Blackstaff River

Last updated

An uncovered stretch of the river near the Boucher Road The Blackstaff River, Belfast - geograph.org.uk - 1806043.jpg
An uncovered stretch of the river near the Boucher Road
The culverted mouth of the Blackstaff at the Belfast Gasworks Confluence of the Blackstaff and River Lagan - geograph.org.uk - 1337388.jpg
The culverted mouth of the Blackstaff at the Belfast Gasworks

The Blackstaff River is a watercourse in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It rises on the eastern slope of the Black Mountain before flowing down into the Bog Meadows and passing under the city of Belfast, where it enters the River Lagan. Much of its course has been culverted and built upon since the 19th century, making it largely invisible today. Its tributaries include the Forth or Clowney River, which meets it beneath the Broadway Roundabout in West Belfast. [1]

Contents

History

A 1791 map of Belfast showing the course of the Blackstaff and the situation of Joy's Paper Mill Map of the Town and Environs of Belfast (1791).png
A 1791 map of Belfast showing the course of the Blackstaff and the situation of Joy's Paper Mill
The Gasworks in 1935, when the lower reach of the Blackstaff was still uncovered Belfast Gasworks (1935).png
The Gasworks in 1935, when the lower reach of the Blackstaff was still uncovered

The Blackstaff's name probably references a primitive crossing formed from blackened beams of oak. It was known in Irish as the Abhainn Bheara or Owenvarra, meaning "river of the staff". [2] In earlier times the Blackstaff flowed into the Lagan immediately above the present-day Queen's Bridge at what is now Victoria Square, [3] and formed a wide, muddy estuary that extended as far up as Sandy Row. [4] Here, it was spanned by a stone crossing called the Saltwater Bridge, which stood where the Boyne Bridge stands today. [5] In the 17th century the situation of the Blackstaff became a problem for the newly built town of Belfast, which found its potential for expansion limited by the mud flats on its southern side. [6] A variety of improvements were made in the succeeding years. A new channel was cut at the river's mouth to allow boats to reach a wharf at Belfast Castle, and in the 1690s the river was diverted through a cutting in Cromac Wood, at what is now the Gasworks. [7] This work, commissioned by the Earl of Donegall during a lean period in order to provide relief for local labourers, allowed development to commence on the southern side of Ann Street, the original limit of the town. [8] [6]

In 1767, Henry Joy (whose family published the Belfast Newsletter ) purchased a parcel of land at Cromac in order to build a paper mill, which would be powered by the Blackstaff. The original outlet of the river was turned into a mill dam, giving additional power to the mill. [9] The dam was later drained and developed into the Markets district of the city, [10] while the paper mill closed in the 1850s. [11] The Gasworks here opened in 1823 and continued to operate until the 1980s, when the site was converted into a business park and the section of the Blackstaff that ran through it was culverted. [12] [13]

The Blackstaff remained open until the late 19th century, but became increasingly foul and polluted. In 1881, an article in the Newsletter complained that the river had gone from being "little more polluted than a mountain burn" to "the greatest eyesore in the town", and proposed a system of culverts to hide it from view. This work was accomplished in the succeeding decade, and the river was buried beneath the city. [14] Much like the neighbouring Farset, the Blackstaff is now largely invisible, although there are still unculverted sections along the Boucher Road in the west of the city. [15]

Maintenance and flooding

The Blackstaff is a "designated watercourse" of the Department for Infrastructure, and is controlled and maintained by the Rivers Agency. It has been cited as a main contributor to the high flood risk in central and low-lying areas of Belfast. [16] In particular on 16 August 2008, a newly opened underpass carrying the M1 motorway onto the A12 Westlink controversially flooded to a depth of 20 feet (6.1 m) [17] during heavy rain with water from the culverted Blackstaff and Clowney Rivers. [18]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Belfast</span> Capital and largest city in Northern Ireland

