This is a list of public art on permanent public display in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The list applies only to works of public art accessible in a public space; it does not include artwork on display inside museums. Public art may include sculptures, statues, monuments, memorials, murals and mosaics. The murals of Belfast are discussed separately in Murals in Northern Ireland.
Image | Title / subject | Location and coordinates | Date | Artist / designer | Type | Material | Designation | Wikidata | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
More images | Albert Memorial Clock, Belfast | Queen's Square | 1870 | W. J. Barre | Clock tower | Stone | Q2638495 | [1] | |
More images | Thanksgiving Square Beacon | Thanksgiving Square (Belfast) | 2007 | Andy Scott | Abstract sculpture | Metal | Q4876007 | [2] | |
More images | The Masts | Donegall Place | 2011 | 8 masts | Copper | The eight copper clad lighting masts are named after White Star Line ships built at Harland and Wolff:- Titanic, Olympic, Oceanic, Britannic, Laurentic, Celtic, Nomadic, Traffic. [3] | |||
James Larkin | Donegall Street Place | 2006 | Anto Brennan | sculpture | Bronze | [4] | |||
More images | The Big Fish | Donegall Quay | 1999 | John Kindness | Ceramic sculpture | Stone | Q4091869 | [5] | |
More images | "No Pasaran", Spanish Civil War memorial | Writers Square, Donegall Street | 2007 | Anto Brennan | Bust on pedestal | Bronze and stone | [6] | ||
More images | Monument to the Unknown Woman Worker | Great Victoria Street | 1992 | Louise Walsh | Sculpture group | Bronze | Q6906904 | ||
More images | Spirit of Belfast | Arthur Square | 2009 | Dan George | Abstract sculpture | Steel | Q7577956 | [7] | |
More images | Sheep on the Road | Waterfront Hall, Lanyon Place | 1990 | Deborah Brown | Sculpture group | Bronze | Q7492438 | Originally at Riddell Hall. Relocated to Waterfront Hall in 1999 | |
The Barrel Man | Lanyon place | 1997 | Ross Wilson | statue | bronze | Also known as 'The Ulster Brewer' [8] | |||
More images | The Speaker | Customs House Square | Gareth Knowles | Statue | Bronze | ||||
More images | Henry Cooke | Wellington Place | 1876 | Samuel Ferris Lynn | Statue on pedestal | Bronze and stone | [9] | ||
More images | Renewal | Queen's Square | Ned Jackson Smyth | Abstract sculpture | Metal | [10] | |||
More images | Thompson memorial fountain | Bedford Street / Ormeau Avenue | 1885 | Young and McKenzie Architects | Fountain | Stone | [11] | ||
More images | The Buoys | York Street / Donegall Street | Pre 1979 | Unknown | 3 Buoys | Metal | Group of obsolete navigation buoys presented by the Commissioner of Irish Lights to Belfast City Council to highlight Belfast's maritime heritage. |
Image | Title / subject | Location and coordinates | Date | Artist / designer | Type | Material | Designation | Wikidata | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
More images | The Cenotaph, Belfast | Belfast City Hall | 1929 | Sir Alfred Brumwell Thomas | Cenotaph | Stone | Q30323973 | [12] | |
More images | Queen Victoria | Belfast City Hall | 1903 | Sir Thomas Brock | Statue on pedestal with supporting figures | Stone and bronze | Q17778520 | [13] | |
More images | Titanic Memorial | Belfast City Hall | 1920 | Sir Thomas Brock | Statue group on pedestal | Stone | Q7809806 | [14] | |
More images | Sir Edward James Harland | Belfast City Hall | 1903 | Sir Thomas Brock | Statue on pedestal | Q17778453 | [15] | ||
More images | The 1st Marquess of Dufferin and Ava | Belfast City Hall | 1906 | Frederick W. Pomeroy | Statue on pedestal with canopy | Q17778397 | [16] | ||
More images | Sir James Horner Haslett | Belfast City Hall | 1909 | Frederick W. Pomeroy | Statue on pedestal | Q17778550 | [17] | ||
More images | Sir Daniel Dixon | Belfast City Hall | 1910 | Sir Hamo Thornycroft | Statue on pedestal | Q72151439 | [18] | ||
More images | The 1st Viscount Pirrie | Belfast City Hall | 1924 | Bertram Pergram | Bust on pedestal | Bronze | Originally erected in Belfast City Cemetery. Refurbished and re-erected on grounds of Belfast City Hall in 2006. [19] | ||
More images | Robert James McMordie | Belfast City Hall | 1919 | Frederick W. Pomeroy | Statue on pedestal | [20] | |||
More images | Boer War memorial | Belfast City Hall | 1905 | Sydney March | Statue group on pedestal with plaques | Stone and bronze | [21] | ||
James Joseph Magennis | Belfast City Hall | 1999 | Elizabeth McLaughlin | [22] | |||||
Korean War memorial | Belfast City Hall | 1951 | Originally erected in Korea on site of battlefield at Chaegunghyon. Re-erected in St. Patrick's Barracks in Ballymena in 1962. Re-erected and dedicated at Belfast City Hall in 2010 [23] | ||||||
USAEF memorial | Belfast City Hall | 1943 | T. F. O. Rippingham | Originally sited at gateway to City Hall. Moved to present location in 1995 and rededicated by President Bill Clinton [24] |
South Belfast is defined as the area of the city south of the railway line from the A12 (Westlink) to the River Lagan. It includes Queen's University Belfast, the Ulster Museum and the Botanic Gardens.
