Linen Mills and Shipyards

Programme Outline

The programme illustrates the contrasting economic experiences of north-east Ulster compared with much of the rest of Ireland in the nineteenth century. It traces the influence this had on political attitudes in the region. Through the rise of Belfast’s great industries – linen, shipbuilding and engineering – it demonstrates how Belfast rapidly took on the characteristics of other British cities of the Industrial Revolution, and how its economy was locked into the British industrial system. Economic growth brought prosperity for many, but created problems for some of the poorer classes who flocked to Belfast to seek work in the new industries. The programme describes the hardships people often endured in poor working and housing conditions. The programme also describes how relations between Protestants and Catholics in the city suffered as residential segregation developed and the two groups competed for jobs and houses. Elsewhere in the country, grievances over the ownership of land were coming together with the growth of nationalism to shape a formidable campaign for self-government, or Home Rule, for Ireland. The programme concludes with the First Home Rule Bill in 1885, at a time when many of Ulster’s present-day political attitudes were becoming fixed.