A Brief History
The Greater Ballymurphy area is a cluster of housing estates based at the foot of Divis and Black Mountain’s which is situated westwards from Belfast's city centre. The area is approximately one square mile in size and it consists of such housing estates as Ballymurphy, Dermott Hill, New Barnsley, Moyard, Springfield Park, Sliabh Dubh, Springhill, Westrock and Whiterock. Within this, is the Ballymurphy estate which is the centre piece of the larger area.
The story of the Ballymurphy housing estate began in May 1947, when the Belfast Corporation acquired some land for house building at the foot of the Black Mountain. At that time the Corporation was under pressure to step up it’s housing programme as the housing shortage had been greatly increased during the second world war.
During the time when Ballymurphy was built various materials were scarce and strictly controlled, so the local Government and the Belfast corporation decided to use non-traditional designs and materials. It was during this atmosphere that Ballymurphy was built. The houses were constructed by pouring cement and aggregate into shutters and skimming the finished result with grout. The lack of a cavity in the quickly constructed shells would later result in acute problems of cold, dampness and ill-health in Ballymurphy.
Eventually 660 houses were built and within that number there were 159 orlit houses. These orlit houses were built with a quick drying concrete and it was later discovered that the chemicals used in this process caused the steel re-enforcements to rot, placing a question mark over the life span of these houses.
Most of the residents who lived in Ballymurphy in its infant days either had or were soon to have large numbers of children creating a bulge that was to last a quarter of a century. This, coupled with a complete lack of recreational or play facilities, was to give rise to serious problems of vandalism. Also to add to the difficulties, there were no shopping facilities, no church and neither was there a primary school. Children had to travel half a mile away to get a bus to other schools outside the area.
As a result of the discriminatory nature of the Government of the six county state (controlled by the Unionists) poor housing became the living quarters of Nationalists. This was quickly to come about in Ballymurphy. Problem after problem and the area quickly acquired a bad reputation. The media were quick to take note, attributing Ballymurphy to the behaviour of other areas. Outsiders and statutory bodies became increasingly hostile and alienating towards people from the area. The people of Ballymurphy were then aware of what it meant to have a Ballymurphy address.
Ballymurphy had become a sort of clearing house for Catholic Belfast. Twelve Thousand families are reported to have moved through Ballymurphy's 660 houses in 14 years. This was making it difficult in the area to form any type of network to begin to tackle the areas mounting problems. After a few failed attempts at forming a tenants' association eventually the Ballymurphy Tenants' Association (BTA) was formed in 1963. The BTA concentrated on the immediate priorities, house repairs, social functions to create community cohesion, fund raising for a new building for the people and an educational programme aimed at politicising local people.
By the late 1960's Ballymurphy was etching its way into the social history of Belfast, emerging as an authority on its own problems and an inspiration in the field of radical community politics. Four decades later, it still holds that position. In 1970 the first stage of the new building was complete at a cost of £18,000. Its first activity was a summer play scheme run by the Belfast Quakers. In November of that year the association employed Paddy McCarthy its first full-time youth worker. But, by then troubled times had come to Ballymurphy.
During the Irish war to resist British rule in Ireland which was to last over 30 years, Ballymurphy bore the brunt of British oppression. Over one hundred and fifty people died either in or from Ballymurphy. Hundreds of people from the area were injured, interned and imprisoned. Also the only two priests to die during the war were killed in Ballymurphy, shot by the British Army.
Ballymurphy suffered some of the worst incidents during the war. In August 1971 the British parachute regiment killed eleven local people including Fr Hugh Mullan during the introduction of internment without trial. In May 1972 Kelly's bar was bombed by loyalists followed by gunfire in which 3 people were killed and over sixty injured. In July 1972 five local people including Fr Fitzpatrick were shot dead by the British Army.
After the ceasefire and well into the peace process the British are still refusing to recognise their role as a protagonist during their war in Ireland. To this day many of our victims families are still demanding the truth about why their loved ones were killed, so families can create some type of closure and be able to move on with their lives.
Going into the twenty first century the people of Ballymurphy continue to pursue justice, equality and better living conditions for their community despite from time to time receiving unfair bad press from certain media sources. This website is based on a historical context and is not politically aligned to any group or party. Ballymurphy.org is a historical window into the people of Ballymurphy through stories, images, videos and a various amount of documents.
Ballymurphy.org is your doorway to an infinite source of history of a proud and unbroken people.