Belfast is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel. It is the second-largest city on the island of Ireland, with an estimated population of 348,005 in 2022, and a metropolitan area population of 671,559.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marquess of Donegall</span> Title in the Peerage of Ireland

Marquess of Donegall is a title in the Peerage of Ireland held by the head of the Chichester family, originally from Devon, England. Sir John Chichester sat as a Member of Parliament and was High Sheriff of Devon in 1557. One of his sons, Sir Arthur Chichester, was Lord Deputy of Ireland from 1605 to 1616. In 1613, he was raised to the Peerage of Ireland as Baron Chichester, of Belfast in County Antrim. When he died childless in 1625 the barony became extinct.

The News Letter is one of Northern Ireland's main daily newspapers, published from Monday to Saturday. It is the world's oldest English-language general daily newspaper still in publication, having first been printed in 1737. The newspaper's editorial stance and readership, while originally republican at the time of its inception, is now unionist. Its primary competitors are the Belfast Telegraph and The Irish News.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">River Lagan</span> River in Northern Ireland

The River Lagan is a major river in Northern Ireland which runs 53.5 mi (86.1 km) from the Slieve Croob mountain in County Down to Belfast where it enters Belfast Lough, an inlet of the Irish Sea. The Lagan forms much of the border between County Antrim and County Down in the east of Ulster. It rises as a tiny, fast-moving stream near to the summit of Slieve Croob; Transmitter Road runs nearby. It runs to Belfast through Dromara, Donaghcloney and Dromore. On the lower slopes of the mountain, it combines with a branch from Legananny Mountain, just opposite Slieve Croob. The river then turns east to Magheralin into a broad plain between the plateaus of Antrim and Down.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Falls Road, Belfast</span> Main road through west Belfast in Northern Ireland

The Falls Road is the main road through West Belfast, Northern Ireland, running from Divis Street in Belfast City Centre to Andersonstown in the suburbs. The name has been synonymous for at least a century and a half with the Catholic community in the city. The road is usually referred to as the Falls Road, rather than as Falls Road. It is known in Irish as the Bóthar na bhFál and as the Faas Raa in Ulster-Scots.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">M1 motorway (Northern Ireland)</span> Motorway in Northern Ireland connecting Belfast and Dungannon

The M1 is a motorway in Northern Ireland. It is the longest motorway in Northern Ireland and runs for 38 miles (61 km) from Belfast to Dungannon through County Antrim, County Down, County Armagh and County Tyrone. It forms part of the route via the A1 in Northern Ireland between Belfast and Dublin as well as being a part of the unsigned European E01 and E18 routes.

The Laganside Corporation was a non-departmental public body formed by the Laganside Development Order 1989 with the goal of regenerating large sections of land in Belfast, Northern Ireland adjacent to the River Lagan. This development area was expanded in 1996 to include areas closer to the city centre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Henry Joy McCracken</span> Irish republican (1767–1798)

Henry Joy McCracken was an Irish republican executed in Belfast for his part in leading United Irishmen in the Rebellion of 1798. Convinced that the cause of representative government in Ireland could not be advanced under the British Crown, McCracken had sought to forge a revolutionary union between his fellow Presbyterians in Ulster and the country's largely dispossessed Catholic majority. In June 1798, following reports of risings in Leinster, he seized the initiative from a leadership that hesitated to act without French assistance and led a rebel force against a British garrison in Antrim Town. Defeated, he was returned to Belfast where he was court-martialled and hanged.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Belfast Castle</span> Castle on the slopes of Cavehill Country Park, Belfast, Northern Ireland

Belfast Castle is a mansion located in Cave Hill Country Park in Belfast, Northern Ireland, in a prominent position 400 feet (120 m) above sea level. Its location provides unobstructed views over the City of Belfast and Belfast Lough. There have been several structures called "Belfast Castle" over the centuries, located on different sites. The current "castle" is a Victorian structure, built between 1867 and 1870 on the slopes of Cave Hill, and is Grade A listed. The main entrance into the Belfast Castle Demesne is now where Innisfayle Park meets Downview Park West, just off the Antrim Road. The original main entrance into the current demesne was formerly on the Antrim Road itself, where Strathmore Park now meets the Antrim Road.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">River Farset</span> River in Belfast, Northern Ireland

The River Farset is a river in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is a late tributary of the River Lagan.

