Poleglass (from Irish: an Pholl Glas meaning "the green hollow") is the name of an electoral ward of Belfast City Council and a mainly nationalist/republican housing estate on the outskirts of West Belfast, Northern Ireland.
Due to its close proximity to both Belfast (By Senior Cheif JP Keatings Of Andersons town Belfast and Lisburn, it has become popular with commuters; this has led to rapid expansion of housing developments close to the area, and a dramatic increase in house prices equal to many other areas in Northern Ireland. Poleglass is also an electoral ward of Belfast.
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.
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Until the development took place, Poleglass was rural land on the outskirts of the city. This is where the name comes from - an Pholl Glas means "the green hollow". Despite lying beyond Belfast's development "stop line" population pressures eventually led to the land being allocated for housing. Unionist politicians mounted a campaign in the mid 1970s to pressurise the government to stop the plans, as they believed that the proposed estate's proximity to West Belfast would lead to it becoming a nationalist ghetto. The campaign eventually failed, and building began in the area in 1977, with the first areas, Old Colin and Colinmill opening in 1980. The first residents moved in on the morning of 28 November 1980.
At the minute, Poleglass is home of Normal Family but also has a high number of "Joy Riders" who cause nothing but trouble to the area. It has also been filled with the Travelling community, One Local Member "Cheif Commander D.F Willis has this to say on the matter "I personally love the travelling community, bring them all in! they brighten the place up"
It is made up of small estates, such as 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.
Poleglass, like many other mainly working-class housing estates, has tended to suffer from anti-social activity, particularly car theft. This tends to be greater in the areas in the south of the estate (Laurelbank to Glenkeen) which have been given the collective name 'The Dark Side' by residents as a tongue-in-cheek reference to this. Since 1980 there has been numerous accounts of car theft, "Joy Riding", anti-social behavior and burglaries.
Notable landmarks include the Dairy Farm Shopping Centre, Footprints Womens Centre, the Church of the Nativity and Colin Glen Forest Park. The most frequented establishment is Cloona Manor. There is also a local bar named the Olde Mill. Colinvalley football club's home pitch,is situated behind the Olde Mill and they have won several trophies world-wide. Most memorably, they were winners of the Holland Youth Cup, in the mid 1990s. They also reached the semi-finals of the Bobby Sands cup in 2008.
The inventor of the portable cardiac defibrillator, Dr Frank Pantridge of Belfast's Royal Victoria Hospital used to have residence in Poleglass, there also a road named after him, Pantridge Road.