stone from Giant's Causeway. The unveiling ceremony was conducted by the

Lord Lieutenant of Belfast The Lord Lieutenant of Belfast is the official representative of The King for the 'County Borough of Belfast', Northern Ireland. The current Lord Lieutenant is Dame Fionnuala Mary Jay-O'Boyle, DBE, who was appointed in July 2014. The position ...

, Fionnuala Jay-O'Boyle and was attended by senior unionist politicians. The memorial was vandalised in May 2016 with a stone tablet being smashed, the main memorial daubed in green paint, flowers being ripped up and a

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

flag torn down. The memorial was repaired and rededicated on 1 July 2016, the 100th anniversary of the

first day on the Somme The first day on the Somme, 1 July 1916, was the beginning of the Battle of Albert the name given by the British to the first two weeks of the 141 days of the Battle of the Somme () in the First World War. Nine corps of the French Sixth Arm ...

References

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