[1] The current building was preceded by an earlier town hall called the Market House which was built in the 17th century and destroyed in the Siege of Derry in 1689.

[4] After a disastrous fire in 1908, in which only the tower and rear block survived,[5] and more funding from The Honourable The Irish Society, the Guildhall was rebuilt to the design of Mathew Alexander Robinson in 1912.

[2] On 23 September 1980 the Field Day Theatre Company presented its first production, the premiere of Brian Friel's Translations, in the Guildhall.

[8] The square in front of the Guildhall regularly plays host to important events and was the site of U.S. President Bill Clinton's address when he visited the city in November 1995.

[3] An extensive restoration programme, undertaken by H & J Martin (the contracting firm which built Belfast City Hall) to the designs of Consarc Architects, began in August 2010.