It all began with a weird smell….

Towards the end of last year I was in the city centre with Mia when she commented on a weird smell. I told her it was probably the Farset. ‘The what?’ ‘The culverted river that runs through the city centre, under the streets. The one Belfast is named after.’

A4 Harp Print

When I moved to Belfast & was hanging around the streets with a loada Belfast guys (because that was the punk scene) they’d often comment on it, especially in the area outside Primark where Castle Street meets Donegall Place. Like all good local lore, it stuck in my head, little scenes playing out of this now underground river, an ‘under Belfast’ & Belfast of the olden days when the river ran open through the centre of the town.

The source of the Farset is at Squire’s Hill, it then runs through Ballysillan, across the Crumlin Rd, the Shankill & the Falls, towards the city centre through Millfield, alongside Castle St, through Bank Lane & Square, Castle Place, High Street, Custom House Square just to the side of the Albert Clock (which is why it’s not straight) and into the Lagan at the Big Fish.

The original settlement of Belfast was where the Farset originally entered the Lagan, where High Street ends on Victoria Street today. Belfast is the anglicised version of Béal Feirste meaning ‘the mouth to the sandbank ford’.

Where St George’s Church is today on the corner of High Street & Victoria Street, there stood the medieval Capello de Vado or Chapel of the Ford’. It was used by pilgrims waiting to cross the mud flats, which were dangerous at high tide. Here they could pray to have a safe crossing of the River Farset & the mud flats surrounding it.

A little further up the river the original Belfast Castles were built (Kind of where MacDonalds is now. Hence Castle St, Castle Place, Castle Lane etc) From the Anglo-Norman motte style structure of the 13th century which was destroyed by the O’Neills who built a new castle (can I have it back please?) which was absorbed into the castle built by that evil murderous w*nker Arthur Chichester in 1611. (I’m not bitter, he really was a vile human)

The town of Belfast developed around the Farset, quays were built and the banks of the river at High Street (originally ‘Front Street’) bustled with businesses, market sellers, merchants, taverns. The Market House was built on the corner of High Street and Corn Market (where Dunnes is now) in 1639. Entries connected High Street through to Ann Street (originally ‘Back Street’) on one side and to Waring Street (‘Broad Street’) on the other. Historians believe that the entries on both sides of High Street were joined by bridges across the river.

Industry grew along the banks of the Farset, mills & factories powered by the water. Corn mills, foundries, distilleries, bleaching greens and the linen and cotton mills that turned Belfast from a town into a booming industrial city. Merchants traded, their ships bringing goods in and out of the heart of the town through the Farset. Linen, rope, butter, meat, fish, corn, hides and tallow were exported, whilst sugar, tobacco, rum, spices, tea, coffee, fruit & wine were imported.

Unfortunately the growing population & industry meant the river became a dumping ground, polluted and stinkin. The slaughter houses & butchers (all 47 of them) of Hercules Street (now Royal Avenue) disposed of animal waste and carcasses in the river. Between the 18th and 19th centuries the river became culverted, and now flows in a tunnel a mere 60cm below our feet as we go about our business in those parts of the city.

With my shop on Skipper Street, so called because the quays at the end of the street meant this was a popular area for sailors to stay whilst their ships were docked, this river has taken on a whole new fascination for me. This was the original sailortown. Sometimes I’ll squint out of the window to the end of the street and imagine the river is still uncovered with ships docked at the end, instead of the modern office, retail & carpark buildings. I love that the Entries survived and cut through them as often as possible so I can walk in that history. I LOVE being in this part of town.

Of course if you’ve followed me for long enough you’ll know where this is leading… to a new print & a new collection. Currently off being sampled.

You know I’m obsessed with history and until such a time that someone invents time travel and allows me to Owen Wilson myself into various eras, the next best thing I can do is nerd out in Linenhall Library & elsewhere, gather information, write a story, draw a print and share it with you so we can all squint a bit and travel back in time, if only for a moment, walking in the footsteps of those who came before.

And of course for me there was always gonna be one decade that stood out more than any other in this area so that’s where I’ve been in my mind for the last few months. Any guesses? Wee hint in the new foil print below….

A4 Harp Print

Beir bua & beannacht,

Sara & the Éadach Team x