Falls Road
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- Falls Road also refers to the Rochester, Lockport and Niagara Falls Railroad, the New York Central Railroad's line to Niagara Falls, New York.
The Falls Road (Bóthar na bhFál in Irish, meaning "road of the hedgerows") is the main road through West Belfast in Northern Ireland; from Divis Street and Castle Place in Belfast City Centre to Andersonstown in the suburbs. Its name is synonymous with the Catholic and republican communities in the city. It is easily known as one of the more famous streets in Northern Ireland, drawing many tourists all year round. The neighbouring Shankill Road is predominantly Protestant, separated from the Falls Road by peace lines.
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[edit] History
As its name implies, the Falls Road was originally a country lane leading from the city centre but the population of the area expanded rapidly in the nineteenth century with the construction of several large linen mills. All of these have now closed. The housing in the area developed in the nineteenth century and was organised in narrow steets of small terraced back-to-back housing. By the 1960s the buildings in the area had decayed considerably and the Belfast Corporation introduced a major development plan which involved wholescale demolition of much of the area and its replacement with a series of flat complexes. The high point of this redevelopment was Divis Tower.
[edit] Politics
As a predominantly working class community it is not surprising that the Falls Road has historically had a strong socialist tradition. James Connolly, the Irish socialist resided in the Upper Falls for a period in the early 20th century and was involved in organizing the workers in the linen mills.
In 1964 Billy McMillen stood as a Republican Clubs candidate for the Belfast West constituency in the Westminster government. His office was in Divis Street and proudly displayed the Irish tricolour alongside the The Starry Plough (flag) of James Connolly's Irish Citizen Army in the office window. This public display of the flag of Ireland was prohibited by the Northern Ireland government at that time. Whipped up by the rhetoric of the Protestant preacher Ian Paisley gangs of youths from the Shankill Road smashed the office window and removed the flag. The arrival of these Protestant youths provoked widespread social unrest. This is sometimes considered the start of The Troubles.
In the 1960s there were attempts by the Northern Ireland Stormont government to introduce more cordial relations with the government of the Republic of Ireland. This led to substantial disquiet among loyalist politicians. In addition, residents of the Falls Road and other Catholic areas of Northern Ireland began to campaign for civil rights including an end to political discrimination.
In response to the Northern Ireland riots of August 1969, when several streets around the Falls were burned out by loyalists, the British government introduced British troops onto the Falls Road. The troops were initially welcomed by the residents of the Falls Road as a source of protection. The community of the Falls had come under assault by Protestant gangs, the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC), a mainly Protestant police force, and the B-Specials, a government paramilitary reserve force. However, this attitude on the part of residents quickly turned to anger as they were drawn into conflct with the British Army. In 1970, the road was the scene of what became known as the Falls Curfew. In response to a gun and grenade attack by the Provisional IRA, the British army, using 3000 troops, sealed off the streets around the road, home to about 10,000 people, and flooded the area with tear gas in an attempt to recover IRA weapons. After an all day gun battle (predominantly with the Official IRA), ninety rifles were recovered and four civilians were killed by the soldiers. This event is widely regarded as the end of the British army's "honeymoon" period with nationalists in Northern Ireland. For the following thirty years the British Army and maintained a substantial presence on the Falls Road, with a base on top of the Divis Tower. This was removed in August 2005 as part of the British government's Normalisation programme following the IRA's statement that it was ending its armed activities. In the intervening period, the Falls Road area some much of the worst violence of the Troubles.
[edit] Culture
The area has a rich and vibrant culture. Over the past thirty years there has been a susbtantial revival of traditional culture in terms of Irish language, dancing and music. These are all displayed in the Feile an Phobail, which is an annual festival that aims to rival the Belfast Festival at Queen's.
In recent times the area has become a tourist destination, with people wanting to see the site of some of the incidents that occurred during The Troubles and the many republican murals that are now to be seen in the area. A popular destination is the Sinn Féin shop and office with its mural of hunger striker Bobby Sands which is often used by Sinn Féin politicians as a backdrop when giving television interviews. Another popular destination is a wall of ever-changing murals mainly dedicated to peoples/revolutionaries inspired by or with connections to Irish Republicanism (Blanketmen, Palestinians, ETA, Frederick Douglass etc) which is located close to the newly refurbished Falls Road Leisure Centre and the Divis area.
[edit] Educational institutions and hospitals
Several large educational institutions are also located in the area. These include St. Dominic's High School, St Rose's High School, St Mary's University College, Irish language secondary school Coláiste Feirste and St. Louise's Comprehensive College, one of the largest comprehensives in Europe. There were also several primary schools including St Finian's Primary School and St. Catherine's Primary School but these have recently closed due to falling student numbers. St Marys CBGS Belfast was originally located in Barrack Street off Divis Street in the lower Falls area but transferred to a greenfield site on the Glen Road in the upper Falls area in the 1960s.
There are also several large hospitals in the area including the Royal Victoria Hospital, the Royal Maternity and the Children's Hospital.
[edit] Notable buildings
Although the area is largely residential there are several substantial buildings. These include several Catholic churches such as St. Peter's Cathedral in the Divis Street/Lower Falls area, St. Paul's Church in the mid-Falls area and St. John's Church in the Upper Falls. Nearby is located Clonard monastery, the home of the Redemptorist religious order. Two large cemeteries are located at the top of the Falls Road - Belfast City Cemetery and Milltown Cemetery. The most famous of the original Mill Buildings is Conway Mill, originally a flax spinning mill, it now houses a community enterprise of small businesses, art studios, retail space and education floor.
[edit] References
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Roads and Motorways in Northern Ireland |
|---|---|
| Motorways: M1 | M2 | M3 | M5 | M12 | M22 | A8(M) | |
| Main 'A' Roads: A1 | A2 | A4 | A5 | A7 | A24 | A36 | |
| Belfast: Donegall Square | Falls Road | Malone Road | Shankill Road | Westlink | |
