and from North America and now with the raw material used to make the
cotton (flax) had been destroyed the city had Belfast had nothing to produce,
and the cotton industry was beginning to decline in the mid-18th century. But
there was a substitute product which was Linen, Belfast had to see if this
new product could work because it had to face up to the challenge of making
up for this temporary breakdown in the British market Around this time, the
linen trade in Ireland was a massive boost in industrial activity and Turned
out to be very successful, as it was beginning to surpass linen as a major
industrial product in the middle of the 18th century, one fifth of all the
linen exported from Ireland was shipped from Belfast. By the turn of the
nineteenth century , Belfast had transformed into the largest linen
producer in the world, hence its nickname ‘Linenopolis’. Belfast has been
very famous in the last 100 years or so for its shipbuilding industry.
Shipbuilding was one of Belfast’s biggest industries, as it employed 30000
people at the time. Many have worked in the ship yards and some of the
biggest and most infamous ocean liners of the early 20th century e.g. like the
RMS Titanic were constructed in Belfast harbor. Actual ship building in
Belfast began in 1791 and the Harland and Wolff shipyard was founded in
1862 by Edward J Harland and G.W Wolff. Belfast harbour was urged in
1845 to provide deeper waters for larger ships. Large quays were built e.g.
Donegall Quay was built out into the river to make room for much larger
ships. As the harbour was developed further trade became more efficient,
now that more and bigger ships can get into the harbour. During
World War Two there was a huge increase in shipbuilding, but not building
cruise ships or ocean liners but the production of ships for the British Royal
Navy. Four Battle cruisers were constructed for the Royal Navy in the
Second World War. The mechanization and modernization of linen and
shipbuilding were instrumental in helping Belfast’s iron foundry had
developed in the first half of the 19th century until by 1870 there were
twenty; Steam engines, water turbines, electricity generator, steam pumps,
piston rings, electric dynamos and engines for cotton mills were made in
Belfast and sold in Britain and abroad. New engineering schemes also were
associated with and contributed to the trade of textiles and shipbuilding, as
from 1881 the Sirocco works made industrial fans. Belfast Ropeworks,
established in 1873 under Gustav, made ropes for the shipyards as it was
need for rigging both sailing and steam ships, and the factory owned by
Gustav in East Belfast became the world's largest ropeworks. Ever since
industry commenced the population of Belfast began to grow significantly,
Belfast’s population increased by almost 47% between 1801 and 1811, it
was nearly 28,000.Many people came flooding into Belfast from the
countryside looking for work and the population just kept on getting bigger
and bigger, from 1816-1821 it rose from 30000 to 37000 with the city
occupying just over 5500 houses. In the 1840s-1850s the period of
the Potato famine. mill workers arrive by railroad, three stations at edges of
town became surrounded by mills and houses for the poor workers. The city
now has a huge population and an irregular growth pattern. In 1851 the
number reaches 87000 and the city expands to include suburbs with wealthy
factory owners living in the north, south, and eastern parts of the city. West
Belfast and Ballymacarrett are incorporated into the city. There is also a
large increase in industrial housing near the textile mills. By the start of the
20th century Belfast had a population of 350,000 and by the beginning of the
Second World War it had risen to 440,000. During the late 18th century one
of the industrial suburbs situated in Belfast seemed to expand both
industrially and residentially more rapidly than any other area. Brick works,
glassworks and iron foundries, rope, starch and vitriol were established and
were clustered all round this area , two main indicators of the expansion
of Ballymacarrett was the building of an embankment and quay on the east
bank of the River Lagan the long bridge over the river to 50ft which would
enable carriages to pass each other on the bridge. Ballymacarrett and any
surrounding areas continued to grow in both industrial and commercial
sectors. A good indication of this growth was the increased availability of
land for services, yards and other premises. There were several iron
foundries being formed in the inner suburbs of Belfast in the mid 19th
century and in the late 19th century a large engineering industry grew up.
Also in the late 19th century there was a whiskey distilling industry in
Belfast and a tobacco industry also.
BY LUKE POLLIN
