Short Strand

The Short Strand is a road and an area in Belfast where things happened. The murals tell us about the Catholic perspective. Perhaps the rubbish does too but Protestants have their charmless moments as well.

Was this a conference centre? Pass but the people were friendly.

 

Bobby Sands looks quite nice in the picture. The reality would have been much tougher.

 

These are Short Strand's war dead, killed by the British Army.

 

 

Short Strand today. It was much narrower until the 1950s.

 

The name remains but not a single house. Even the numbering is different.

 

The Albert bridge end of Madrid Street, that no longer exists.

Looking down the street towards the distant Albert Bridge

 

Corner of Madrid Street and Woodstock Street. 1970

 

That was then. This is before.

Looking from bridge ...up Madrid Street. on left .....right up to Mountpottinger Road. in the distance. Tram line period. John Murray's grocer's shop on previous photo can be seen over there on the left on the corner of Woodstock Street. This is sometime in the 1950's......

 

Short Strand Glass Factory
Was the biggest in Europe once. Now [ August 2009 ] it is an archaeological site being excavated.