Hotels in Belfast

Hotels in Belfast

Hotels in Belfast are often in required by tourists who want to vist the city to see the historic sites, the culture the entertainment and the sports venue of the city. Some may want to see the culture of the city. Some may prefer to see the historic landmarks of the city or to use the city as a base to see the region. Some tourists may prefer a luxury hotel or cheap hotel. Some tourists may want a large or small hotel or one with parking.

Belfast is the capital city of Northern Ireland and the seat of government in Northern Ireland. It is the largest urban area in Northern Ireland and the province of Ulster, the second largest city in Ireland

The city suffered disruption, conflict, and destruction during the Troubles, but later underwent a period of calmness and growth.

Originally a town in County Antrim, the county borough of Belfast was created when it was granted city status by Queen Victoria in 1888.

Origins

The name, Belfast, is the anglicised version of the Irish Béal Feirste, which translates as "Mouth of the (River) Farset". This term refers to the sand bar that formed where the River Farset met the River Lagan at what is now Donegall Quay and flowed into Belfast Lough, which became the hub around which the city developed.

The site of Belfast has been occupied since the Bronze Age. The Giant's Ring, a 5000 year-old henge, is located near the city, and the remains of Iron Age hill forts can still be seen in the surrounding hills. Belfast remained a small settlement of little importance during the Middle Ages. John de Courcy built a castle on what is now Castle Street in the city centre in the 12th century, but this was on a lesser scale and not as strategically important as Carrickfergus Castle to the north, which was built by de Courcy in 1177. The O'Neill clan had a presence in the area. In the 14th century the Clan Aedh Buidh, descendants of "Yellow" Hugh O'Neill built Grey Castle at Castlereagh, now in the east of the city. Conn O'Neill also owned land in the area, one remaining link being the Conn's Water river flowing thorough east Belfast.

Belfast became a substantial settlement in the 17th century after being established as a town by Sir Arthur Chichester, which was initially settled by Protestant English and Scottish migrants at the time of the Plantation of Ulster. (Belfast and County Antrim, however, did not form part of the Plantation scheme.) In 1791, the Society of United Irishmen was founded in Belfast, after Henry Joy McCracken and other prominent Presbyterians from the city invited Theobald Wolfe Tone and Thomas Russell to a meeting, after having read Tone's "Argument on Behalf of the Catholics of Ireland". Belfast blossomed as a commercial and industrial centre in the 18th and 19th centuries and became Ireland's pre-eminent industrial city. Industries thrived, including linen, rope-making, tobacco, heavy engineering and shipbuilding, and at the end of the nineteenth century, Belfast briefly overtook Dublin as the largest city in Ireland. The Harland and Wolff shipyards became one of the largest shipbuilders in the world, employing up to 35,000 workers.

Belfast is located at the eastern end of Belfast Lough and at the mouth of the River Lagan. In 1994, a weir was built across the river by the Laganside Corporation to raise the average water level so that it would cover the unseemly mud flats which gave Belfast its name (from the Irish: Béal Feirste meaning "The sandy ford at the river mouth". The area of Belfast Local Government District is 42.3 square miles.

The River Farset is also named after this silt deposit (from the Irish feirste meaning ‘sand spit’). Originally a more significant river than it is today, the Farset formed a dock on High Street until the mid 19th century. Bank Street in the city centre referred to the river bank and Bridge Street was named for the site of an early Farset bridge. However, superseded by the River Lagan as the more important river in the city, the Farset now languishes in obscurity, under High Street.

The city is flanked on the north and northwest by a series of hills, including Divis Mountain, Black Mountain and Cavehill thought to be the inspiration for Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels. When Swift was living at Lilliput Cottage near the bottom of the Limestone Road in Belfast, he imagined that the Cavehill resembled the shape of a sleeping giant safeguarding the city. The shape of the giant's nose, known locally as Napoleon's Nose, is officially called McArt's Fort probably named after Art O'Neill, a sixteenth century chieftain who controlled the area at that time. The Castlereagh Hills overlook the city on the southeast.

Find a Villa from Across Europe

Grand World Villas - Find a Villa from anywhere in the world

Grand Global Villas - Find Villas from Around the Globe

Planet Villas

An Index with links to almost all our sites

Holiday to - Great places to go on Holiday to

Holiday to 2 - More Great places to go on Holiday to

Holiday to 3 - More places to go on Holiday to

Holiday to 4 - More places to go on Holiday to

Hotel in 5 (Five)

Hotel in 6

Hotel in 7

Hotel in 8