International Peace Wall

Peace walls (peace lines) started being erected in Northern Ireland in 1969 to minimize violence between the Protestant and Catholic neighborhoods following the outbreak of The Troubles in the late 1960s.. There are 48 of them today in Northern Ireland. Originally, they were patrolled and had entry gates. Belfast has started taking down some of the walls.

In 1801, the separate kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland were united. In 1922, most of Ireland seceded from the union to become the Irish free state, mainly Catholic. Northern Ireland, more Protestant than Catholic, remained as part of the United Kingdom. There was much discrimination against the Catholics by the Protestants in Northern Ireland, resulting in riots and armed rebellion called The Troubles. The rebellion ended with the Good Friday Agreement in 1998.

The peace wall on Falls Road in the Catholic area of Belfast (photo) is called the International Peace Wall. It had been recently repainted to mark the centenary of the 1916 Irish uprising against the British.

International Peace Wall

More of the wall.

International Peace Wall

More of the wall was around the corner. This mural features Fredrick Douglass, an African–American civil rights leader and other civil rights leaders such as Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King.

Catholic Neighborhood

The International Peace Wall borders this Catholic neighborhood.

Catholic Neighborhood

More of the Catholic neighborhood.

Peace Wall

This peace wall faces the Protestant neighborhood in Belfast. It was built in 1969 and is the longest of the peace walls and is almost 45 feet (13.7 m) tall with 13 feet (4) of concrete wall, almost 10 feet (3 m) of metal sheeting, and about 19.5 feet (6 m) of mesh fence.

Peace Wall

Some of the artwork on the wall.

The Protestant Neighborhood

These houses in the Protestant neighborhood are looking at the Peace Wall.

Shankill Road

Driving along Shankill Road in the Protestant area. Shankill Road was the site of a number of terrorist attacks during The Troubles.

Shankill Road

There a number of pro–Unionist banners and murals on Shankill Road.

Shankill Road

This series of photos also appears on Shankill Road. The Protestants mainly want Northern Ireland to remain as part of the United Kingdom with Britain, but the Catholics mainly want it to be part of Ireland again.

I have put my photos of the International Peace Wall, the Peace Wall, and Shankill Road on a slide show. Go to

http://www.peggysphotos.com/belfast–walls–shankill/

(Slide Shows, Western Europe, Northern Ireland, “Peace Walls & Shankill”).