10 things you (maybe) didn’t know about Woodvale Park
The Victorian gates of Woodvale Park
# 1
The Belfast Corporation purchased the land at a junction of Ballygomartin & Woodvale roads from the Rev. Octavius Glover on 20th August 1887.
# 2
Woodvale Park was opened on the 18/8/1888.
# 3
The park was originally named "Shankill Park" but it was renamed one month later.
# 4
Woodvale Park originally had a large pond complete with swans and ducks.
# 5
During winter, if the pond froze over, a man was employed to keep the ice in good condition for skating.
10 MORE things you (maybe) didn't know about the Shankill Graveyard
Remains of the Watchhouse in Shankill Graveyard
# 1
As well as containing the original Shankill (the old) Church circa 455 AD, the first St. Matthew's stood in the corner of the Graveyard where the Parochial Hall is now.
# 2
The first St. Matthew's was built in 1839 and was "a small church, seating 150 people, separated from Belfast Town by green fields .... it was regarded as a quiet rural place for a wedding and traditionally the people of the Town of Belfast attended it's services on a Sunday night for the sake of a pleasant country walk". (Bazaar Historical Sketch).
# 3
Rev. Dr. Thomas Drew who built St. Matthew's was a leading Orangeman and is buried in the Graveyard.
# 4
Rev. Isaac Nelson is also buried in the Graveyard. He was a Minister of Donegall Street Presbyterian Church, lived in a large country house where Sugarfield Street is now, was a home rule M.P. for County Mayo (replacing Parnell) and had Nelson Memorial Church built in his honour by his Sister.
# 5
The Baird family, founders of the Belfast (Evening) Telegraph have a large plot in the Graveyard.
10 things you (maybe) didn't know about the Shankill Graveyard
# 1
Shankill Graveyard is the oldest surviving part of the Shankill. Dating from the 5th century it is 1600 years old – that's 1,000 years before the U.S.A. was established! (Wow)
# 2
The River Farset runs alongside the Graveyard (on the Glenwood School side) but old maps show that it ran through the original Graveyard which was not walled in as today. Belfast ("Béal Feirste" in Gaelic) takes its name from the Farset.
# 3
Parts of a Bishop's crozier, dating from the 9th century, is in the National Museum in Dublin. (Send it back!).
# 4
It is recorded that the Shankill Church paid taxes to Pope Nicholas at the end of the 13th century. (So it was a Roman Catholic Church until the Reformation).
# 5
In 1855 the foundation stone of the original church was discovered when a grave was being dug - it was blasted with gun-powder. (From Ulster Journal of Archaeology).
10 things you (maybe) didn't know about the Shankill Churches
This article is the start of a new series discovering some facts about the Shankill that you may not have heard, or can't find anywhere else. First up is the theme of Churches!
# 1
The name Shankill derives from the Gaelic "Sean-cill" meaning "old church".
# 2
The "old church" referred to was in Shankill Graveyard and was founded circa 455 AD, legend has it by St. Patrick.
# 3
The original old church looked like this...
Picture: St. Oran's Chapel on the Scottish Island of Iona
# 4
The Ballaun Stone, outside St. Matthew's, was originally in Shankill Graveyard and was moved to St. Matthew's, one hundred years ago, in 1911.
# 5
Many believe the Ballaun Stone has magical powers to cure warts – hence its nickname "the Wart Stone".
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