The Belfast Prison/Crumlin Road Jail

As with the Crumlin Road Courthouse and many other Belfast buildings of note Crumlin Road Jail was built by Sir Charles Lanyon. The prison was built between 1843 and 1845 and cost £60,000. As a replacement for the county gaol on Antrim street in Carrickfergus Partly based on HMP Pentonville, it was one of the most advanced prisons of its day.

Built within a five-sided wall, the four wings are up to four storeys in height and fan off from the central area which was known as The Circle. The prison was originally built to hold between 500 and 550 prisoners in cells that measured 12 x 7 feet, these were without class and prisoners slept on straw. It was also the first prison in Ireland to be built according to "The Separate System", intended to separate prisoners from each other with no communication between them. Later, especially in the early 1970s, as many as three prisoners were placed in each cell.


It is connected by the passageway shown in the picture to crumlin road courthouse across the road.

The first 106 inmates, who were forced to walk from Carrickfergus Prison in chains, arrived in 1846. These inmates, who were men, women and children, completed the changeover of the two prisons. Children from impoverished working-class families were often imprisoned at the Jail in the early years for offences such as stealing food or clothing and routinely flogged with a cat o’nine tails as part of their sentence. Women inmates were kept in the prison block house until the early 1900s. Ten year old Patrick Magee, who had been sentenced to three months in prison hanged himself in his cell in 1858.

When originally designed by Lanyon, the prison did not contain a gallows and the executions were carried out in public view until 1901, when an execution chamber was constructed and used until the last of the hangings in 1961.

Seventeen prisoners were executed in the prison, the last being Robert McGladdery who was hanged in 1961 for the murder of Pearl Gamble.The condemned would live in a large cell (large enough for two guards to live in as well), unknowingly living next to the gallows, which were concealed by a bookcase. The bodies of the executed were buried inside the prison in unconsecrated ground and the graves were marked only with their initials and year of execution on the prison wall.

The execution of TomWilliams took place on 2 September 1942. Williams, nineteen years old, was hanged for the murder of an RUC officer.



The hangman in charge was hangman famous Thomas Pierrepoint (he was also the gaol's most regular hangman, he carried out six executionthe gaol between 1928 and 1942) the gaol between 1928 and 1942)
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Even with the heavy security in place, there were several escapes from the prison over the years. In 1943, three prisoners including the IRA's chief of staff, escaped from Crumlin Road Gaol and were not recaptured despite a £3,000 reward being offered. Several other escapes by IRA prisoners were carried out in 1971.

For the last thirty years of its working life until it closed on 31 March 1996, Crumlin Road prison served as a remand centre for suspected Terrorist prisoners awaiting trial.

Its recently been opened to tours for the public with 27,000 visiting in 2009 sadly at the time of writing it is under renovation so again I have had to use pics from the 28 days later forum.

A film “ghost machine” was recently filmed in the jail it has also benn used for film screenings and some theatre pieces.

Check out the trailer for “ghost machine here”

http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi2085552665/

(huge thanks to wikipedia for this post)

Theres a very extensive tour of the jail by two local men from the “Belfast History Project”

Crumlin Road Courthouse.

The Crumlin Road Courthouse was designed by the architect Sir Charles Lanyon and completed in 1850 at a cost of £16,500 and is situated facing Crumlin Road Gaol.

Sir Charles Lanyon was the architect behind a large number of well-known buildings in Belfast, including Queens University’s main building, Belfast Central Library, the Customs House, the Theological College in Botanic Avenue (which was used for Northern Ireland's first parliament before Stormont was built), the Palm House in Botanic Gardens (the first in the world and built 10 years before Kew Gardens famous palm house) and Belfast Castle. He later went on to become Belfast Lord Mayor and an MP.

Northern Ireland still has some beautiful working courthouses of this era, Downpatrick, Armagh (which resembles a smaller “Crum”) and Enniskillen are of particular note.

The Courthouse served as the main “Crown Court” for Belfast as such many of the most signifigant trials in Nothern Irish s history took place in this building and it remains a huge part of our Legal History. The last execution in N.Ireland was ordered from these very benches, its important to remember for the first 50 years of this Courthouses history these were public hanging’s. It’s dock has had some vistors of note such as NI Politicians Gerry Adams, Ian Paisley and the late David Ervine as well as the infamous Lenny Murphy the leader of the so called Shankill Butchers.

Whilst Prisoners today appear in Court via video link or are brought by bus from HMP Maghaberry in Lisburn. Crumlin Road Courthouse prisoners were quite literally “sent down” as the courthouse was linked to Crumlin Road jail by an underground passage that was used to bring prisoners to and from the jail.

The Courthouse closed in June 1998, much of the work of “The Crum” was transferred to the new Laganside Court buildings which face the Royal Courts of Justice on Chichester Street in the city centre. Which, while a leap forward in modernisation, “Laganside” lacks a great deal of the athmosphere and grandeur of this old building and to me has a bit of a Travelodge feel.

It was sold to local investor Barry Gilligan in September 2003 for £1. His plans for the courthouse include redeveloping it as a tourist attraction and a hotel. The courthouse had a series of fires in 2009 causing further massive damage to the structure.

Sadly the future of the building remains in question and with inaction, further damage seems inevitable. A very sad end to this once great and historic building.

