Top 20 Belfast Entries posts – Have you read them all?

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A Cushendun Goat
Goat at Cushendun

The Top 20 Articles – Updated May 2022

The Top 20 Belfast Entries posts highlight the stories that have been most read since the website started in December 2020. We have 8 New Entries in the chart since the December Chart. Have you read them all?


1. Galboly – The County Antrim Village Lost in Time

Galboly cottage view

In the picturesque glens of Antrim lies the abandoned village of Galboly. Hidden from view, its derelict cottage ruins recall a bygone age


2. Vere Foster – One of the greatest men you’ve never heard of

Vere Foster Grave Full Inscription
Vere Foster contributed enormously to Ireland’s famine relief, emigration support, charity, health & education only to die forgotten and poor

3. Nora’s Grave – A True Story of Love & Death

Bodies Illustration at the scene Belfast Telegraph 13th March 1890
The love story of Nora Tattersall & George Arthur and their tragic deaths on the Cavehill, County Antrim in 1890 resonates to this day


4. Ardoyne – The Story of a Village – Belfast Entries

Millie close-up
Today Ardoyne is a busy working-class district in north Belfast. However it was once a village in beautiful countryside. This is it’s story.

5. Barney Hughes – The baker “beloved by the working classes”

Belfast Bap - from Rileys Home Bakery
Barney Hughes is remembered for his desire for social justice, his unstinting generosity and humanitarian reform, but also for the Belfast Bap

6. Have you seen Charlie Chaplin on Joy Street, Belfast?

Joy Street sign
Joy Street is one of the best surviving examples of Georgian architecture in the heart of Belfast with a historic link to Charlie Chaplin

7. Hannahstown & it’s Church on the Hill – A Turbulent History

View from the front of Hannahstown Church
A brief history of Hannahstown, it’s Church and the turbulent times endured by the people of the parish.

8. The Crosskeys Inn – Ireland’s Oldest Thatched Public House

Front of Crosskeys
County Antrim’s Crosskeys Inn is the oldest thatched public house in Ireland and offers a truly authentic traditional Irish pub experience.

9. Bang Beggars, Vulcans and other old Irish Occupations

Old Irish Occupations
Historical official records & documents sometimes refer to long-forgotten old Irish occupations. We list some of the more unusual.

10. Unusual Laws in Old Belfast 1613 – 1816

Belfast Long Bridge crossed the River Lagan between 1688 and 1841
A look at some of the laws & regulations of old Belfast Town that may appear very unusual or strange to modern eyes.

11. St Malachy’s Church – “Strangers will look with admiration”

St Malachy's Church Interior
Saint Malachy’s Church in Belfast is a Grade A listed building near the heart of the city noted for it’s stunning design.

12. Friar’s Bush Graveyard – A Fascinating History

Friar's Bush Graveyard
Sometimes we just don’t see the hidden treasures in our city… Friar’s Bush is Belfast’s oldest Christian burial site. The oldest legible headstone is of a Thomas Gibson who died in 1717.

13. Belfast Street Art – Transforming City Streets

Belfast Street Art - Donegll Street Belfast 2
Street Art has long featured on Northern Ireland walls. Now Belfast city centre has been enhanced with a range of sensational street paintings

14. The Forgotten Town of Coole & the Church of the Holy Evangelists

Tom Scott marker
The story of Coole parish includes a forgotten town, supernatural pacts, philanthropy & the history of the Church of the Holy Evangelists

15. Shankill Graveyard – An Intriguing Story

The Watch-House
Shankill Graveyard has a fascinating 1,500 year history featuring St Patrick, plagues, famine, a bullaun stone & Resurrection Men

16. Visiting Belfast’s Oldest Pubs

Scotty at Whites Tavern
A look at some of Belfast’s ‘oldest’ pubs in the city centre. People debate which is the oldest and which is the best. Try them yourself

17. James Haddock – The Ghost Who Gave Evidence in Court

Courtroom scene
The strange tale of James Haddock, a man who died in 1657 but whose ghost returned subsequently to give evidence in Carrickfergus Court

18. Saint Mary’s Church, Belfast – An inspirational story

Scotty at St Mary's Church
The construction of Saint Mary’s Catholic Church in Belfast in 1784 with widespread Protestant support reflected the end of the Penal Laws

19. Body Snatchers – Death, Resurrection Men… and Murder

Dunegore Mort-House
In 18th century Ireland body snatching was a real problem throughout the country. A variety of tactics were employed to deter the thieves…

20. Friendly Advice – Do not keep a cow in the house longer than a year

Cow in House - Friendly Advice
Catherine Alexander’s book “Friendly Advice to Irish Mothers on Training their Children” (1839) aims to educate mothers on parenting and managing their households


If you enjoyed this article…

If you like our posts please help us to grow our readership by sharing any posts that you like using the social media sharing icons shown with each post.

