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Odyssey Walking Tours Belfast

Name: Odyssey Walking Tours Belfast
Address: 326 Crumlin Road, Belfast, BT147EE, GB
Telephone: +447930698741
Price range: $$

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Odyssey Walking Tours Belfast

A comprehensive walking tour of Belfast city with a historian.

29/10/2022

Kilclief Castle is the earliest surviving tower house in Ulster and a splendid example of the fortified homes of local landlords built across Ireland from the beginning of the 15th century. It was built about 1413 when John Sely, newly appointed Bishop of Down, built it as his manorial residence. Cill Chleithe means "church of wattle". The nearby Church of Ireland church (100m away) occupies the site of the early church which gave Kilclief its name. By the 10th century there was a stone church, burned in 935, and plundered from the sea by Sitric the Dane in 1001.
By comparison, the 15th century castle has had a peaceful history. Bishop Sely was dismissed in 1441 after complaints he was living with a married woman.

07/09/2022

This is an intriguing feature in the City Cemetery on the Falls Road in West Belfast. This wall was created to separate Protestant and Catholic sections of the cemetery.
Traditional Catholic church law required burial land to be blessed. This meant the Catholic section had to be physically separated from other faiths. To ensure that the carefully planned views and layout were not interrupted by an unsightly partition, the decision was taken to build the wall underground.
Following the construction of the underground wall, a management issue emerged. As Belfast Corporation managed the cemetery, Catholic Bishop Dorrian would have no authority to prevent ineligible burials in the Catholic section. A solution was reached when the Corporation agreed to pay £4,000 compensation for the 15 acre Catholic burial section. The Catholic Church then purchased their own site on the opposite side of the Falls Road, which became Milltown Cemetery.

04/05/2022

Only 25 minutes by car from Belfast city centre, Antrim Round Tower sits a five minutes walk from the local train/bus station on Steeple Road.
This tower is all that remains of the famous monastery of Antrim which was associated with the great monastic settlement at Bangor. It was probably founded by St Aedh in 495 A.D. although Comgall, Bangor's monastic founder and Durtacht have also been suggested.
The Round Tower was built west of the west door of the monastic church. The likely extent of buried archaeological remains is at least 50 metres in any direction from the tower. The surviving remains of the church were cleared away in the 1819 when the surrounding demesne was laid out.
The ancient name of the site was Aontreibh (pronounced 'entrove') meaning 'single dwelling' or 'one tribe'. Later the name Aontreibh was reinterpreted as Aontroim meaning 'single ridge' - the accepted modern form of the name. The annals tell us that the monastic site was destroyed in 1018 and finally burned in 1147.
Antrim Round Tower is 28 metres tall ( 92 feet) and built mainly of basalt in the 10th or 11th century. While believed of continental inspiration, their original purpose was that of bell-towers. They would also have had a defensive capability seen in the raised doorway (2 metres above ground) and were a useful place to keep objects of value during times of trouble.
There is a cross-carved stone above the raised doorway lintel. Access to the interior is not possible.

04/05/2022

This is a guaranteed small group walking tour visiting many important landmarks and sights of interest. Leaving the big tour groups behind, we walk in our own small team; giving you an opportunity to look at Belfast in a completely new light. In the company of a Belfast "born & bred" professional guide, you will be taken on a journey through time getting to know the place "like a local".

We look at the lives of our people and hear their stories. We see where they lived, worked and played; the buildings and monuments they left for posterity. We will walk along old lanes and cobbled streets, immersing ourselves in the culture and history of Belfast's past

With actual walking time of less than one hour, there will be a number of rest stops & bathroom breaks

Tour/Guide have full Professional Indemnity Insurance.

Available through:

Excellent group rates avaiable.

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Viator Awarded Badge of Excellence

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08/05/2021

Clifton House Belfast was the original Poor House, opened in 1774 by the Belfast Charitable Society, which is still in existence to this day. The Society was founded in August 1752 with the aim of setting up a poorhouse and hospital " for the support of vast numbers of real objects of charity .... for the employment of idle beggars" by leading Belfast industrialists and philanthropists. It was set on 8 acres of land donated by the Marquess of Donegall, Arthur Chichester and cost an estimated £3000 to build.
This beautiful building from the reign of George III has been listed since 3 April 1976 and is currently shared between the Charitable Society who run an old persons' home and the Helm Housing Association who operate sheltered accommodation.

17/12/2020

St John's Point lighthouse. Photo taken 16 December 2020. Thank you Maia Livingstone.
Sitting just outside the village of Killough, the 40m high landmark is the tallest onshore lighthouse on the Irish coast. Set on the northern edge of Dundrum Bay and overlooking Coney Island, it was designed by George Halpin Senior, one of the most famous civil engineers of the time. The light was first exhibited in 1844 and it has been painted in the vibrant bands of yellow and black since 1954. The existing lamp has a Fresnel lens, an early 19c invention that projects a long-distance beam using a modest light source. The huge lens is the height of two average living rooms and weighs six tonnes. It became fully automated in 1981.

