The Falls Road (Bóthar na bhFál in Irish, meaning "road of the hedgerows") is the main road through West Belfast in Northern Ireland; from Divis Street and Castle Place in Belfast City Centre to Andersonstown in the suburbs. Its name is synonymous with the Catholic and republican communities in the city. It is easily known as one of the more famous streets in Northern Ireland, drawing many tourists all year round. The neighbouring Scumkill Road is predominantly Protestant, separated from the Falls Road by peace walls. West Belfast is a Parliamentary Constituency in the House of Commons and also an Assembly constituency in the Northern Ireland Assembly. ... Dieu et mon droit (motto) (French for God and my right)2 Northern Irelands location within the UK Main language English Other recognised languages Irish, Ulster Scots Capital and largest city Belfast First Minister Office suspended Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Peter Hain MP Area  - Total Ranked 4th... History Belfast City Centre was originally centred around the Donegall Street area. ... Andersonstown is a large suburb in west Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom. ... Fianna Fáil - The Republican Party (Pronounced fee-na fall.) (English: Soldiers of Destiny) is the largest political party in the Republic of Ireland. ... Protestantism is a general grouping of denominations within Christianity. ...

History

As its name implies, the Falls Road was originally a country lane leading from the city centre but the population of the area expanded rapidly in the nineteenth century with the construction of several large linen mills. All of these have now closed. The housing in the area developed in the nineteenth cenury and was organised in narrow steets of small terraced back-to-back housing. By the 1960s the buildings in the area had decayed considerably and the Belfast Corporation introduced a major development plan which involved wholescale demolition of much of the area and its replacement with a series of flat complexes. The high point of this redevelopment was Divis Tower. Torn linen cloth, recovered from the Dead Sea Linen is a material made from the fibers of the flax (and historically, cannabis) plant. ...

Politics

As a predominantly working class community it is not surprising that the Falls Road has historically had a strong socialist tradition. James Connolly, the Irish socialist, resided in the Upper Falls for a period in the early 20th century and was involved in organizing the workers in the linen mills. Socialism is a social and economic system (or the political philosophy advocating such a system) in which the economic means of production are owned and controlled collectively by the people. ... James Connolly James Connolly (June 5, 1868 - May 12, 1916) was a Scottish Irish socialist leader. ... Socialism is a social and economic system (or the political philosophy advocating such a system) in which the economic means of production are owned and controlled collectively by the people. ...

In 1966 Gerry Fitt stood as a Republican Labour Party candidate for the Belfast West constituency in the Westminster government. His office was in Divis Street and proudly displayed the tricolour flag of Ireland alongside the Starry Plough flag of James Connolly's Irish Citizen Army in the office window. This public display of the flag of Ireland was prohibited by the Northern Ireland government at that time. Whipped up by the rhetoric of the Protestant preacher Ian Paisley gangs of youths from the Shankill Road smashed the office window and removed the flag. The arrival of these Protestant youths provoked widespread social unrest. This is sometimes considered the start of The Troubles. Gerrard Gerry Fitt, Baron Fitt (9 April 1926 – 26 August 2005) was a Northern Irish politician. ... The Republican Labour Party was a political party in Northern Ireland. ... Belfast West is a Parliamentary Constituency in the House of Commons and also an Assembly constituency in the Northern Ireland Assembly. ... Westminster is a district within the City of Westminster in London. ... Flag Ratio: 1:2 The National Flag of Ireland (Irish: An Bhratach Náisiúnta), also known as the Irish tricolour, is the national flag of the Republic of Ireland. ... The Irish Citizen Army, or ICA, was a small band of trained volunteers established in Dublin for the defense of worker’s rights. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Shankill is an area in Belfast, Northern Ireland. ... The Troubles is a term used to describe two periods of violence in Ireland during the twentieth century. ...

In the 1960s there were attempts by the Northern Ireland Stormont government to introduce more cordial relations with the government of the Republic of Ireland. This led to substantial disquiet among loyalist politicians. In addition, residents of the Falls Road and other Catholic areas of Northern Ireland began to campaign for civil rights including an end to political discrimination. Civil rights or positive rights are those legal rights retained by citizens and protected by the government. ...

In response to continuing unrest the British government introduced British troops onto the Falls Road in 1969. The troops were initially welcomed by the residents of the Falls Road as a source of protection from assault by Protestant gangs, the RUC (the mainly Protestant police force) and the B-Specials (a government paramilitary reserve force). However, this attitude on the part of residents quickly turned to anger as they were drawn into conflct with the British Army. In 1970, the road was the scene of what became known as the Falls Curfew. Similar to an event in Dublin during the Anglo-Irish War, the British army sealed off the streets around the road, home to about 10,000 people, in an attempt to recover IRA weapons. 90 rifles were recovered and 4 civilians were killed by the soldiers. This event is widely regarded as the end of the British army's "honeymoon" period with nationalists in Northern Ireland. For the following 30 years the British Army maintained a substantial presence on the Falls Road, with a base on top of the Divis Tower. This was removed in August 2005 as part of the British government's Normalisation programme following the IRA's statement that it was ending its armed activities. The acronym RUC may refer to any of the following: Rádio Universidade de Coimbra Rapid Update Cycle Recordings Under Construction Roskilde University (Roskilde Universitetscenter) Royal Ulster Constabulary Renmin Univisity of China,P.R.C This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share... The Ulster Special Constabulary (USC) was a reserve force of the Royal Ulster Constabulary. ... WGS-84 (GPS) Coordinates: 53. ... An Irish War of Independence memorial in Dublin The Anglo-Irish War (also known as the Irish War of Independence) was a guerrilla campaign mounted against the British government in Ireland by the Irish Republican Army under the proclaimed legitimacy of the First Dáil, the extra-legal Irish parliament... The United Kingdom is a unitary state and a democratic constitutional monarchy. ... The acronym IRA may refer to: Irish Republican Army See also List of IRAs Irish Republican Army, the self-proclaimed Army of the Irish Republic that fought the Irish War of Independence against British rule, 1916 - 1921 Irish Republican Army (1922-1969): Originally the Anti-Treaty or Republican side in...