Please Consider a Small Donation

Belfast Entries is a husband & wife hobby website featuring articles on our shared history, memories and entertaining stories of our past. To help us meet rising website hosting costs please click the coffee cup below to learn how to make a small donation. Please note that every contribution is valued and that we will not contact you directly in order to respect your privacy.

Buy Us a Coffee
Buy Us a Coffee

Donations this month 5 😊

Thank you Declan

Thank you Anonymous

Thank you Donnah

Thank you Kevin

Thank you Sheril

We had 6 donations last month


What are others reading now?

Galboly cottage view

Galboly – The County Antrim Village Lost in Time

By P&P / 30 September 2021 / 4 Comments
Mill chimney - a common sight in Belfast

Ardoyne – The Story of a Village

By P&P / 13 November 2021 / 2 Comments
Bodies Illustration at the scene Belfast Telegraph 13th March 1890

Nora’s Grave – A True Story of Love & Death

By P&P / 19 March 2022 / 0 Comments
Belfast Long Bridge crossed the River Lagan between 1688 and 1841

Unusual Laws in Old Belfast 1613 – 1816

By P&P / 11 March 2022 / 0 Comments

Cost of Living Crisis

Given the current cost of living crisis that will impact so many in coming months we have added a page signposting organisations that may be able to offer support. We have no relationship with these organisations and cannot offer financial advice but we hope that some of the links may prove useful.



Ancestry Antrim Arthur Chichester artist Belfast Belfast Entries Belfast Family belfast roots Carrickfergus Castle Cemetery Church Clifton House County Antrim County Down Department Store Donegal education. family tree Famous Folk Forgotten folk Genealogy Ghost graveyard Historical places History Hotel Ireland Irish Census Records Irish Family Irish genealogy irish roots Mary Ann McCracken Operation Overlord Otto Jaffe Outlaw People Philanthropist Places to see Poor House Sailortown St Patrick Titanic Tourism United Irishmen


Belfast Entries posts & photos are our intellectual property and copyrighted to us. Where we use photos that do not belong to us, it is because we believe them to be in the public domain or shared under a Creative Commons licence with appropriate attribution. None of our content or images can be used without our consent. Note that a link to our Copyright & Takedown notice is included in the website footer on all pages.



If you enjoyed this article…

If you like our posts please help us to grow our readership by sharing any posts that you like using the social media sharing icons shown with each post.

Please Consider a Small Donation

Belfast Entries is a husband & wife hobby website featuring articles on our shared history, memories and entertaining stories of our past. To help us meet rising website hosting costs please click the coffee cup below to learn how to make a small donation. Please note that every contribution is valued and that we will not contact you directly in order to respect your privacy.

Buy Us a Coffee
Buy Us a Coffee

Donations this month 5 😊

Thank you Declan

Thank you Anonymous

Thank you Donnah

Thank you Kevin

Thank you Sheril

We had 6 donations last month


What are others reading now?

Galboly cottage view

Galboly – The County Antrim Village Lost in Time

By P&P / 30 September 2021 / 4 Comments
Mill chimney - a common sight in Belfast

Ardoyne – The Story of a Village

By P&P / 13 November 2021 / 2 Comments
Bodies Illustration at the scene Belfast Telegraph 13th March 1890

Nora’s Grave – A True Story of Love & Death

By P&P / 19 March 2022 / 0 Comments
Belfast Long Bridge crossed the River Lagan between 1688 and 1841

Unusual Laws in Old Belfast 1613 – 1816

By P&P / 11 March 2022 / 0 Comments

Cost of Living Crisis

Given the current cost of living crisis that will impact so many in coming months we have added a page signposting organisations that may be able to offer support. We have no relationship with these organisations and cannot offer financial advice but we hope that some of the links may prove useful.



Ancestry Antrim Arthur Chichester artist Belfast Belfast Entries Belfast Family belfast roots Carrickfergus Castle Cemetery Church Clifton House County Antrim County Down Department Store Donegal education. family tree Famous Folk Forgotten folk Genealogy Ghost graveyard Historical places History Hotel Ireland Irish Census Records Irish Family Irish genealogy irish roots Mary Ann McCracken Operation Overlord Otto Jaffe Outlaw People Philanthropist Places to see Poor House Sailortown St Patrick Titanic Tourism United Irishmen


Belfast Entries posts & photos are our intellectual property and copyrighted to us. Where we use photos that do not belong to us, it is because we believe them to be in the public domain or shared under a Creative Commons licence with appropriate attribution. None of our content or images can be used without our consent. Note that a link to our Copyright & Takedown notice is included in the website footer on all pages.

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