History Shorts: snippets of local history

This article is republished with permission from The Conversation How taking a closer look at your family tree can help you get to grips with climate change By  Flossie Kingsbury , Aberystwyth University Engaging people when it comes to climate change can be challenging. Climate conversations are often technical and dry, making it hard to see how it connects to our own lives. As a historical researcher I’ve been figuring out how we can make this connection clearer, and believe that taking a look at our family histories might hold the answer. Tracing our ancestors’ connections to colonialism and industrialisation can help us personally connect with the climate crisis. Photo: Pixabay While climate change might seem abstract or distant, our own history is inherently personal. Tracing a family tree can show how historical events, including those that influenced climate change , altered life courses. Through pilot research with my own family tree, I’ve found that family history can be a

The former Bank of Ireland building at the corner of Belfast's Royal Avenue and North Street has been called one of the finest Modernist buildings in Ireland. Finished in what was presumably once bright white Portland limestone, this Art Deco wonder was built from 1928-1930 and was Grade B+ listed in 1990. It was designed by the architect Joseph Vincent Downes for the Dublin-based firm of McDonnell & Dixon, a practice responsible for many bank and office buildings of different styles in Ireland from the 1900s and which is still in business today! Despite its status, and like so many of the buildings on nearby North Street, the Bank of Ireland building in Belfast seemed destined to fall into a state of disrepair after its closure in 2005.  Thankfully it seems like the bank is to get a new lease of life as part of a significant new tourism and cultural regeneration investment by none other than Belfast City Council. I, for one, will be keen to visit when it opens again in 2028!