![]() | |
![]() | |
![]() | |
Location | Bedford Street Belfast Northern Ireland |
---|---|
Coordinates | 54°35′40.780″N5°55′49.732″W / 54.59466111°N 5.93048111°W Coordinates: 54°35′40.780″N5°55′49.732″W / 54.59466111°N 5.93048111°W |
Owner | Belfast City Council |
Type | Concert hall |
Capacity | 1,000 seated, or 1,850 standing |
Construction | |
Built | 1859 |
Opened | 1862 |
Renovated | 2009 |
Website | |
www.ulsterhall.co.uk |
The Ulster Hall is a concert hall and grade A listed building in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Situated on Bedford Street in Belfast city centre, the hall hosts concerts, classical recitals, craft fairs and political party conferences.
Built in 1859 and opened in 1862, [1] the hall's purpose was to provide the expanding city of Belfast with a multi-purpose venue of sufficient size. It was designed by William J. Barre (also responsible for the Albert Clock) for the Ulster Hall Company.
On its opening night on 12 May 1862, the hall was described by the local press as:
stand[ing] unexcelled, and all but unrivalled, as an edifice for the production of musical works. ... the hall is a great and unmingled success, and the public, no less than the proprietors, may feel the utmost gratification at a result at once so pleasant and so rare.( The Belfast News Letter , 1862) [2]
a music hall fit for the production of any composition, and for the reception of any artist, however eminent ( The Northern Whig , 14 May 1862) [3]
In 1902 the hall was purchased by Belfast City Council (then named the Belfast Corporation) for £13,500 and it has been used as a public hall ever since. [4] During World War II it was used as a dance hall to entertain American troops stationed in Northern Ireland. [1]
The Ulster Hall features one of the oldest examples of a functioning classic English pipe organ. The Mulholland Grand Organ is named in honour of former Mayor of Belfast, Andrew Mulholland, who donated £3000 to the hall toward its cost in the 1860s. [5] It was built by William Hill & Son and donated after the hall was officially opened. In the late 1970s, the organ was extensively restored to Hill's own original design. Mullholland's great-great-grandson, Henry Mulholland, 4th Baron Dunleath, oversaw the restoration. [6]
In 1902, Belfast City Council commissioned the local artist Joseph W. Carey to produce thirteen scenes from Belfast history on canvas, to be mounted within the Ulster Hall. The scenes depict the city and the surrounding area, incorporating historical and mythological influences. [3] [7]
The paintings were restored in 1989 and again, by Kiffy Stainer-Hutchins & Co., King's Lynn, in 2009 (see 2007–2009 refurbishment, below).
The hall has hosted a massive variety of acts during its history, including readings by Charles Dickens and performances by actors, pop, opera, rock acts and singers. [1] [8]
Since its opening, the Ulster Hall has staged political rallies for many different causes, most notably:
Ulster Hall has a longstanding historical association with Ulster unionism and from the late 19th century became the traditional venue for high-profile unionist rallies. [11] [12] Ulster Hall has been described as an "iconic venue for unionism", [12] "synonymous with unionism", [13] a "bastion of Ulster unionism", [14] and the "birthplace of Ulster unionism". [15] The Ulster Unionist Council (UUC) held its first public meeting in the Ulster Hall in 1905. [15]
In early 1912 First Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill was invited to a rally on the subject of Irish Home Rule in Belfast at the behest of the Ulster Liberal Association. [12] The Ulster Unionist Council passed a resolution declaring the Liberals intent to hold the demonstration a "deliberate challenge" and resolved to "take steps to prevent it being held". Churchill published a letter in the press reluctantly conceding the Ulster Hall venue and after difficulties the meeting took place at Celtic Park. [12] In November 1995 Sinn Féin during the Northern Ireland peace process organised a rally in Ulster Hall; it was the first time nationalists had used the venue. Unionists on Belfast city council were outraged and threatened to try to have the booking cancelled. [15] Leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) group in the council, Sammy Wilson described the Sinn Fein event at Ulster Hall as a "deliberate attempt to rub unionists noses in the dirt". [13]
In 2007, a major refurbishment plan was initiated by the Consarc Design Group, under the direction of architect and Everest mountaineer Dawson Stelfox. [8] The main aim of the refurbishment was to restore the venue back to its original condition, while also modernising the building's facilities and providing better disabled access.
The £8.5 million project included: [3]
The refurbishment was performed by Graham Building Contractors and was jointly funded by Belfast City Council, the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure, the Heritage Lottery Fund and the Arts Council of Northern Ireland. The hall was reopened with a gala event on 6 March 2009. [17]
Previously stated as 1,850, [18] the seated capacity of the refurbished hall is 1,000. [2] Since the reopening, the hall has provided a rehearsal home and (from June 2009) administrative offices for the Ulster Orchestra. [17]
The Ulster Hall served as the eleventh "Pit Stop" during the 22nd season of The Amazing Race . [19]
Ian Richard Kyle Paisley, Baron Bannside, was a Northern Irish loyalist politician and Protestant religious leader who served as leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) from 1971 to 2008 and First Minister of Northern Ireland from 2007 to 2008.
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It was created as a separate legal entity on 3 May 1921, under the Government of Ireland Act 1920. The new autonomous Northern Ireland was formed from six of the nine counties of Ulster: four counties with unionist majorities – Antrim, Armagh, Down, and Londonderry – and two counties with slight Irish nationalist majorities – Fermanagh and Tyrone – in the 1918 General Election. The remaining three Ulster counties with larger nationalist majorities were not included. In large part unionists, at least in the north-east, supported its creation while nationalists were opposed.
