Ballymacarrett

Loyalist mural in Ballymacarrett Road. It was removed in 2011 after standing for over 10 years.
Current Loyalist mural in Ballymacarrett Road. It replaced the former mural but still shows all the men of the previous mural.

Ballymacarrett or Ballymacarret (from Irish Baile Mhic Gearóid 'MacGearóid's settlement')[1] is the name of both a townland and electoral ward in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The townland is in the civil parish of Knockbreda in the historic barony of Castlereagh Upper in County Down, and has existed since earlier than 1622.

The electoral ward is part of the Titanic district electoral area of Belfast City Council. The ward was created in 1973, with most of the population coming from the former Pottinger ward. It was slightly enlarged in 1985, taking in part of the Island ward.

The ward consists of two distinct districts: Ballymacarrett, which is almost entirely Protestant, and the Short Strand which is almost entirely Catholic, with the two separated by a peaceline. Consequently, in the 2001 census, the Roman Catholic community background figure was 51%.

Set in the shadows of the Harland and Wolff cranes Samson & Goliath, large numbers of local men worked in the shipyard during its heyday. The area is also well known for 'Ulster's Freedom Corner', a series of loyalist murals.

  1. ^ "Place Names NI - Ballymacarret, County Down". www.placenamesni.org. The Northern Ireland Place-name Project. Retrieved 8 December 2016.