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Physical investment
Dating back to the 1860s, Belfast City Cemetery is one of the oldest public cemeteries in the city.
It is the final resting place of many notable figures including Edward Harland, co-founder of Harland & Wolff; Margaret Byers, suffragist and founder of Victoria College; and Sir William Pirrie, chairman of Harland & Wolff in the Titanic era, and former Lord Mayor of Belfast.
The site also contains many points of historical interest, including the poor ground where over 80,000 souls lie in unmarked graves and an underground wall, which was built in Victorian times to separate Protestant and Catholic graves.
Additionally, City Cemetery has a number of key listed heritage assets including the central steps, Victorian fountain and Jewish Cemetery.
With funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, we led an exciting project to enhance the existing built and natural heritage of City Cemetery and increase people’s ability to access and understand it, while protecting and preserving it for future generations.
One of project's main aims was for City Cemetery to become a more attractive place to visit.
The cemetery has four B1-listed heritage assets which were restored.
| Asset | Information |
|---|---|
| Central steps and vaults | Probably the most visually striking and historically significant monument in the cemetery, the steps were built in 1867. Within the steps there are a number of vaults within which lie the remains of families who dominated life in 19th century Belfast, such as Edward Harland (Harland and Wolff) and Thomas Gallaher (Gallaher Tobacco). |
| Victorian drinking fountain | A fine example of Victorian cast iron workmanship. Key heritage assets restored, installed by George Smith and Co of Sun Foundry, Glasgow, in 1880. |
| Victorian fountain | Free-standing, three-tiered decorative cast-iron fountain, dating from c.1880 by Glasgow based George Smith & Co. Although no longer in use, this fountain was part of the integral design of Belfast City Cemetery, and is typical of Victorian garden cemeteries. |
| Superintendent’s gatehouse | Designed by renowned architect John Lanyon the house opened in 1873. It currently houses the cemetery office |
There are also additional assets of significant historical importance and heritage value including the underground wall, built to separate Catholic and Protestant graves; the Jewish Burial Ground, believed to be the only one on the island of Ireland; and the First World War Memorial Wall, erected in 1927 by the Imperial War Graves Commission.
We built a new visitor centre. The centre has an interpretive exhibition, digital touchscreens, interactive features for children and workstations to help people carry out genealogy searches of the 220,000 people buried within the cemetery. It also features indoor and outdoor educational spaces for schools and youth groups.
The visitor centre is currently closed to the public.
Extensive interpretative signage was installed throughout the cemetery and in the visitor centre. This signage tells stories of the site's history and heritage, and of notable figures who are buried there. Its purpose is to aid visitors’ enjoyment of the site. The interactive digital aspect of the signage will allow people to tap into the vast genealogical potential that the cemetery has.
As part of the project, we delivered a biodiversity action plan which included:
The cemetery is accessible by public transport. There is car parking available at the cemetery.
City Cemetery is a Glider stop on the G1 Glider route from the city centre. Metro buses also stop at City Cemetery on Falls Road. Check Glider and bus timetables on Translink (link opens in new window) website.
You can park inside the entrance gates at the intersection of Whiterock and Falls Road. Visitors can park on either side of the road in front of the Superintendent's House. There are two disabled parking bays behind the visitor centre. An accessible entrance is facing these parking bays.
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