Image | Title / subject | Location and coordinates | Date | Artist / designer | Type | Material | Designation | Wikidata | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
More images | The 1st Baron Kelvin | Botanic Gardens (Belfast) | 1913 | Albert Bruce-Joy | Statue on pedestal | Bronze and stone | [25] [26] | ||
New metal piece | Ulster Museum | 1978 | Barry Flanagan | Abstract sculpture | Metal | [27] | |||
Modern sculpture | Ulster Museum | Abstract sculpture | Metal | ||||||
Belfast Wheel | King William Park | Sculpture | Bronze | Wheel is composed of 12 segments, each depicting an area of the city [28] | |||||
Ella Pirrie | Belfast City Hospital | 2007 | Ross Wilson | Statue | Bronze | [29] | |||
Mother - Daughter - Sister | Sandy Row | 2015 | Ross Wilson | Statue | Bronze | [30] | |||
More images | Sweet Water Arch | Stranmillis, Belfast 54°34′30″N5°55′54″W / 54.574907°N 5.931665°W | 2009 | Denis O'Connor | Sculpture | Stainless steel | 4m high | The Irish name for the area, "An Srúthan Milís", means "sweet stream". [31] [32] |
Image | Title / subject | Location and coordinates | Date | Artist / designer | Type | Material | Designation | Wikidata | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
More images | War memorial | Queen's University Belfast | 1924 | Sir Thomas Brock | Statue group on pedestal with plaques | Bronze and stone | Q66459168 | [33] | |
Sir William Whitla | Queen's University Belfast | 1942 | Gilbert Bayes | Bust in niche | Bronze | [34] | |||
Reclining Figure | Queen's University Belfast | 1958 | Frederick Edward McWilliam | Sculpture | Bronze | [35] | |||
More images | Eco | McClay Library, Queen's University Belfast | 2008 | Marc Didou | Sculpture | [36] |
East Belfast is defined as the city east of the River Lagan. It includes the Titanic Quarter and the Stormont Estate.
Image | Title / subject | Location and coordinates | Date | Artist / designer | Type | Material | Designation | Wikidata | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Titanica | Titanic Centre | 2012 | Rowan Gillespie | Sculpture on pedestal | Bronze | [37] | |||
More images | Titanic Kit | Titanic Quarter | 2009 | Tony Stallard | Sculpture | Bronze | Q48743282 | [38] | |
Titanic Yardmen 401 | Newtownards Road | 2012 | Ross Wilson | Sculpture | [39] | ||||
More images | The Searcher, C. S. Lewis | C. S. Lewis Square | 2016 | Ross Wilson | Statue group | Bronze | [40] | ||
The Longbridge Stone | Albertbridge Road and Castlereagh Street | 1831 | N/A | Stone | Said to be the last remnant of the Long Bridge which spanned the Lagan from Ballymacarret to Belfast | ||||
More images | The Baron Carson | Stormont Estate | 1933 | Leonard Stanford Merrifield | Statue on pedestal | Bronze and stone | [41] | ||
More images | The Gleaner | Stormont Estate | John Knox | Sculpture on pedestal | Stone |
West Belfast is defined as the area of the city west of the A12 (westlink) and south of the Crumlin Road. It includes the Falls Road and the Shankill Road. West Belfast is famous for its murals, both Loyalist and Republican. These are discussed separately in the article Murals in Northern Ireland.
