Linen Quarter, Belfast

A black and white photograph, showing a stately-looking two storey building with white walls, extending out of shot to the left and right, with an arched cart entrance at the centre. A modest clocktower rises above the entrance, and the building is surrounded by neat shrubbery and iron railings. A wide street crosses left-right outside of the fence, with a handful of horse-drawn carts and pedestrians in 19th century clothing.
The White Linen Hall, or the Linen Hall Library as it was in 1888, photographed from Donegall Square North. Now replaced by Belfast City Hall.

The Linen Quarter is the area of Belfast south of the City Hall bounded by Donegall Square South/May Street, Bedford Street, Ormeau Avenue and Cromac Street. The name is derived from the great many linen manufacturers that made their homes in the area and which were so influential in the development of Belfast, a city once referred to as the "Linenopolis".[1]

The site now occupied by Belfast City Hall was once the home of the White Linen Hall, an important international linen exchange. The street which runs from the back door of Belfast City Hall through the middle of the Linen Quarter is known as Linen Hall Street.

The Linen Hall Library, one of Belfast's oldest cultural institutions, that occupies a site in Donegall Square North in front of today's City Hall, started life within the walls of the White Linen Hall.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Millies and Doffers". bbc.co.uk. BBC Online. Retrieved 27 June 2013.

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