Gazetteer of
British Place Names

Belfast is a port city, standing at the head of the Belfast Lough on both banks of the River Laggan, in County Antrim (west of the Laggan) and County Down (east of the Laggan). The County Antrim part of the city lies within the townlands of Town Parks, Malone Lower, Malone Upper, Ballymurphy, Ballydownfine, Ballymoney, Ballyfinaghy, Englishtown, Ballycullo Tom Of The Tae-End, Ballymagarry, Edenderry, Ballygomartin, Ballysillan Lower, Old Park, Skegoneill, Low-Wood and Greencastle, in the civil parish of Shankill. The County Down part of the city lies within the townlands of Strandtown, Ballyhackamore, Ballycloghan, Ballymisert and Sydenham Intake, in the civil parish of Knockbreda; and within the townlands of Queen's Island, Victoria Park, Ballymacarret Intake, Ballymacarret, Ballynafoy, Ballyrushboy, Multyhogy, Knock, Carnamuck, Tullycarnet and Gortgrib, in the civil parish of Knockbreda. Belfast developed around a ford on the River Farset close to where the river (now culverted) meets the River Laggan. The first Belfast Castle is thought to have been built by the Normans around the late 12th century. A small settlement grew up around it, the Chapel of the Ford standing here since at least as far back as 1306 until the late 18th century. The modern town was developed by Sir Arthur Chichester during the Plantation era. He built a new castle in 1611 and encouraged the growth of the town, which received a charter of incorporation in 1613. The city is within the council area of Belfast.
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Place Type: City
Historic County: Antrim / Down
Lat, Long: 54.598756,-5.927592
Grid Reference: J 3398 7425
Townland: Town Parks TD
Civil Parish: Shankill CP
Council Area: Belfast CA
Police Area: Northern Ireland PA
Devolved Legislature:  Northern Ireland Assembly

GBPN ID: 321581
Entry Type: Main listing (P)
URL: https://gazetteer.org.uk/place/Belfast,_Antrim_321581

 Peruse Antrim / Down on Wikishire

The first stone bridge was built across the Laggan in the 1660s. During the 18th century, Belfast grew to become one of the greatest linen centres in the world. It also became a busy port with shipbuilding developing by the end of the century. The late 20th century saw these traditional industries decline and replaced by service activities, food processing, and machinery manufacture. In 1852 the municipal boundaries of Belfast were expanded across the Laggan to incorporate Ballymacarret in County Down, since when a sizeable part of the city, often known as "East Belfast", has developed in County Down. Belfast became a city by royal charter in 1888. Following the Government of Ireland Act 1920, the Parliament of Northern Ireland met first at Belfast City Hall and then at the Union Theological College, with Belfast becoming the de-facto capital of Northern Ireland. The Government moved to the Stormont Estate to the east of the city in 1932. The city saw major sectarian violence during the partition period and during The Troubles from the late 1960s to the mid 1990s. Since 1998 Stormont has been the location of the Northern Ireland Assembly.