11/10/2020

The LV Petrel lying at anchor in Ballydorn Bay. The vessel was built by the Dublin Dockyard Company and launched in June 1915. The Petrel was used as a relief Light Vessel, taking on the station and crew of a light vessel needing repair or refurbishment. LV Petrel served on many stations around the Irish Coast including Skullmartin (off Ballywalter), Arklow Bank and Blackwater Bank, Wexford. This was her last station before decommissioning in 1968.
After being rescued from the scrapyard by DCC (Down Cruising Club), the vessel was towed to the mouth of Strangford Lough by the Isolda with the help of a Portavogie fishing boat. She was then manoeuvred into her present position and converted to its current use, that of clubhouse for the DCC.

28/08/2020

The Broughanlea Cross. Late 5th century. Believed to represent a tribute to St Fiachrius (Fiachra) "Patrick left many churches and cloisters in the district of Dal Riata.....Bishop Fiachra in Cuil Echtrann". This is currently known as Culfeightrin, with a ruined church at Magherintemple in Glenshesk, about 1.5 miles south of the current location of the cross, where it was moved about 1790. There are two croziers carved into the cross which many believe represent the ministries of St Paul and St Anthony .
The cross sits on the A2 Ballycastle - Cushendall Rd opposite the Colliers Hall B&B.
St Fiachra's (Magherintemple) Church (ruin) is accessible from Churchfield Rd, off the Glenshesk Rd out of Ballycastle.

05/08/2020

The Spanish Armada ship, the Girona, was classed as a galleas - an oared fighting ship - with a compliment of 531 sailors and rowers, 186 soldiers and 50 guns under the command of Hugo de Moncada y Gralla. After the scattering of the fleet in the English Channel, the ship was making its way back to Spain around the north coast of Ireland when it pulled in to Killybegs to have a rudder repaired. Milling about the town were a large number Spanish servicemen, who had survived several shipwrecks in the area. The captain agreed to take them onboard and decided to sail to Scotland, a closer "friendly" country. On passing Dunluce, the ship ran into a storm. The men attempted to row to safety but they were unsuccessful and the ship went down just beside the Giant's Causeway. The date 26 October 1588. Of the 1300 men on board, there were 9 who lived to tell the tale. Sorley Boy MacDonnell's men scoured the surrounding shoreline searching for survivors. They "rescued" (recovered) 260 bodies which are buried in a mass grave at St Cuthbert's Church, Dunluce. This is their memorial.

02/07/2020

St Cuthbert's Church Dunluce was first recorded in the ecclesiastical taxation of Ireland 1306. Known as the church of Dunkelisp, and built on the site of an earlier medieval church, the present building is widely believed to be of Anglo-Norman origin. In the 17c, the church sat on the southern edge of Dunluce Town, which was founded by Randal MacDonnell in 1608 and burnt to the ground during the 1641 wars.

18/06/2020

Traditional Irish cottage in Ballybefore (June 2020) - 20 minutes out of Belfast. This was the home of Ruddick Millar (1907 -1952) Titanic orphan, journalist, author and playwright. Also the Ballybefore Fairy Thorn.

04/06/2020

This is the ruin of St John's Point Church, in Lecale Upper, County Down, a 10th century church associated with Eoan, son of Garland, who may have established a monastery here. In 1170 the name was recorded as Teach Eoin - (Saint) John's House. The name appears as Stechian in a grant from Bishop Malachy to the abbey of Saint Patrick in Downpatrick in 1183 and as Capella de Styoun in the Papal Taxation of c.1306.
The site also has a bullaun and a holy well (see photo). Bullaun stones (from the Irish word bullán, a hollow on a stone) are often associated with water, wells and sacred places. Rainwater collecting in the hollow was thought to have healing properties.

17/05/2020

The Origin sculpture created by Solas. This sits on the Belfast Hills marking the spot where the Farset River (which flows under High Street and gives the city its name) rises.

30/04/2020

This is the site of the Ekenhead Memorial Hall Belfast. It is a square earthwork, about 100 feet across. Known as Ballyaghagan Fort, in earlier times it was the administrative centre of the surrounding district known as Ymenaught.
In 1210, King John on his way to lay siege to Hugh de Lacy in Carrickfergus Castle, camped here with his army and those of the Irish kings who had marched in his support, spread out across the surrounding landscape. Interestingly, while he was ultimately successful in taking the castle, Hugh de Lacy and Maud de Briouze with her son William fled on hearing of John’s approach and sailed to the Isle of Man.
The North Circular Road, where it is situated, was laid out in 1928, cut into its southern edge. The site may well have been re-use of an existing earthwork but the square plan with its sharp angles draws comparison with the home-stead moats of mediaeval England. The dark square in the middle of the earthwork, about thirty feet across, is believed to have been the foundations of the tower house, removed over the course of time by stone-robbers. The outer square the defensive moat.

