People poured into Belfast in search of work. Between 18, Ireland was ravaged by the Great Famine, when potato blight, combined with brutal British policies, resulted in the deaths of one million people and caused another two million to flee the country. In the second half of the 19th century, Belfast’s shipyards steered the city through the greatest disaster in Irish history.
A deep affection for Belfast courses through its population of 340,000, and the shipyards don’t just illuminate the city’s heritage but now also help to bind and inspire its communities. Yet they still loom as a site encapsulating the tragedies, complexities, and ambition of Northern Ireland’s capital, a city that’s been fought over, both locally and internationally, for generations. While the shipyards were once the most prolific in the world, they are no longer the city’s nucleus. The yards also grace the big screen in Kenneth Branagh’s new movie, Belfast, inspired by his childhood here during the turbulent 1960s. The slipways where the Titanic was built are now a top outdoor performance venue in Belfast, which has just been awarded UNESCO City of Music status in recognition of its dynamic live music scene. Now, a hundred years since Northern Ireland was born, this industrial site has been transformed into one of the country’s main tourism draws, home to the Titanic Belfast attraction and several historic maritime sites. Then, in 2003, the shipyards birthed their last vessel. The docks have witnessed the long and bloody battle for Irish independence from the United Kingdom, as well as the Troubles, a 30-year maelstrom of violence between Catholic “Republicans,” who sought Ireland’s reunification, and Protestant “Loyalists,” who wanted Northern Ireland to remain in the U.K.
They launched the Titanic, drove a city’s economy for a century, and survived two world wars. In the early 1900s, Belfast’s shipyards were lauded across the seas for spawning the world’s greatest ships.
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