To quote one of Belfast’s defence QC’s “bring back the crum”

The Photos for this post were taken from the 28 days later forum and more can be found there.

http://www.28dayslater.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=31705

There is an excellent video guide of the courthouse at present by I guidez, 6mins long and well worth checking out.

http://www.iguidez.com/Belfast/crumlin_road_courthouse/

Ross's Auctioneers

Ross’s Auctions has occupied this slightly strange Grade B listed building for the past 75 years in the centre of Belfast, I’m not sure of the buildings original purpose.

I was introduced to Ross’s auctions by Dan, a former colleague a few years ago and ended up coming home with a brass library lamp. I've been hooked since then.

Ross’s conduct antique auctions monthly and sales of Irish Art quarterly. However my favourite is the more humble general furniture and house contents sale which happens every week.

Viewing takes place eac

h Wednesday and the auction itself from 10.00am on the Thursday.

Upstairs has the more fancy stuff, the pieces verging on the antique and downstairs is more your general house clearance/vintage/general bric-a-brac I’ve shown in the pictures.

My folks used to visit the collection of antique shops on Donegall pass (a community sadly now gone), in particular the old Saturday morning market held upstairs in “Alexander the Grates”. I loved the thousands of weird and wonderful things on sale, better than the museum as you often got to touch and play with swords and strange travelling chests or old comics.

Downstairs in Ross’s still gives me that same excitement, that smell as you walk in. This isn’t a shop you don’t know what’s going to be here week to week; there isn’t a price on anything.

As its largely from house clearances you’ll find anything from replica roman swords to deactivated shooting canes, old furniture and a 1000 items of weird bric a brac you never you knew you needed or wanted until now.

It’s a bit like a cross between Lovejoy and Steptoe and Sons house. If you’re into vintage things it’s an Aladdin’s cave.

Your only seconds from the city hall, give it ago, once you go in once you’ll be hooked.

Friday Morning Market - St Georges,

I love a Friday morning nosey round the market, I used to work next door to St Georges so it still gives me that feeling you had during a sick day at school.

First things first, SD Bells stall for a coffee then go for a wander.

Many of the stall holders can trace trading at St Georges back across 3 or 4 generation of family. You can get everything here from picture hooks to langoustines, a packet of dusters or Belgian chocolates. I love the weird bric-a-brac, stuff especially.

Whilst the market has changed with the times, you still have the sense of the original Victorian market. The noise, clatter, the smell of fish as you near the counter, the harsh edged accent of a bit of Belfast banter in the air. I’ve often wondered has the Friday morning market developed from the traditional Irish catholic habit of eating fish on a Friday? Regardless the market now has the largest fish counter in Ireland.

As someone recently put it the Saturday market is “a bit more middle class” focusing primarily on food and has a feel of a slightly upmarket ‘continental’ market, with the addition of music and entertainers. It’s a great resource for small local producers to have a retail outlet to the public for minimal cost and you find a selection of food that’s far and above anything you get at the woeful city hall market. It’s a great way to spend a Saturday morning but it’s the original Friday market I love most.

There has been a Friday market on the St. George’s site since 1604, Originally St George’s Market was an open market with stalls and included a meat market and slaughter house. Its name may have come from St George’s Church in High Street. The current St George’s Market was commissioned by the Belfast Corporation (now Belfast City Council). It was built in three phases between 1890 and 1896.

Interestingly following heavy German bombing during the Belfast blitz on Easter Tuesday 1941, St George’s Market was used as an emergency mortuary. Some 700 people were killed during the raids with 255 bodies brought to the market for identification.

By the end of the 1980’s the market faced the threat of closure. Public pressure lead to investment being made and refurbishment began. The renovated St George’s Market opened on 14 May 1999.

Today it’s used to Conferences, Concerts, Product launches and a Market every Fri and Sat. During the summer they are also trying Sunday opening. Give it a go, it really is great crack.

Malone House

Shrouded in trees just above Shaws Bridge stands Malone House. It has the feeling of a rural stately home but we are minutes away from the top of the Malone Road.

It has a simple understated elegence, I love the symmetry of the sash windows at the front in particular and how at the rear of the house the land drops away providing a stunning vista of the Castlereagh hills. It really is a beautiful house and I’ve loved it since studying it for a school project in primary school.

William Legge built Malone House on the site of an old fort around 1820, which he occupied until his death in 1868. The last private tenant William Barnett died in 1943, leaving the house, and its grounds, to the City of Belfast. After the Second World War, and some ground development, Barnett’s Park opened in 1951, with Malone House providing a tea-room.

In 1970, the National Trust leased Malone House, as its Northern Ireland Headquarters, until the building was bombed on 11 November 1976 and all but destroyed by resultant fire. Belfast City Council, upon public demand, began rebuilding Malone House in 1980 and the new refurbished house was opened in 1982. It now houses a cafe, art gallery and is used for weddings.

Sadly inside some parts of the 1980’s restoration were better done than others and the feel is much more of a function suite than of the grand house it once was. Malone House serves lunch Mon-Sat for £23 for two courses for two people and it also serves Sunday lunch.

Walking round the building gave me a feeling of waste, so much more could be done with this space. I’m stunned it has never been opened as a restaurant at night and the cafe really could do much more than at present, especially with a venue like this at the top of the Malone Road. It’s just crying out for a little bit of the glamour it once had.

www.malonehouse.co.uk