The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) is a unionist, loyalist, and national conservative political party in Northern Ireland. It was founded in 1971 during the Troubles by Ian Paisley, who led the party for the next 37 years. Currently led by Jeffrey Donaldson, it is the second largest party in the Northern Ireland Assembly, and is the fifth-largest party in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. The party has been described as right-wing and socially conservative, being anti-abortion and opposing same-sex marriage. The DUP sees itself as defending Britishness and Ulster Protestant culture against Irish nationalism and republicanism. It is also Eurosceptic and supported Brexit.
Unionism is a political tradition on the island of Ireland that favours political union with Great Britain and professes loyalty to the British Crown and constitution. As the overwhelming sentiment of Ireland's Protestant minority, following Catholic Emancipation (1829) unionism mobilised to keep Ireland part of the United Kingdom and to defeat the efforts of Irish nationalists to restore a separate Irish parliament. Since Partition (1921), as Ulster Unionism its goal has been to maintain Northern Ireland as part of the United Kingdom and to resist a transfer of sovereignty to an all-Ireland republic. Within the framework of a 1998 peace settlement, unionists in Northern Ireland have had to accommodate Irish nationalists in a devolved government, while continuing to rely on the link with Britain to secure their cultural and economic interests.
The Alliance Party of Northern Ireland (APNI), or simply Alliance, is a liberal and centrist political party in Northern Ireland. As of the 2022 Northern Ireland Assembly election, it is the third-largest party in the Northern Ireland Assembly, holding seventeen seats, and has made recent breakthroughs to place third in first preference votes in the 2019 European Parliament election and third highest-polling regionally at the 2019 UK general election. The party won one of the three Northern Ireland seats in the European Parliament, and one seat, North Down, in the House of Commons, the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.
Armagh City and District Council was a district council in County Armagh in Northern Ireland. It merged with Banbridge District Council and Craigavon Borough Council in May 2015 under local government reorganisation in Northern Ireland to become Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon District Council.
Belfast City Council is the local authority with responsibility for part of the city of Belfast, the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland. The Council serves an estimated population of 341,877 (2019), the largest of any district council in Northern Ireland, while being the smallest by area. Belfast City Council is the primary council of the Belfast Metropolitan Area, a grouping of six former district councils with commuter towns and overspill from Belfast, containing a total population of 579,276.
Lisburn City Council was the local authority for an area partly in County Antrim and partly in County Down in Northern Ireland. As of May 2015 it was merged with Castlereagh Borough Council as part of the reform of local government in Northern Ireland to become Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council.
Frank McCoubrey is a Unionist politician and loyalist in Northern Ireland, as well as a community activist and researcher. He is a leading member of the Ulster Political Research Group (UPRG) and a member of Belfast City Council, representing the Court area as a Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) councillor. McCoubrey is a native of Highfield, Belfast.
George Seawright was a Scottish-born unionist politician in Northern Ireland and loyalist paramilitary in the Ulster Volunteer Force. He was assassinated by the Irish People's Liberation Organisation in 1987.
Independent Unionist has been a label sometimes used by candidates in elections in the United Kingdom, indicating a support for British unionism.
Events during the year 1966 in Northern Ireland.
Michelle O'Neill is an Irish politician who served as deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland between 2020 and 2022. She has been serving as Vice President of Sinn Féin since 2018 and is the Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Mid Ulster since 2007.
Paul John Maskey is an Irish republican politician in Northern Ireland who is a member of Sinn Féin. He served as a Sinn Féin member (MLA) of the Northern Ireland Assembly for Belfast West from 2007 to 2012. He has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Westminster constituency of Belfast West since 2011, but in line with Sinn Féin's policy of abstentionism he has not taken his seat in the House of Commons.
The Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV) is a unionist political party in Northern Ireland. In common with all other Northern Irish unionist parties, the TUV's political programme has as its sine qua non the preservation of Northern Ireland's place within the United Kingdom. A founding precept of the party is that "nothing which is morally wrong can be politically right".
Since 1998, Northern Ireland has devolved government within the United Kingdom. The government and Parliament of the United Kingdom are responsible for reserved and excepted matters. Reserved matters are a list of policy areas, which the Westminster Parliament may devolve to the Northern Ireland Assembly at some time in future. Excepted matters are never expected to be considered for devolution. On all other matters, the Northern Ireland Executive together with the 90-member Northern Ireland Assembly may legislate and govern for Northern Ireland. Additionally, devolution in Northern Ireland is dependent upon participation by members of the Northern Ireland Executive in the North/South Ministerial Council, which co-ordinates areas of co-operation between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.
A by-election for the UK House of Commons constituency of Mid Ulster in Northern Ireland was held on 7 March 2013. The election was triggered by the resignation of Martin McGuinness, who had been elected to the seat in 1997 as the Sinn Féin candidate. The election was won by Francie Molloy, also of Sinn Féin.
The first election to Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council, part of the Northern Ireland local elections on 22 May 2014, returned 41 members to the newly-formed council via Single Transferable Vote. The Democratic Unionist Party won a plurality of seats, although the Ulster Unionist Party attracted the most first-preference votes.
The 1924 Northern Irish local elections were held in January & June 1924 for the various county & district councils of Northern Ireland. The election followed changes by the Unionist government, which had redrawn electoral districts, abolished PR for local elections, and implemented a requirement for members of local authorities to take an oath of allegiance.