Image | Title / subject | Location and coordinates | Date | Artist / designer | Type | Material | Designation | Wikidata | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
James Connolly | Falls Road | 2016 | Steve Feeny | Statue on pedestal | Bronze and stone | [42] | |||
More images | RISE | Broadway Roundabout, A12 | 2011 | Wolfgang Buttress | Abstract sculpture | Q7335884 | [43] | ||
Clonard Martyrs Memorial | Bombay Street | 2000 | Celtic wheel cross | Stone | [44] | ||||
Garden of Remembrance | Falls Road | 2001 | [45] | ||||||
Bayardo Bomb Memorial | Shankill Road | 2008 | [46] | ||||||
William Conor | Shankill Road | 2015 | statue | Bronze | [47] | ||||
The Millie | Crumlin Road | 2010 | Ross Wilson | Bronze | Statue to Belfast's female linen mill workers [48] |
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.
William James Pirrie, 1st Viscount Pirrie, KP, PC, PC (Ire) was a leading British shipbuilder and businessman. He was chairman of Harland & Wolff, shipbuilders, between 1895 and 1924, and also served as Lord Mayor of Belfast between 1896 and 1898. He was ennobled as Baron Pirrie in 1906, appointed a Knight of the Order of St Patrick in 1908 and made Viscount Pirrie in 1921. In the months leading up to the 1912 Sinking of the Titanic, Lord Pirrie was questioned about the number of life boats aboard the Olympic-class ocean liners. He responded that the great ships were unsinkable and the rafts were to save others. This would haunt him forever. In Belfast he was, on other grounds, already a controversial figure: a Protestant employer associated as a leading Liberal with a policy of Home Rule for 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.
Sir Thomas Brock was an English sculptor and medallist, notable for the creation of several large public sculptures and monuments in Britain and abroad in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. His most famous work is the Victoria Memorial in front of Buckingham Palace, London. Other commissions included the redesign of the effigy of Queen Victoria on British coinage, the massive bronze equestrian statue of Edward, the Black Prince, in City Square, Leeds and the completion of the statue of Prince Albert on the Albert Memorial.
Belfast City Hall is the civic building of Belfast City Council located in Donegall Square, Belfast, Northern Ireland. It faces North and effectively divides the commercial and business areas of the city centre. It is a Grade A listed building.
Titanic Quarter in Belfast, Northern Ireland, is a large-scale waterfront regeneration, comprising historic maritime landmarks, film studios, education facilities, apartments, a riverside entertainment district, and the world's largest Titanic-themed attraction centred on land in Belfast Harbour, known until 1995 as Queen's Island, and initially, Dargan's Island. The 185-acre (75 ha) site, previously occupied by part of the Harland and Wolff shipyard, is named after the company's, and the city's, most famous product, RMS Titanic. Titanic Quarter is part of the Dublin-based group, Harcourt Developments, which has held the development rights since 2003.
The Belfast City Hospital in Belfast, Northern Ireland, is a 900-bed modern university teaching hospital providing local acute services and key regional specialities. Its distinctive orange tower block dominates the Belfast skyline being the third tallest habitable storeyed building in Northern Ireland. It has a focus on the development of regional cancer and renal services. It is managed by Belfast Health and Social Care Trust and is the largest general hospital in the United Kingdom. In April 2020, due to the global coronavirus pandemic, the tower block was designated one of the UK's Nightingale Hospitals.
Queen's Quay is a section of the River Lagan, in the western Titanic Quarter of the city of Belfast, Northern Ireland. The quay became known as the Coal Quay during it's industrial period, with industrial businesses running along the quay, including scrap and coal transporting and exporting to and from freight and coal boats.
RISE is the official name given to the public art sculpture located at Broadway Roundabout in Belfast, Northern Ireland. However, it has been given unofficial, colloquial titles such as the "Balls of the Falls", "the Testes on the Westes" and "the Westicles". These names have been derived by both the sculpture's location on Broadway Junction and in reference to its shape made from two spherical, metal structures.
The Titanic Memorial in Belfast was erected to commemorate the lives lost in the sinking of the RMS Titanic on 15 April 1912. It was funded by contributions from the public, shipyard workers, and victims' families, and was dedicated in June 1920. It sits on Donegall Square in central Belfast, Northern Ireland in the grounds of Belfast City Hall.
Luke Perry is an English artist known for his monumental sculptures most especially those celebrating under-represented peoples and the heritage of the Industrial Revolution, particularly in the Black Country. He is the director and chief artist of his non-profit company Industrial Heritage Stronghold.
John Wilson Foster is an Irish literary critic and cultural historian.
Margaret Montgomery Pirrie, Viscountess Pirrie was an Irish public figure and philanthropist, the first woman Justice of the Peace in Belfast, and the first woman to receive the freedom of the city.