Welcome to The Shankill

By Joe Graham

In these pages I hope to re-republish some history and folklore of the old Belfast districts from earlier editions of my publication Rushlight The Belfast Magazine, and I ask, Why Not ?, for it seems many others are using old Rushlight as a source of information so this will afford younger people who may not have access to Rushlight’s of two or three decades ago to avail of any the same references.

I will be covering The New Lodge, Ardoyne , Half Bap, Little Italy, Pound Loney, Fenian Gut, Carrick Hill, The Marrowbone, Ballymacarret, The Market, Old Smithfield, Sailortown, Bakery Quarter, and of course my own favourite district Ballymurphy , God’s Little Acre, etc, etc... Perhaps we can have a quick glimpse here at the Shankill, until I get to complete it...

The Shankill

The Shankill Road begins at Peter's Hill, which, Above, the old Peter's hill Corporation Baths, the original private baths which stood on this site was owned by Israel Millikin, Patriot, United Irishman, and life long friend of Jemmy Hope. by the way can be seen on old maps of Belfast as called "St. Peter's Hill". Shankill itself comes from the Gaelic, Sean chill "old Church", a reference to the old white church established by St. Patrick which suggests that the great man himself passed through the area. The first mention of a church having been on this very holy Irish spot goes back to 1306, long before Henry V111's Reformation and indeed the plantation of Ulster. This is not the only hint of Gaelicism in the area, "Bowers Hill", that part of the road at Agnes Street, means "Hill of the Weddings" (or marriages). On old maps of Belfast you can see the Road named as "Antrim Road", and this is a continuing source of annoyance to me when 'anoracks' mention this in apparent amazement, they cant imagine (in days of no buses or black taxis DOH!) this being the obvious route to Antrim Town, up the Shankill, Ballygomartin , then Glencarn Road, through the cleft in Divis and onto the seven mile straight into Antrim Town,,, how hard is that to understand??? What do they want? Signposts? DOH!! The Shankill, or Heel and Ankle, although fiercely Unionist today, the road at one time housed such great Irish patriots as Jemmy Hope, Israel Milliken and the Rev.Isaac Nelson. But first  Tommy Armour

A Tribute to Tommy Armour .. By Sean Morris

A drive around loyalist areas of Belfast shows that they are starting to give overdue recognition to their sporting heroes. The incredible talents of George Best have been immortalised in wall murals. Young David Healy has several wall painting giving tribute to his abilities. The Glentoran team who invaded America have found their exploits applauded by local artists.

One thing which baffles me is why one of the Shankill's greatest sporting legends has been forgotten. Tommy Armour was born in a year which saw the political face of Ireland begin to change...1916. Like a lot of youngsters in those days when widespread poverty was endemic, Tommy saw boxing as a way to put food on the table and turned professional shortly after his 20th birthday.

From the beginning the Shankill puncher filled halls wherever he appeared. His terrific punching power saw him flatten 72 opponents in a career of 184 fights. Many world champions of the past twenty years have won their title after a handful of contests.

Tommy had a series of four bone crunching battles with docklands hero Patsy Quinn.Their fight for the N.I. Welterweight title in the Kings Hall in 1944 was an explosive afffair with Quinn lifting the title.

When offered a fight with the Dublin hero Spike McCormick he travelled twice to the capital to swap punches. Others he fought were Jimmy Ingle, Billy Smith, Freddie Warnock, and the English hero Eric Boon who he KOed in five rounds.

Newspapers have ran stories that loyalist leaders are to remove para-military murals from the walls in their areas. They should replace them with tributes to sportsmen like Armour and Jimmy Warnock, another Shankill legend.

The nearby Church of st. Matthew's, built in the shape of a Shamrock, if one had an Ariel view of it, is said to house a relic from the old church, the baptismal font. which can be seen at the front of today’s church.

Between the Graveyard and the church there use to be a house there belonged to "Scrappy" Robinson, a local scrap iron merchant and either side of the front doot there were two life size statues one of a male, the other a female, hence the house became locally known as "The Adam and Eve House". By the way.. can you name the three streets named after Catholic priests from St. Peter's Cathedral that were in Agnes Street, a free "Old Belfast" video for the first three readers who give the correct answers. contact Joe rushlight123@hotmail.com

The scene in Berlin Street Shankill Road immediately after a heavy bout of rioting, known as the Outdoor Relied Riots, it was the only time in modern history, since the rebellion of 1798, that Protestant Catholic and Dissenters united against the establishment.

Samuel Baxter, Socialist Martyr of 1930's O.D.R Riots. Samuel Baxter was a Brown Square Protestant involved in the protests of the hungry '30's when Belfast Catholics and Protestants stood shoulder to shoulder in protest at the dire conditions in Belfast at that time. Sadly the establishment suceeded in splitting their ranks by lying that the I.R.A were behind the protests, causing most protestants to step back. But not Sammy Baxter, he was shot dead by the R.U.C in the old Catholic Pound Loney area while manning a barricade there. His funeral was one of the biggest that Belfast ever witnessed, thousands of protestant and catholic workers followed his hearse. No memorial marks the spot either in the site of the Old Pound Loney where he died or Browns Square where he lived to commemorate Sammy Baxter. 

Rev. Isaac Nelson, Irish Patriot and Nationalist M.P. lived at Sugarfield House, the site of which gave name to the local street of that name, died, 7th March 1885,is buried at

 Shankill Cemetery,(above). His sister, Elizabeth erected a Headstone with the following inscription….

“No more hirelings to another’s law,

Yet ne’er will I desert man’s genuine rights.

But gladly perish in fair freedom’s cause.

And when at last I rest from mortal strife

May silver roses o’er my ashes bloom,

And ah, may she who shared my love through life".

Above: A Shankill Road Mural celebrating the Cromwell atrocities at Drogheda, Cromwell boasted, "Priests , men, women and children we have put to the sword."