Shankill Road is one of the main roads leading through West Belfast, in Northern Ireland.
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26 Facts About Shankill Road
2.
Settlement around the point at which the Shankill Road becomes the Woodvale Road, at the junction with Cambrai Street, was known as Shankill from the Irish Seanchill meaning "old church".
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3.
The lower sections of the Shankill Road were in former times the edge of Belfast with both Boundary Street on the lower Shankill and Townsend Street in the middle Shankill taking their names from the fact that at the time they were built they marked the approximate end of Belfast.
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5.
Under the leadership of Charles Harding Smith and Andy Tyrie, the Shankill Road became the centre of UDA activity, with the movement establishing its headquarters on the road.
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6.
Shankill Road begins at Peter's Hill, a road that flows from North Street in Belfast city centre and quickly merges into the Shankill itself at the Westlink.
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7.
The Hammer name is recalled in the Hammer Sports Complex, the home ground of amateur football side Shankill Road United FC The Lower Shankill Road has been redeveloped in recent years although during the 1960s the housing was ranked as the worst in Belfast.
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8.
The area was redeveloped some time before the lower Shankill leading to feelings locally that those in the upper part of the road were better off compared to the "Apaches" of the lower Shankill as they were colloquially known.
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9.
Amongst those buried in the Shankill Road Graveyard is Rev Isaac Nelson, a Presbyterian minister who was active in nationalist politics.
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10.
Nelson lived at Sugarfield House on the Shankill Road, which has since given its name to Sugarfield Street.
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11.
The oldest stone in the Shankill Road graveyard was known locally as the "Bullaun Stone" and was traditionally said to cure warts if the affected area were rubbed on the stone.
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12.
The Ballygomartin Shankill Road extends as far as the Upper Whiterock Shankill Road although after Springmartin the area is mainly countryside.
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13.
Stobie's killing, which occurred near his home on Forthriver Shankill Road, was publicly claimed by the Red Hand Defenders, a cover name used by various loyalist groups on ceasefire.
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14.
Shankill Road has been traditionally unionist and loyalist, albeit with some strength held by the labour movement.
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15.
Belfast Shankill, covering the north-west part of the Shankill Road, was established as a constituency of the Parliament of Northern Ireland in 1929 and existed until the body was abolished in 1973.
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16.
Shankill Road is currently part of the Belfast West constituencies for the Northern Ireland Assembly and Westminster.
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17.
At the Assembly the Shankill Road is represented by four Sinn Fein MLAs and one from the People Before Profit Alliance.
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18.
The abstentionist policy of Sinn Fein MP Gerry Adams, who was West Belfast's MP until his resignation in 2011, led to an attempted legal challenge by local councillor Frank McCoubrey who argued that Shankill Road residents were being denied their right to representation.
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20.
Primary schools in the greater Shankill area included Forth River Primary School on the Ballygomartin Road.
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21.
Shankill Road is one of a number of boxers from the area to be featured on a mural on Gardiner Street celebrating the area's strong heritage in boxing.
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22.
Football is a popular sport in the area with local teams including Shankill United, Albert Foundry, who play on the West Circular Road, Lower Shankill, who share the Hammer ground with United and Woodvale who won the Junior Cup in 2011.
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24.
Belfast was served by a network of trams in the first half of the 20th century and the Shankill Road was the last part of the city to see this service removed in the 1950s.
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25.
Public transport is provided by the Metro arm of Translink with the Shankill Road forming the eleventh of the company's twelve corridors.
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26.
Shankill Road Graveyard is one of the oldest cemeteries in the Greater Belfast Area.
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