Belfast Council are funding works at the Assembly Rooms, Friar’s Bush Graveyard and Riddell’s Warehouse
£700,000 is to be spent by Belfast City Council on the renovation of the Assembly Rooms, and restoration work on Friar’s Bush Graveyard and Riddel’s Warehouse.
At a council meeting in December, it was agreed that £600K will go to the renovation of the Assembly Rooms ahead of the Fleadh next summer, whilst £50,000 will go to both Friar’s Bush and Riddel’s Warehouse.
In September, elected representatives made the final sign-off on an agreement to purchase the historic Assembly Rooms and associated adjoining lands and buildings from Castlebrooke Investments. Details have still not been furnished as to how the council means to use the Assembly Rooms.
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Vacant since 2000, the Assembly Rooms is a Grade B1 listed heritage building on the corner of North Street and Waring Street which dates to 1769 and is one of Belfast’s most prominent and architecturally important public buildings.
It’s where plans to establish a slave trading company were rejected in 1786, the famous Belfast Harp Festival was held in 1792, and where Henry Joy McCracken was sentenced to death in 1798.
In addition to the Assembly Rooms, adjoining lands and buildings purchased by the council include part of the Donegall Street car park, 5-9 North Street (former Laffin Travel building) and Braddell’s Building, a Grade B1 listed building at 11 North Street.
The plot is a small part of the 12 acre Cathedral Quarter site involved in the controversial “Tribeca” development – a planning application approved by Belfast Council in 2020 for a £500m urban regeneration scheme. No work has been done by Castlebrooke in the five years since they got planning approval.
Belfast’s oldest Christian burial site, Friar’s Bush Graveyard, is off the Stranmillis Road. Legend has it that St Patrick built a church and blessed a well on the site of Friar’s Bush Graveyard, while an order of friars is also said to have been established there. Two important stones found within the cemetery grounds appear to support this theory.
The name ‘Friar’s Bush’ comes from an old hawthorn tree in the centre of the cemetery known as ‘the friar’s bush’ – although exactly who the friar was is unclear. It was blown down in storm Storm Eowyn in January and revealed the hidden grave of Daniel McNamara, a Catholic man who helped lead the largely Protestant rebellion against Britain in the 1790’s.
During the 18th century, Catholics gathered in secret in the graveyard to celebrate mass under the bush -the celebration of Catholic mass was banned under harsh penal laws at the time. After it was consecrated in 1829, the cemetery was used exclusively by Roman Catholics.
The site also contains the mass graves of hundreds of people who lost their lives during the cholera epidemic of the 1830s and the famine of the 1840s. The site was maintained by the Catholic Church until 2000 when it was taken over by the council.
Riddel’s Warehouse is seen as the most important survivals from 19th century industrial Belfast, a four-storey ironmongery warehouse built for John Riddel and Co in 1867 to the designs of Thomas Jackson.
It has changed little since the days when Riddels imported ironmongery from England and Scotland and served retail ironmongers in Belfast. Riddel’s operated from Ann Street till 1973 when a series of fire bomb attacks and the difficulty of operating within the security barricades forced a move. The RUC then acquired the building and used it as a lost property office, before it was more recently acquired by Hearth Historic Buildings trust in 2014.
Alliance Councillor Michael Long welcomed the approval of £700k to help preserve the three heritage projects across the city.
He said: “I was delighted to support funding for the Assembly Rooms, as well as to put forward funding for Friar’s Bush and Riddel’s Warehouse. For too long, Belfast’s historic sites have been neglected, and all three projects will help to preserve our built heritage and history.
“This investment will undoubtedly help to revitalise and regenerate our city and improve what we have to offer to tourists, especially during Fleadh when we hope to welcome a million visitors to Belfast. It will also help local residents learn more about Belfast’s rich and diverse heritage.
“Friar’s Bush is thought to be Belfast’s oldest Christian burial site and contains graves linked to cholera epidemics and the famine, in addition to well-known citizens of the city. This historical site is also an important area of biodiversity.
“Riddel’s Warehouse is another hidden gem and is a 19th Century industrial site with a four storey ironmongery warehouse.
“All these sites represent Belfast’s rich history, and it is vital that we take every step to prevent them from falling into ruin so that generations to come can learn from and experience them. This funding will help address that need.”
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