History Shorts: snippets of local history

The Maritime Mile is a heritage trail alongside the River Lagan in Belfast, connecting key sites from the city’s seafaring and shipbuilding past with striking public art and storytelling, culminating in the Titanic Quarter, home to Titanic Belfast and a host of other historic attractions. Another eye-catching feature is the Glass of Thrones trail – a series of stained-glass panels celebrating the fantasy series filmed in nearby Titanic Studios. Here is the Stark Window, with its vivid imagery of direwolves, northern landscapes, tragedy and battle - a dramatic tribute and a popular photo stop. The Stark window with Titanic Belfast in the background Nearby on Donegall Quay, a public space opposite the Custom House blends historic and contemporary Belfast. A red buoy—once used in Belfast Lough— is repurposed here as public art, while the Salmon of Knowledge sculpture (better known as the Big Fish) stands where the hidden Farset River flows into the Lagan, telling the story of Belfas...

Continuing my effort to track the course of Belfast's river Farset, I've been looking at the PRONI historical maps viewer to see some of the old OS maps coverage of the city and environs. Frustratingly, it's not possible to embed the maps or share screengrabs without breach of OSNI copyright. Some interesting snippets:  Use of what appears to be the Farset's course as a parish boundary is striking. Also the array of industry from brickworks to distilleries. On the OSNI Historical First Edition (1832-1846) is the notation "Stream goes under ground" near the quarries on Squire's Hill.  There are an array of streams in the area, some of which must come together to form the Farset. An ice house is marked on the location of modern day housing on Bombay Street. Is it related to the nearby Clonard House? By the third edition (1900-1907), the housing has been constructed. Victoria Street and Queen's Square are constructed by the time of the seco...

The Farset is the now mostly underground river that is said to give Belfast its name*. There has been talk of 'daylighting' the river in places, ie uncovering it from its culverted fate to flow openly again. This could boost nature and air quality and also potentially alleviate flood risk. Belfast's underground rivers have been linked to some of the flooding experienced by the city. Most articles about the Farset focus on the stretch from High Street to the Lagan. While it's not universally known that a river of some importance in the city's development once flowed here, I'm betting a fair few High Street shoppers know of its existence underfoot. But on the Google Map below I've expanded outwards to try to map some of the Farset's known locations along its whole course, while guessing at a few more. " The lost river that gave Belfast its name " is an interesting 2013 article from the Belfast Telegraph  which has provided the basis for many ...