IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Glenbryn Gardens, BELFAST, BT14 7JA

In the Upper Ardoyne. Note the strange curve in the layout of the houses left and right - more noticeable from the satellite image.

On Alliance Road/Ardoyne Road in the Upper Ardoyne. This is a 'Controlled' school - that is to say one of Protestant schoolchildren.

When this school was built - the Ardoyne was a mixed (Protestant and R.C.) area. When The Troubles started and both communities moved to opposite sides of the neighbourhood - this Catholic school was left on the wrong side. Unfortunately, in June 2001 tensions flared when local loyalist began to harass the school children and their parents while walking along the Protestant section of Ardoyne Road - eventually leading to the walk to school being undertaken between lines of riot police. The situation was eventually eased when children were permitted to enter via St Gabriel's College on the other side of the campus.

Along Ardoyne Road at Glenbryn. This is a Church of Ireland (Anglican) congregation sited at an 'interface' - see Image

The demolition of houses here I imagine is a result of Protestants leaving the area.

This is on the other side of the 'Peace Wall' visible to the right - which divides Alliance Avenue (Image) and Glenbryn Park (Roman Catholic and Protestant respectively). Since this once mixed area became a Protestant ghetto - it has become known as the Upper Ardoyne, differentiating it from the Roman Catholic Ardoyne.

Descending towards Belfast city centre - visible in the distance. We can see the Hilton, BT building and Victoria Square's glass dome.

This is one of the most sudden and certainly one of the most contentious religious divides in Northern Ireland. In the 1960s the whole Ardoyne was a mixed area which was viewed as one step above the slums and terraces of the Shankill. Although Protestants and Roman Catholics lived side by side as neighbours - everyone knew who was on whose side. When the conflict fired up in 1969 - suspicion arose and Protestants moved towards the northern end of the Ardoyne, towards Ballysillan which was established as Protestant. Roman Catholics, on the contrary, moved towards the Ardoyne roundabout and the Holy Cross Chapel. This shift eventually caused an imaginary line between Alliance Avenue and Glenbryn Park. The continual violence here prompted the construction of a Peace Wall. Thankfully there has been a marked decrease in sectarian violence here since the 2001 Holy Cross dispute. This is taken from the Protestant 'Upper Ardoyne' looking towards the Roman Catholic area - which begins roughly where the Peugeot 106 is emerging.

Runs parallel to the 'Peace Wall'. This is only just on the Roman Catholic side.

This classy synthetic pitch replaced the old gravel one here.