29/04/2020

Some background to this building.
Ropemaking commenced in Belfast by John Mc Cracken in 1758. In the early 1800s the principal ropemaker was Thomas Ekenhead. He died of cholera in 1832. His brother, Captain Ekenhead, swam across the Hellespont with Lord Byron. This is mentioned in "Hero and Leander" in the lines where he tells of the reckless lover who swam across the dividing waters: " Leander, Mr Ekenhead and I did it".
Their sister, Mrs Dummitt, built and endowed the Ekenhead Presbyterian Church in memory of her brother Thomas. The church was an outgrowth from the Rev John Edgar's preaching work in Academy Street - a second church in CLifton Street also grew from the Academy Street meeting house. The Ekenhead congregation moved from the city centre in 1929. They now form a union at Rosemary Presbyterian Church in North Belfast with the congregation of Rosemary Street Presbyterian Church who moved to the North Circular Road when their building was bombed in the 1941 blitz.
In 1928, when digging the foundations for the Ekenhead P. C., a hoard of 55 medieval and mostly English coins was discovered. They were found "in the clay, one foot below the surface". They were believed to have been buried at the time of the wars of Edward Bruce 1315 -18.

30/03/2020

Ballylumford Dolmen. Inappropriately referred to as the Druid's Altar, as there is no evidence of any associations with the druids. It is 3km due SE of Larne; 60m above sea level and 40 kms from Belfast. It is Ireland's most easterly portal tomb.
The dolmen is a single-chambered grave monument erected 2000 - 1500BC. The 6 ft capstone sits on four block stones and covers the burial.chamber. In 1832 the monument was described as surrounded by six standing stones, possibly in earlier times a complete circle. In ploughing in 1817 and again in 1824 a gold spiral ornament, portions of a gold torque and golden "baughs" were found in a field near the dolmen.
Site surveys, including the digging of two trenches, by Queen's University found the dolmen to be "archeologically sterile".
Uniquely, the tomb sits a few paces away from an attractive Edwardian villa (currently for sale

02/03/2020

St George's Church, High St, Belfast. Built 1816 on the site of two previous churches: Capel de Ford 11th century to 1613, where travellers could pray for safety in crossing the nearby ford over the Lagan and the Corporation Church 1613 - 1774. That particular church was "much ruinated" having been used by Cromwellian forces between 1649-1656 as a "Citadell" (sic)- stables and barracks - and was considerably repaired 1657.
In the 1860s the flat ceiling was removed exposing the beautiful open timber truss roof we see today. The chancel was added in 1882 by Edward Braddell and he designed the chancel screen in 1885 but it wasn't built until 1928.

09/02/2020

The beautiful Rosemary Street Presbyterian church, Belfast's oldest church which opened 1st June 1783. The first Presbyterian congregation was founded in Belfast in 1644 by Scottish soldiers in the Anglican Corporation Church in High Street, now St George's. They moved to Rosemary Lean ( now street) in 1695. In 1708 a Second Presbyterian Church opened at the rear of the First Church. In 1722 a Third Presbyterian Church opened in Rosemary Lean. The Third Church was destroyed during the WW2 blitz in1941. The Second Church was knocked down to make way for a car park in more recent times.
Many of Belfast's most notable citizens worshipped in the First Church, Rosemary Street, including Thomas McCabe who prevented a slave ship company opening in Belfast 1786; Dr William Drennan, a founding member of the United Irishmen; Sir Edward Harland, ship builder; Thomas Andrews Junior, one of the designers of the Titanic.

25/01/2020

The Giant's Ring at Ballynahatty, 20 minutes from Belfast City Hall. This is a henge monument consisting of a circular enclosure, 200m in diameter, surrounded with a 3.6m high and 1.8m wide earthwork bank, with five entrances, only two of which are original, and a small neolithic passage grave slightly off-centre. It was built c 2700BC during the Neolithic period.
It is suggested it was a place for great ceremonial gatherings and burials. Archeologists have discovered at least ten other burials in the vicinity.
The remains of a woman who was part of a Neolithic farming community were discovered buried in the henge in 1855. Now known as Ballynahatty woman, her genome was sequenced in 2015 and reveals a woman with black hair and brown eyes typical of those with Mediterranean heritage. This implies that Ballynahatty woman was part of a group of Early European Farmers (EEFs) that migrated across Europe in the Neolithic period, originating in the Middle East.
The surrounding wall "for the protection of the Giant's Ring" was erected in 1861 by Arthur Viscount Dungannon who "earnestly recommends it to the care of his successors".

19/01/2020

I always think how lucky we are to have such amazing street art in beautiful downtown Belfast

Address

326 Crumlin Road
Belfast
BT147EE

Telephone

+447930698741

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