Culture

Bobby Sands mural on the Falls Road

The area has a rich and vibrant culture. Over the past thirty years there has been a susbtantial revival of traditional culture in terms of Irish language, dancing and music. These are all displayed in the Feile an Phobail, which is an annual festival that aims to rival the Belfast Festival at Queen's. Image File history File links File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File links File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Robert Gerard Sands, commonly known as Bobby Sands (9 March 1954 – 5 May 1981) was an Irish republican and a former MP who died on hunger strike in the prison officially called HM Prison Maze but formerly known as Long Kesh (a name still used by Irish Republicans). ... Feile an Phobail is an annual festival of Irish and International culture that takes place in and around the Falls Road in Belfast. ... The logo of the Belfast Festival at Queens 2005 The Belfast Festival at Queens is a yearly arts festival held in Belfast, Northern Ireland. ...

In recent times the area has become a tourist destination, with people wanting to see the site of some of the incidents that occurred during The Troubles and the many republican murals that are now to be seen in the area. A popular destination is the Sinn Féin shop and office with its mural of hunger striker Bobby Sands which is often used by Sinn Féin politicians as a backdrop when giving television interviews. Another popular destination is a wall of murals mainly dedicated to peoples/revolutionaries inspired by or with connections to Irish Republicanism (Other Hungerstrikers, Palestinians, ETA, Frederick Douglass and etc) which is located close to the newly refurbished Falls Road Leisure Centre and the Divis area. The Troubles is a term used to describe two periods of violence in Ireland during the twentieth century. ... Sinn Féin (pronounced in English, in Irish), are a series of political movements since 1905 in Ireland, each of which claimed sole descent from the original party established by Arthur Griffith in 1905. ... A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance in which participants fast as an act of political protest or to achieve a goal such as a policy change. ... Robert Gerard Sands, commonly known as Bobby Sands (9 March 1954 – 5 May 1981) was an Irish republican and a former MP who died on hunger strike in the prison officially called HM Prison Maze but formerly known as Long Kesh (a name still used by Irish Republicans). ... The Palestinian flag, adopted in 1948, is a widely recognized modern symbol of the Palestinian people. ... For other uses, see ETA (disambiguation). ... Frederick Douglass Frederick Douglass (February 14, 1818 – February 20, 1895) was an American abolitionist, editor, orator, author, statesman and reformer. ...

Educational institutions and hospitals

Several large educational institutions are also located in the area. These include St. Dominic's High School, St Mary's University College, Irish language secondary school Coláiste Feirste and St. Louise's Comprehensive College, one of the largest comprehensives in Europe. There were also several primary schools including St Finian's Primary School and St. Catherine's Primary School but these have recently closed due to falling student numbers. St Marys CBGS Belfast was originally located in Barrack Street off Divis Street in the lower Falls area but transferred to a greenfield site on the Glen Road in the upper Falls area in the 1960s. St Dominics Grammar School for Girls was founded in 1870 by the Dominican Order at their Convent on the Falls Road in West Belfast. ... St Marys University College is a university college of Queens University, Belfast and was established in 1985, but can directly trace its existence to 1900 and the foundation of St Marys Training College. ... Coláiste Feirste is the largest second level Irish medium school in Belfast, Northern Ireland. ... St. ... St Marys Christian Brothers Grammar School is a maintained all-boys grammar school in Belfast, Northern Ireland. ...

There are also several large hospitals in the area including the Royal Victoria Hospital, the Royal Maternity and the Children's Hospital. Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast is a Landmark Building (1906) in building engineering services and lays claim to being the first “Air conditioned Building in the World”. Category: ...

Notable buildings

Although the area is largely residential there are several substantial buildings. These include several Catholic churches such as St. Peter's Cathedral in the Divis Street/Lower Falls area, St. Paul's Church in the mid-Falls area and St. John's Church in the Upper Falls. Nearby is located Clonard monastery, the home of the Redemptorist religious order. Near the top of the Falls Road are located two large cemeteries: the City Cemetery and Milltown Cemetery. St. ... The Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (Latin: Congregatio Sanctissimi Redemptoris) is a Roman Catholic order founded in 1732 by Saint Alphonsus Liguori. ...

	Roads & Motorways in Northern Ireland
	Main article
	Motorways: M1 | M2 | M3
	Main 'A' Roads: A1 | A2 | A7 | A24 | A36
	Belfast: Donegall Square | Falls Road | Malone Road | Shankill Road