Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
If you are looking for the history of the Shankill road, explained in a clear, balanced way, the best way to see, understand and explore this famous Belfast road, is by hopping on a City Sight Seer type bus or better still, a black taxi tour.
There are very few other streets like the Shankill road anywhere else in the world. It is unique. It is one of the most recognised streets in the whole of Northern ireland, if not the whole of Ireland. It stretches from Peter's Hill, about 1.5 mi (2.4 km) up to Woodvale -St Matthew's church. It is lined, by new housing and shops. There are also churches, a library, community centres, a leisure centre, Orange Halls, school, pubs and an historic graveyard. The residents live mostly in the many streets which branch off the main road.
History
The name Shankill comes from the Irish Sean Chill, usually understood as “old church”. From early times this area was associated with a religious pilgrimage site. A settlement around the point where the Shankill Road becomes the Woodvale Road, dates back to around 450 AD. It was known as the "Church of St Patrick of the White Ford".
The church was in ruins by the 17th century and had disappeared entirely by the 19th, leaving only its graveyard.
It is believed that by the sixteenth century the Shankill had a paved round as part of the main route to Antrim.
Due to the rise of the Linen industry Belfast expanded rapidly in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The Shankill Road developed into a major residential and commercial artery. Workers settled here in growing numbers as mills, factories and engineering works transformed the city. Streets of red-brick terraces grew around the main road, and the area became strongly associated with Protestant working-class life. Like many districts in industrial Belfast, it was shaped by hard labour, close-knit families, churches, social clubs and local loyalties that ran deep. It was a hub of political discussion and interest. Indeed the Shankill became one of the places where British unionist identity was and still is expressed most clearly.
Parts of the Shankill were badly hit in the Belfast Blitz where the WW2 German Luftwaffe levelled much of Belfast. Raids in 1941 took many lives and destroyed hundreds of houses. Percy Street on the Shankill suffered badly.
The Troubles, from the late 1960s, brought the Shankill into global news. Violence, bombings, murder, extreme tension were never far away.
The Shankill was heavily affected by paramilitary activity, particularly groups linked to loyalism such as the Ulster Volunteer Force and the Ulster Defence Association. Often innocent civilians bore the brunt of the suffering. Behind the headlines were families dealing with grief, trauma and the strain of living in a place where normal life could be shattered in seconds.
One of the most infamous incidents was the Shankill bombing in October 1993, when an IRA bomb exploded prematurely in a fish shop on the road. The intended target was loyalist leadership, but the blast killed civilians as well as one of the bombers. It remains one of the most painful and widely remembered atrocities associated with the area.
Murals and Memorials.
These images are striking, political and often photographed. They are historical tributes and public statements about identity, memory, loss and allegiance.
Some murals refer to loyalist paramilitary organisations. Others focus on military heritage, the union flag, King William of Orange, or tributes to local people killed during the conflict.
In recent years, some artwork has shifted towards broader cultural themes.
Today most if not all of the old linen related industries are long gone. The reliance on shipbuilder Harland and Wolfe to provide jobs has also gone. Many folk on the road are now unemployed. Over the decades many people have left the road some for England, Scotland or further to Canada and America. Most streets running off the road are unrecognisable from a hundred years ago. Old housing has been replaced by modern builds.
Pride in the road and in their heritage is still widely held. The Shankill is still a place marked by loyalty, hardship, grief, humour in adversity, and strong political feeling and strong determined characters. It is also a place of ordinary lives trying to make ends meet.
If you are looking for the history of the Shankill road, explained in a clear, balanced way, the best way to see, understand and explore this famous Belfast road, is by hopping on a City Sight Seer type bus or better still, a black taxi tour.
There are very few other streets like the Shankill road anywhere else in the world. It is unique. It is one of the most recognised streets in the whole of Northern ireland, if not the whole of Ireland. It stretches from Peter's Hill, about 1.5 mi (2.4 km) up to Woodvale -St Matthew's church. It is lined, by new housing and shops. There are also churches, a library, community centres, a leisure centre, Orange Halls, school, pubs and an historic graveyard. The residents live mostly in the many streets which branch off the main road.
History
The name Shankill comes from the Irish Sean Chill, usually understood as “old church”. From early times this area was associated with a religious pilgrimage site. A settlement around the point where the Shankill Road becomes the Woodvale Road, dates back to around 450 AD. It was known as the "Church of St Patrick of the White Ford".
The church was in ruins by the 17th century and had disappeared entirely by the 19th, leaving only its graveyard.
It is believed that by the sixteenth century the Shankill had a paved round as part of the main route to Antrim.
Due to the rise of the Linen industry Belfast expanded rapidly in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The Shankill Road developed into a major residential and commercial artery. Workers settled here in growing numbers as mills, factories and engineering works transformed the city. Streets of red-brick terraces grew around the main road, and the area became strongly associated with Protestant working-class life. Like many districts in industrial Belfast, it was shaped by hard labour, close-knit families, churches, social clubs and local loyalties that ran deep. It was a hub of political discussion and interest. Indeed the Shankill became one of the places where British unionist identity was and still is expressed most clearly.
Parts of the Shankill were badly hit in the Belfast Blitz where the WW2 German Luftwaffe levelled much of Belfast. Raids in 1941 took many lives and destroyed hundreds of houses. Percy Street on the Shankill suffered badly.
The Troubles, from the late 1960s, brought the Shankill into global news. Violence, bombings, murder, extreme tension were never far away.
The Shankill was heavily affected by paramilitary activity, particularly groups linked to loyalism such as the Ulster Volunteer Force and the Ulster Defence Association. Often innocent civilians bore the brunt of the suffering. Behind the headlines were families dealing with grief, trauma and the strain of living in a place where normal life could be shattered in seconds.
One of the most infamous incidents was the Shankill bombing in October 1993, when an IRA bomb exploded prematurely in a fish shop on the road. The intended target was loyalist leadership, but the blast killed civilians as well as one of the bombers. It remains one of the most painful and widely remembered atrocities associated with the area.
Murals and Memorials.
These images are striking, political and often photographed. They are historical tributes and public statements about identity, memory, loss and allegiance.
Some murals refer to loyalist paramilitary organisations. Others focus on military heritage, the union flag, King William of Orange, or tributes to local people killed during the conflict.
In recent years, some artwork has shifted towards broader cultural themes.
Today most if not all of the old linen related industries are long gone. The reliance on shipbuilder Harland and Wolfe to provide jobs has also gone. Many folk on the road are now unemployed. Over the decades many people have left the road some for England, Scotland or further to Canada and America. Most streets running off the road are unrecognisable from a hundred years ago. Old housing has been replaced by modern builds.
Pride in the road and in their heritage is still widely held. The Shankill is still a place marked by loyalty, hardship, grief, humour in adversity, and strong political feeling and strong determined characters. It is also a place of ordinary lives trying to make ends meet.
