Andersonstown

Andersonstown , conocido coloquialmente como Andytown, ^{[ 2 ] [ 3 ]} es un suburbio del oeste de Belfast , Irlanda del Norte , situado a los pies de Black Mountain y Divis Mountain. Cuenta con una mezcla de viviendas públicas y privadas y es principalmente una zona obrera con una fuerte tradición nacionalista y católica irlandesa . La zona se extiende entre Shaws Road, Glen Road y Andersonstown Road.

La zona se encuentra en el condado de Antrim . Históricamente, formaba parte de la baronía de Belfast Upper, la parroquia de Shankill y la aldea de Ballydownfine ( del irlandés Baile Dhún Fionn , « aldea del fuerte blanco » ). ^{[ 4 ]} Sin embargo, el conjunto original de casas conocido como Anderson's Town se centraba cerca de la bifurcación de Glen Road y Falls Road, que en realidad se encuentra dentro de la aldea de Ballymurphy (Baile Uí Mhurchú). La zona también era conocida como Whitesidetown, por la familia propietaria de las tierras, pero fueron desposeídos por el apoyo que brindaron a la Sociedad de Irlandeses Unidos , lo que resultó en un cambio de nombre. ^{[ 5 ]} En 1832, se describió como un pueblo compuesto por once familias, algunas de las cuales se apellidaban Anderson . Es probable que los Anderson fueran de ascendencia de las Tierras Bajas de Escocia . ^{[ 6 ]} 

La mayor parte de lo que hoy es Andersonstown era una granja llamada 'Maryburne', propiedad de una familia llamada Collins; sin embargo, tras una disputa familiar, el terreno fue vendido. El asentamiento se desarrolló rápidamente en las décadas de 1950 y 1960, cuando la autoridad de vivienda local construyó cientos de casas para las personas realojadas durante la reurbanización del distrito inferior de Falls Road . Con el aumento de la población de la zona, se construyeron las urbanizaciones Twinbrook y Poleglass más alejadas de Belfast. ^{[ 7 ]} La zona está delimitada por Andersonstown Road al sur, Glen Road al norte y Shaw's Road al oeste.

El distrito electoral de Black Mountain consta de seis circunscripciones electorales: Shaw's Road, Andersonstown, Colin Glen, Turf Lodge, Falls Park y Beechmount. La circunscripción electoral denominada Andersonstown y la denominada Shaw's Road abarcan el área de Andersonstown. ^{[ 8 ]}

En 2008, el distrito de Andersonstown tenía una población de 5.064 habitantes. ^{[ 9 ]}

Hay cinco iglesias católicas en la zona: Santa Inés, San Miguel y Santa Teresa, ^{[ 10 ]} San Matías, ^{[ 11 ]} y la Iglesia del Espíritu Santo. ^{[ 12 ]}

Hay varias escuelas, entre ellas Holy Child Primary School y De La Salle College . St Genevieve's High School para niñas está ubicada en la intersección de Stewartstown Road y Andersonstown Road. St Mary's Christian Brothers' Grammar School y All Saints College se encuentran en la parte alta de Glen Road .

La zona también incluye varios espacios de ocio y al aire libre, como el Centro de Ocio de Andersonstown, Falls Park y el Cementerio de Milltown .

Casement Park , el principal estadio de la Asociación Atlética Gaélica para Antrim GAA , está en Andersonstown. ^{[ 13 ]}

El Donegal Celtic FC , un club de fútbol, ​​juega sus partidos como local en el Donegal Celtic Park, en Suffolk Road, en las afueras de Andersontown. En 1990, un partido de la Copa de Irlanda entre el Donegal Celtic y el Linfield FC , un club con una afición mayoritariamente protestante, fue trasladado fuera de la zona por orden de la policía debido al temor de que estallara la violencia. El partido se jugó en Windsor Park , pero a pesar del traslado, se produjo un disturbio. ^{[ 14 ]}

En Glen Road, el sendero que conduce a las montañas conocido como Glen Road Heights alberga tanto al Sport & Leisure Swifts FC como al St. Teresa's GAC, y los campos de ambos clubes están prácticamente contiguos.

El periódico local, el Andersonstown News , expresa un punto de vista republicano irlandés . ^{[ 15 ]} Producido por el Belfast Media Group, que también publica periódicos en otras zonas de la ciudad, las ediciones aparecen los lunes y los jueves. ^{[ 16 ]}

The district is also the subject of the novel Titanic Town by Mary Costello and the movie adaptation by Anne Devlin.^[17]

The area is part of the Black Mountain district electoral area for Belfast City Council. In the 2023 Belfast City Council election this district elected six councillors for Sinn Féin and one councillor for the SDLP.

