Thursday Doors – Belfast

Earlier in the year we drove through Belfast in Northern Ireland on the way home from visiting family and I managed to get a few nice Thursday Doors shots of some of the lovely old buildings to be seen in the city. This was supposed to be April’s blogpost but I was away last week and missed the deadline so there will probably be two posts this month.

I have no idea which letters are missing from above this lovely arch and I haven’t a clue what the building is used for. It could be a place of worship but I’m guessing.

Interesting that this old Presbytarian church, built in 1924, has two main entrances. I don’t see that too often. Although it no longer functions as a place of worship, the building has been mostly kept to its original design. It now houses a large restaurant and shop. The foundation stone was laid by Kate Booth, daughter of William Booth, who founded the Salvation Army. The building features memorial windows put there in honour of the victims of both world wars.

This elegant old building is for sale with full planning permission for conversion to a hotel.

If you like red brick buildings there’s plenty to be found in Belfast.

I think I saved the best till last. It’s the Mater Hospital which opened in November 1883 with 28 beds. Sixteen years later it was expanded to 150 beds, all funded by charitable donations. In 1899 the hospital was recognised for its medical student and nurse training, which still continues today. An interesting fact is that in the 1920s nurses had to be five feet two inches tall and eight stone in weight. I guess that was a minimum requirement.

Thanks for joining me on this quick tour through part of Belfast City and if you’d like to see more Thursday Doors from around the world, head on over to Dan’s blog.

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