Belfast was an Irish borough constituency in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Comprising the city of Belfast, it elected one Member of Parliament (MP) from 1801 to 1832, and then two MPs from 1832 until the constituency was divided by the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 before the 1885 general election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stranmillis</span> Suburb in Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK

Stranmillis is an area in south Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is also an electoral ward for Belfast City Council, part of the Laganbank district electoral area. As part of the Queen's Quarter, it is the location for prominent attractions such as the Ulster Museum and Botanic Gardens. The area is located on Stranmillis Road, with Malone Road to the west and the River Lagan to the east. Its name, meaning "the sweet stream" in Irish, refers to the Lagan, whose waters are still fresh at this point, before becoming brackish as the river flows onward toward its mouth in Belfast Lough.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sandy Row</span> Neighborhood in Belfast

Sandy Row is an inner city area of south Belfast, Northern Ireland, which is predominantly Protestant working-class. In 2018, the population was estimated to be around 4,000. It is a staunchly loyalist area and heartland of the paramilitary Ulster Defence Association (UDA) and Orange Order.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dunmurry</span> Suburban town & townland in Belfast, Northern Ireland

Dunmurry is a suburban town and townland near Belfast, Northern Ireland. Dunmurry is in the Collin electoral ward for the local government district of Belfast City Council.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Donegall Road</span> Residential area in Belfast, Northern Ireland

The Donegall Road is a residential area and road traffic thoroughfare that runs from Shaftesbury Square on what was once called the "Golden Mile" to the Falls Road in west Belfast. The road is bisected by the Westlink – M1 motorway. The largest section of the road, east of the Broadway junction with the Westlink, has a community which self-identifies as predominantly Protestant while the community on the other side of the Westlink – M1 motorway self-identifies as predominantly Catholic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Counties of Northern Ireland</span> Former principal local government divisions of Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland is divided into six counties, namely: Antrim, Armagh, Down, Fermanagh, Londonderry and Tyrone. Six largely rural administrative counties based on these were among the eight primary local government areas of Northern Ireland from its 1921 creation until 1973. The other two local government areas were the urban county boroughs of Derry and Belfast.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Hewitt (poet)</span>

John Harold Hewitt was perhaps the most significant Belfast poet to emerge before the 1960s generation of Northern Irish poets that included Seamus Heaney, Derek Mahon and Michael Longley. He was appointed the first writer-in-residence at Queen's University Belfast in 1976. His collections include The Day of the Corncrake (1969) and Out of My Time: Poems 1969 to 1974 (1974). He was also made a Freeman of the City of Belfast in 1983, and was awarded honorary doctorates by the University of Ulster and Queen's University Belfast.

Transportation systems in the city of Belfast, Northern Ireland, include road, air, rail, and sea. It is still a relatively car-dependent city; however, it is also served by a comprehensive rail and bus network. Belfast also ran electric trams prior to 1954. The city has two major airports, and the Port of Belfast is the busiest ferry port on the island of Ireland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ormeau Road</span> Street in Belfast, Northern Ireland

Ormeau Road is a road in south Belfast, the capital of Northern Ireland. Ormeau Park is adjacent to it. It forms part of the A24.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lagan Canal</span> Canal between Belfast and Lough Neagh, Northern Ireland

