Crumlin Road
[1] The lower section of the road houses a number of historic buildings, including the city's former law courts and prison, whilst the road encompasses several large housing areas, including Ardoyne, Ballysillan (from Irish Baile na Saileán, meaning 'townland of the willow groves/sally groves')[1] and Ligoniel(from Irish Lag an Aoil, meaning 'hollow of the lime').
Belfast City Council has converted a section of waste ground at this junction into a greenfield space whilst local shops have also been redeveloped.
The mill was built for William Ewart, a cotton trader and politician who switched his interests to the production of linen, which at the time became the leading industry in the city.
[17] The Crumlin Road reaches another junction just past the Holy Cross Church, where a number of streets branch off into different areas of the city.
The Ardoyne Road is an interface area, containing both republican and loyalist sections, and it was the scene of the Holy Cross dispute, a series of clashes between the two communities at a Catholic girls school in 2001 and 2002.
During the Northern Ireland Troubles Ballysillan was noted as a centre for loyalist paramilitary activity and was the home base of "D Company" of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) under the command of John Bingham[25] Along with Glenbryn, Ballysillan was also at the centre of a loyalist feud in 2003 when Jimbo Simpson, who had recently been ousted as head of the North Belfast Brigade of the Ulster Defence Association (UDA), attacked a number of houses in the area as part of a failed attempt to retake control of the Brigade and force out his replacement William Borland.
[27] Due to its elevated and exposed location Ballysillan, which takes its name from an Irish language expression meaning "townland of the willow grove", is one of the coldest areas of the city during winter.
As an interface area containing considerable Protestant and Catholic populations the Crumlin Road was the scene of a number of murders and attacks during the course of the Northern Ireland Troubles.
[32][33] Meanwhile, on 21 July 1972, as part of its Bloody Friday series of bomb attacks, the PIRA exploded a device at a petrol station on the road, albeit without deaths.
[32] A further PIRA attack occurred on 19 November 1974 when gunmen entered a glazier's shop and shot Jim Anderson and fellow UDA veteran Billy Hull.
[37][38] During the failed 1977 Ulster Workers' Council strike UDA member Kenny McClinton boarded a bus on which he shot dead Harry Bradshaw, a Protestant who was driving the vehicle.
[39] Following the killing the UDA wrote to his widow Sheila Bradshaw stating that they were sorry for the murder and that they believed her husband to be a Catholic, enclosing a ten-pound note as compensation.
[39] However, according to Martin Dillon the attack had been ordered by leading UDA figure James Craig who knew that any Citybus driver on the Crumlin Road would be a Protestant.
[41][42] On 16 September 1986 a Catholic civilian was shot and killed on the grounds of the Holy Cross Church in an attack claimed by the "Protestant Action Force", a UVF cover name.
On 3 July a Catholic civilian, who had formerly been an internee, was found dead at a disused quarry off the Upper Crumlin Road after being murdered by the "Ulster Freedom Fighters".
In 1997 Ulster Independence Movement politician Clifford Peeples had his Crumlin Road flower shop ransacked in an attack that he blamed on UVF members.
[53] The UVF struck again on 21 August 2000 when two loyalists associated with UDA brigadier Johnny Adair, Jackie Coulter and Bobby Mahood, were shot and killed whilst sitting in a jeep on the Crumlin Road.
[58] Another leading figure in the movement, Jim Anderson, who was a founder member of the Woodvale Defence Association, was a Crumlin Road native.
[59] His contemporaries in the group's early days Sammy Smyth and Ernie Elliott also both came from streets immediately adjacent to the Crumlin Road.
[56] William Borland, who served as leader of the UDA's North Belfast Brigade, was also based on the Crumlin Road during his tenure as brigadier.
