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Shankill 455AD

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Straddling North and West Belfast, and hemmed in on all sides by so called Peace Walls, this proud Protestant area Known as "the heart of the Empire" has absorbed the human chemistry of two millennia. It started life as an ancient track rising out of the marshland of Belfast. Connecting two counties; Down and Antrim, this track, likely trodden by St. Patrick saw the founding of Sean Cill / Shankill (meaning old church in Gaelic), the first Christian settlement in this part of County Antrim; in 455AD.

St. Matthews Church, built in 1872, the successor to the 'old church', is of gothic round towered design; in the shape of a shamrock it is unique to these islands. At it's door sits a Bullaun stone, recovered from Shankill Graveyard. Of Druid origins and later used as a for Christian baptisms, recent generations belive it to contain magical powers  to cure warts hence it is known locally as the "Wart Stone".

Further up the Road at Glencairn, evidence exists of even older human settlements in the remains of Stoneage Raths (ring forts).


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