The Lagan Canal was a 44-kilometre (27 mi) canal built to connect Belfast to Lough Neagh. The first section, which is a river navigation, was opened in 1763, and linked Belfast to Lisburn. The second section from Lisburn to Lough Neagh includes a small amount of river navigation, but was largely built as a canal. At its peak it was one of the most successful of the Irish canals, but ultimately it was unable to compete with road and rail transport, and the two sections were closed in 1954 and 1958. The central section from Sprucefield to Moira was destroyed by the construction of the M1 motorway in the 1960s. Responsibility for most of its remains passed first to the Department of Agriculture and then to the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure, although the section between Aghalee Bridge and Lough Neagh, including the final ten locks, passed into private ownership. There is an active campaign to re-open the canal, including reinstatement of the central section.

References

  1. O'Regan, Raymond; Magee, Arthur (2014). The Little Book of Belfast. Dublin: the History Press (Ireland). ISBN   978-1-84588-803-9.
  2. "Blackstaff River, County Antrim". The Northern Ireland Place-Names Project. Archived from the original on 23 June 2021. Retrieved 14 January 2021.
  3. Getty, Edmund (1855). "The True Position of the Ford of Belfast". The Ulster Journal of Archaeology. 1. 3: 304. JSTOR   20608775.
  4. Evans, E. Estyn (1944). "Belfast: The Site and the City". The Ulster Journal of Archaeology. 3. 7: 15. JSTOR   20566445.
  5. Millin, Shannon (1938). "Old Bridges of Belfast". Additional Sidelights on Belfast History. Belfast and London: W. & G. Baird.
  6. 1 2 Gillespie, Raymond (2007). Early Belfast: The Origins and Growth of an Ulster Town to 1750. Belfast: the Ulster Historical Foundation. p. 11; pp. 1467. ISBN   978-1-903688-72-4.
  7. Millin, Shannon (1938). "Arthur, 1st Earl of Donegall". Additional Sidelights on Belfast History. Belfast and London: W. & G. Baird.
  8. Benn, George (1877). A History of the Town of Belfast, From the Earliest Times to the Close of the 18th Century. London: Marcus Ward & Co. p. 552.
  9. Muir, Alison (2004). "The 18th Century Paper-Makers of the North of Ireland". Familia: Ulster Geneaological Review. 20. Belfast: the Ulster Historical Foundation: 50–1. ISBN   1-903688-52-3.
  10. "Joy Street". Hearth Historic Buildings Trust. Retrieved 14 January 2021.
  11. Royle, Stephen (2007). Belfast, Part II: 1840 to 1900 (PDF). Irish Historic Towns Atlas. Dublin: the Royal Irish Academy. p. 50. ISBN   978-1-904890-26-3.
  12. "Belfast Gasworks". Culture Northern Ireland. Archived from the original on 22 September 2020. Retrieved 14 January 2021.
  13. Sterrett, Ken; Murtagh, Brendan; Millar, Gerry (2005). "The Social Turn and Urban Development Corporations". Planning, Practice & Research. 20 (4). Abingdon: Routledge: 382–3. doi:10.1080/02697450600766795. S2CID   154591817.
  14. Sefton, Mark; McColgan, Gerard (2019). "Ormeau Avenue Sewerage Upgrade" (PDF). Water Projects Online.
  15. "Floods Prompt Call For Tighter Controls Over River Culverting". The Belfast Telegraph. 27 August 2008.
  16. "Locations at Significant Risk (Greater Belfast Sub Plan)". Greater Belfast Pilot Study. The Rivers Agency. Archived from the original on 23 December 2012. Retrieved 21 August 2012.
  17. "Widespread Chaos Caused by Floods". BBC News Online. 16 August 2008. Retrieved 21 August 2012.
  18. Broadway Underpass – Westlink, Belfast: Independent Report into the Flooding Incident on 16 August 2008 (PDF) (Report). Amey Consulting. October 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 August 2012. Retrieved 21 August 2012.

54°34′51″N5°57′48″W / 54.58074°N 5.96326°W / 54.58074; -5.96326