In the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, the area was a major centre of civil disturbances during the social-political conflict known as The Troubles. A large British army fort – known as Silver City – was built in the central Broom Hill part of Andersonstown.^[18] There was generally less strife than in, for instance, neighbouring districts such as Lenadoon, which in 1972 saw clashes between the IRA and Ulster Defence Association and a subsequent demographic shift in the estate from Protestant to Catholic,^[19] and Ballymurphy, the scene of the Ballymurphy massacre and Springhill massacre.

On 5 April 1979, two British Army soldiers were shot dead by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) whilst closing security gates at Andersonstown joint Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) and British Army base.^[20] The PIRA in Andersonstown was part of the First Battalion of the Provisional IRA Belfast Brigade.^[21]

On 26 June 1980, Miriam Daly, a lecturer at Queen's University Belfast and an Irish Republican Socialist Party activist, was found tied up and shot dead at her home in the area. The murder was widely blamed on loyalist paramilitaries, but no group ever claimed responsibility.^[22]

Kieran Doherty, a Teachta Dála who was one of the ten republican prisoners to die during the 1981 Irish hunger strike, was a native of Andersonstown.^[23]

Andersonstown is the main area beyond the Falls Road although it is bordered by several other areas that form the Upper Falls District Electoral Area. On the south side of the Andersonstown Road the main district is Ladybrook, which is approximately bordered by Finaghy Road North (which leads to the Finaghy area and the Upper Lisburn Road) and the M1 motorway. Riverdale Estate was built in the 1940s to accommodate both privately bought and privately rented tenants. This area is bounded by Andersonstown Road and the M1 Motorway to the rear south side. Ladybrook is adjacent to the Blacks Road area which is the only predominantly loyalist section of what is otherwise a mostly republican locality. The area, also known as Suffolk, the name of the townland, is home to around 800 Protestants and is represented by the Suffolk Community Forum, a group which since 1996 has co-operated in the Suffolk Lenadoon Interface Group with its Catholic neighbours.^[24] The close proximity of Suffolk to neighbouring republican areas has led to the development of an interface area at the junction with the Stewartstown Road (which the Andersonstown Road merges at the junction with Shaw's Road).^[25][26] The interface, which is close to the fortified Woodbourne Police Service of Northern Ireland barracks, has seen numerous clashes between youths from the areas.^[27]

The barracks are on the site of the former Woodbourne House Hotel, which was destroyed in the earliest days of the Troubles.

To the north of the Stewartstown Road is the Lenadoon area, which is bordered by Shaw's Road. Lenadoon includes an eponymous public park which was redesigned in 2000.^[28] Lenadoon was previously a mixed area and indeed in the early stages of the Troubles the Ulster Defence Association (UDA) was active in the area but following the street violence of the early 1970s Protestants moved out and the area became almost wholly Catholic.^[29] The Suffolk Road area lies further west and is home to Donegal Celtic. Suffolk includes Blacks Road and as a result is a source of conflict between rival gangs of youths.^[27]

The area around Suffolk Road was previously considered part of the Protestant Suffolk area (and a Church of Ireland church stands on the corner of the Stewartstown Road here) with Lenadoon Avenue forming an interface. In 1972 this street was the scene of violence that brought an end to a short-lived Provisional IRA ceasefire. Several houses were left empty in the street until the IRA accompanied a Catholic family into one after the family's move had been approved by the Northern Ireland Housing Executive. This attracted a crowd of UDA members and supporters who attacked the houses and before long the British Army arrived on the scene. A stand-off followed for several days until the IRA decided to accompany another removal lorry with another Catholic family into the street but at the last moment the army, fearing a riot, rammed the vehicle with an armoured car. The republican supporters erupted in an angry display, resulting in the soldiers firing rubber bullets, CS gas and water cannons. The Provisionals accused the army and Secretary of State for Northern IrelandWilliam Whitelaw of going back on earlier negotiations and favouring the loyalists. By the evening of the event the IRA announced an end to its ceasefire as a direct response to events at Lenadoon and a gun battle with the army and UDA ensued.^[30]

The Glengoland area, which borders on Colin Glen Forest Park between the Stewartstown Road and the Glen Road, represented the western edge of the Belfast City Council area. After the Suffolk Road junction Stewartstown Road entered the jurisdiction of Lisburn City Council, heading towards Poleglass and the surrounding areas. However following the reform of local government in Northern Ireland that preceded the 2014 local elections these areas were absorbed into an expanded Belfast City Council.^[31]

• Battle of Lenadoon

54°34′42″N5°59′38″W / 54.57833°N 5.99389°W / 54.57833; -5.99389