Finaghy

Finaghy
Irish: an Fionnachadh
Finaghy
 Finaghy shown within Northern Ireland
Irish grid referenceO003360
DistrictBelfast City Council
CountyCounty Antrim
CountryNorthern Ireland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Postcode district BT
Dialling code 028
EU Parliament Northern Ireland
NI AssemblySouth Belfast
List of places
UK
Northern Ireland
Antrim

Coordinates: 54°33′50″N 5°59′12″W / 54.5638°N 5.9866°W

Finaghy (from Irish: an Fionnachadh, meaning "the white field")[1] is an electoral ward in the Balmoral district of Belfast City Council, Northern Ireland. It is based on the townland of Ballyfinaghy (from Irish: Baile an Fhionnachaidh).[2] There has been a small community in the area since the 17th century, and it has been involved in the production of linen, which was key to the Lagan Valley area at the time.

In the 1930s, the community gradually started to grow; the local Presbyterian church was founded in 1936. In the 1950s, the city of Belfast grew outwards. Housing estates were built in Finaghy; Benmore, Locksley and Erinvale, which caused the population at least to double. Finaghy now refers to the area along the Lisburn Road from the King's Hall to the start of Blacks Road and between the Malone Road and the M1 Motorway bridge at Finaghy Road North. The heart of the area is Finaghy crossroads, where the Lisburn Road intersects with Finaghy Road North and Finaghy Road South.

Finaghy is home to the first NHS purpose-built health clinic in the UK. Also of note is the fact that Finaghy has no pubs or betting shops: it was stipulated in land deeds that there were to be no public houses on the land belonging to Ballyfinaghy House, the past residence of Ralph Charley, a wealthy Belfast merchant who made a fortune from the linen industry. Behind the crossroads is the new Finaghy Campus, which houses a freshly built public library, the non-denominational Finaghy Primary School and community playing fields.

Finaghy is home to various Protestant congregations - Presbyterian, Methodist, Church of Ireland, Plymouth Brethren and Baptist and a large Roman Catholic congregation in nearby Dunmurry. Aside from the older Presbyterian Church, which now has a new Community Centre, there is a relatively modern Methodist Church which has a representation of Jacob's Ladder in its skyline. The Church of Ireland church is dedicated to St. Polycarp. St. Anne's Roman Catholic Parish Church and centre is nestled opposite the top of the Blacks Road. St Anne's Roman Catholic Primary School is situated next to it. Behind St. Anne's lies Rathmore Grammar School, a Catholic Grammar school.

See also

External links

References

  1. ↑ Placenames Database of Ireland
  2. ↑ Placenames NI