https://maritime-mile.com/explore-new/neighbourhoods/
Belfast Harbour was first established in the area now known as City Quays, where the rivers Lagan, Farset and Blackstaff converged. The first quays were built here for early merchants trading linen and other commodities. Modern Belfast retains much of its early maritime heritage, and the area once dominated by shipyards is now one of Europe’s largest waterfront regeneration sites with millions of visitors every year, and a busy port handling millions of tonnes of cargo.
Sailortown is the oldest remaining residential area with links to the Harbour and its dockers, and once had over 5,000 people packed into its small, terraced streets. The area was where dockers and immigrant families settled while seeking work in the increasingly busy shipyards and docks. The men worked on the docks or went to sea while the women looked after families and found work in the linen mills.
Facing Donegall Quay, the Queens Quay is home to the Odyssey Pavilion & SSE Arena. The Odyssey was constructed in time for the Millennium in 2000, and is home to Northern Ireland’s largest indoor venue, located on a site once overlooking the world’s largest shipyard. The SSE Arena is home to Belfast’s one and only professional ice hockey team, the Stena Line Belfast Giants. The season promises plenty of fast and furious action that will have you on the edge of your seat, from bone-crunching hits to last minute game-winning goals.
On the Titanic side of Belfast Harbour, the Abercorn Basin and Hamilton Graving Dock were constructed in the 1860s following redevelopment of the River Lagan and Harbour area. Much of the area, originally called Queens Island, became the site of the Harland and Wolff shipyard which was one of the world’s largest shipyards, employing 30,000 workers. As the shipbuilding industry changed in Belfast, the area is now the biggest waterfront redevelopment site in Europe with thousands of visitors, workers and residents.
At the far end of the Maritime Mile is the area we like to call Innovation Quay, home to Catalyst Inc, an innovation community of researchers, tech start-ups and entrepreneurs specialising in everything from diagnostic systems to cyber-crime. Queen’s University’s ECIT Campus is located here, where over 200 academics, students and engineers are researching technologies to create the digital society of the future. The modern buildings overlook the innovation of the past though, with the Thompson Dry Dock at the heart of Innovation Quay.
East Belfast or EastSide, was home for thousands of shipyard workers who lived in the rows of terraced houses built for the workers and their families.
EastSide is now thriving once again as a hub of culture and creativity. You can catch glimpses of the heritage of the past through buildings such as Templemore Baths – the Victorian public baths frequented by many shipyard workers over the last hundred years, or the Portview Trade Centre, a former linen mill now home to architects and craft brewers.
Not far from the City Quays side of the Maritime Mile is the Markets area. Located at the edge of the River Lagan, the Market Community is one of the oldest working-class communities in Belfast. It was once a mix of residential, commercial, and industrial sites, from various markets, to linen mills, distilleries, and foundries. St George’s Market, a covered Victorian market building, was constructed in the 1890s, on the site of a market dating back to 1604.