Belfast and the province of Ulster in the 20th century / by Robert M. Young.

  • Robert Magill Young
Date:
1909
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Belfast and the province of Ulster in the 20th century / by Robert M. Young. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    bronze figures at either side of the marble pedestal denoting shipbuilding and spinning. The inscription on the pedestal of the statue which owes its existence largely to Sir fames Henderson. M.A., D.L., and his news¬ paper, The Belfast News¬ letter, is part of Her Majesty’s Diamond f ubilee Message to her people— VICTORIA, R.I. From my heart I thank my people, May God bless them. The unveiling ceremony was performed by His Majesty Edward VII., on 28th July, 1903. A statue of Sir Edward Harland.the founder of the Iron Ship Building in Belfast,and the bronze statue, the Royal Irish Rifles war memorial, stand on the left of the Queen’s memorial statue. rhot°h'] Donegatx Square, Belfast. [w. Laurence, Dublin. In the west garden is the memorial to the 1st Marquis of Dufferin and Ava, a bronze statue under a stone canopy, with a bronze group on either side representing Canada and India, the joint work of Frederick Pomeroy, A.R.A. and Sir A. Brumwell Thomas, the architect of the building, it bears the following inscription :—- “To the illustrious memory of Frederick Temple, first Marquis of Dufferin and Ava, K.P., 1826-1903. Governor- General of Canada, Viceroy of India, Ambassador at St. Petersburg, Constantinople, Rome, and Paris, H.M. Lieutenant of the County of Down, and Freeman of the City of Belfast. This memorial of a great Irishman is erected by his countrymen and his many friends throughout the world ” The unveiling ceremony was performed by the Marquis of Londonderry, K.G., on the 9th fune, 1906. A fine impression of the interior of the building is obtained on entering the entrance hall, which is approached by the stone port-cochere and the octagon vestibule. It is 70 ft. long by 40 ft. wide, and rises to a height of over 100 feet, terminating in a dome 42 ft. wide. The walls are of Pavonazzo and Breccia marbles and the pavement of black and white marble, grouped round a radiating centrepiece. Right and left of the entrance hall the corridors bordering the central court¬ yard lead to several departments of municipal administration. The grand staircase, a noble flight of steps lighted by a range of seven windows of stained glass, recording tbe history of the municipality from its first .Sovereign in 1613 until 1899, when the building was inaugurated. On the first floor, immediately under the dome, a marble balustrade opens the view of the hall beneath. On the spacious floor at one side stands the beautiful bronze statue, by P. McDowell, R.A., of the Earl of Belfast, only son of the 3rd Marquis of Donegall. From here corridors lead to the grand suite of reception rooms for civic functions, and a private suite of rooms for the use of the Lord Mayor. The very handsome public rooms are all furnished in the most complete and luxurious manner, and it is satisfactory to And that all the beauties of this delightful interior are due to the labours of Irish hands, in the exquisite artistry of the wood carvings in the Grinling Gibbons style, and the charm of the emblematic stained glass in all the public rooms ; these include the reception rooms, council chamber, banquet hall, and the great hall for civic functions, beside affording in the rear accommodation for the officials and their staffs in departments engaged in the work of the city.
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