History of Belfast 1900-1910

By the year 1900 Belfast was growing quickly and was in fact the largest city in Ireland and the twelfth largest in the United Kingdom

. In 1896 the White Linen Hall had been knocked down and was being replaced with what is now known as Belfast City Hall.

This new building was considered by the merchants of Belfast to be a much grander affair for such a growing and booming city. The designer of the City Hall was Alfred Brumwell Thomas, a young London architect. Under his design the City Hall was built by H&J Martin and cost at that time almost twice its planned budget and a whopping 360,000. This prompted an enquiry by the Local Government Board in Dublin Castle.

The Portland stone building was opened in 1906 with a rich Italian marbleinteriorand a dome that was 173 feet high. At the same time all around the City Hall new and impressive buildings were being erected which included the Northern Bank, The Scottish Provident Association and the Ocean Buildings.

Various other impressive buildings were opened including Custom House in 1901, the Royal Victoria Hospital in 1903, and The Mater Hospital in 1900. Students of medicine were also taught there.

Belfast had a population at this time of 350,000 and many of the people lived in kitchen and parlour terraced houses. The cost of living was high and living conditions were tough. So tough were they they led to the Belfast Dock Strike in 1907. Jim Larkin, a Liverpool man arrived at this time to organise a branch of the National Union of Dockers.

For children the death rate was high due mainly to typhoid and tuberculosis. Only strong action by the medical officer Dr H.W.Baillie and the introduction of clean water from the Mourne Mountains finally eradicated these two dreadful diseases.

Belfast continued to develop with the city boundary being ever extended to include middle class suburbs and areas such as:

Rosetta

Bloomfield

The Glen Road

As these suburbs grew steadily people left the City Centre and then travelled in and out by tram. The City Centre developed as a commercial centre and also as a place for entertainment. Buildings such as the Opera House opened in 1895, and The Hippodrome also opened its doors around this time. As far back as 1873 the Alhambra Theatre opened and was Belfast's most popular music hall.

The shipyard, rope making and linen were the mainstay of manufacturing though during the tough recession of 1904/5 life was tough for Belfast citizens. Belfast did remain the busiest port in Ireland but it depended heavily on the export of linen, rope, tobacco, tea machinery and various engineering products. Belfast in turn depended completely on Scottish coal and ships arrived daily to supply it.

History of Belfast 1900-1910

By: Enda McLarnon

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