[12] Poleglass was one of a number of housing schemes established in the forty years or so after the Second World War as an attempt to alleviate the overcrowding of the Catholic areas of west Belfast, in particular the lower Falls Road, which underwent extensive redevelopment during the period.

Building did not begin until 1979 and as a result of pressure from both Unionist politicians and the Ulster Defence Association the original Department of Environment plan for 4,000 houses had been scaled back to 1,563.

[16] It is made up of small estates, such as Glenbank, Glenbawn, Merrion Park, Woodside, Glenwood, Glenkeen, Laurelbank, Old Colin, Colinmill, Springbank, Colinbrook, Colinvale, Ardcaoin and Brianswell.

It replaced a previous option, the English/Irish hybrid “Páirc Nua Colin.” [19] In keeping with a number of social housing areas in Northern Ireland Poleglass has gained a reputation for the anti-social behaviour of gangs of "hoods" who indulge in such acts as joyriding.

During the late 1990s a "Neighbourhood Watch" scheme was organised by local residents, with activities such as night-time patrols, the blocking of small streets to prevent access to joy riders and curfews for large groups of youth undertaken.

The scheme was criticised by some as vigilantism with claims made by the families of some youths that they were forced out of the estate although members of the Neighbourhood Watch rejected these allegations.

[20] This followed an incident in September 1996 when the Provisional Irish Republican Army expelled seven men aged between 17 and 30 from the area after they had been accused of a spate of arson attacks on vehicles.

Summary justice in the form of punishment beatings and knee cappings dealt out to transgressors by paramilitaries have continued to be a feature of life in Poleglass after the end of the Troubles.

[27] The West Belfast Taxi Association, which provides a hackney carriage "taxibus" service to the outlying estates beyond the Falls Road, also connects the city centre with Poleglass.

Notable residents of Twinbrook have included Bobby Sands who led an IRA active service unit on the estate from his parents' Laburnum Way home before his imprisonment prior to his death on hunger strike.

[39] Its Catholic church, Christ the Redeemer, was only created as a breakaway parish from St Luke's Twinbrook in 1997[40] whilst the local primary school of the same name dates to only 1999.