Castle is one of the ten district electoral areas in

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

, Northern Ireland. Located in the north of the city, the district elects six members to

Belfast City Council Belfast City Council () is the Local government in Northern Ireland, local authority with responsibility for part of Belfast, the largest city of Northern Ireland. The council serves an estimated population of (), the largest of any district c ...

and contains the wards of Bellevue, Cavehill, Chichester Park, Duncairn, Fortwilliam and Innisfayle. Castle, along with Oldpark district and parts of the

Court A court is an institution, often a government entity, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between Party (law), parties and Administration of justice, administer justice in Civil law (common law), civil, Criminal law, criminal, an ...

district and

Newtownabbey Borough Council Newtownabbey Borough Council was a Local Authority in County Antrim in Northern Ireland, on the north shore of Belfast Lough just immediately north of Belfast. The Council merged with Antrim Borough Council in April 2015 under local governmen ...

, forms the Belfast North constituency for the

Northern Ireland Assembly The Northern Ireland Assembly (; ), often referred to by the metonym ''Stormont'', is the devolved unicameral legislature of Northern Ireland. It has power to legislate in a wide range of areas that are not explicitly reserved to the Parliam ...

and

UK Parliament The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, and may also legislate for the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of ...

. The district is bounded to the east by the Victoria Channel, to the north by Newtownabbey Borough Council and

Belfast Lough Belfast Lough () is a large sea inlet on the east coast of Northern Ireland. At its head is the city and port of Belfast, which sits at the mouth of the River Lagan. The lough opens into the North Channel and connects Belfast to the Irish ...

, to the south by North Street and to the west by the Cavehill Road. The district takes its name from the current

Belfast Castle Belfast Castle (Irish language, Irish: ''Caisleán Bhéal Feirste''Ireland Highlights: Belfast Castle. https://www.irelandhighlights.com/info/belfast-castle/ ) is a mansion located in Cavehill, Cave Hill Country Park in Belfast, Northern Ireland ...

, which is located on Cave Hill in the north of the district, while the southern section of the district is part of the

city centre A city centre, also known as an urban core, is the Commerce, commercial, Culture, cultural and often the historical, Politics, political, and geographic heart of a city. The term "city centre" is primarily used in British English, and closely e ...

and forms one of Belfast's main cultural areas, known as the Cathedral Quarter. The east of the area also contains the

Port of Belfast Belfast Harbour is a major maritime hub in Belfast, Northern Ireland, handling 67% of Northern Ireland's seaborne trade and about 25% of the maritime trade of the entire island of Ireland. It is a vital gateway for raw materials, exports and c ...

. Castle is served by the M2 and M5 motorways and the

Yorkgate railway station Yorkgate railway station served the north of the city of Belfast, Northern Ireland. The station opened in 1992, replacing the previous York Road railway station nearby. The station was in turn replaced by the nearby York Street station in 2024 ...

. Castle is one of the most mixed areas in the city, with just over half of the district's population being Protestant at the 2001 Census. There are a number of

peace lines The peace lines or peace walls are a series of separation barriers in Northern Ireland that separate predominantly Irish republican or nationalist Catholic neighbourhoods from predominantly British loyalist or unionist Protestant neigh ...

in the district, for example along the

Whitewell Road The Whitewell Road is an interface area in north Belfast and Newtownabbey, Northern Ireland, and historically the site of occasional clashes between nationalists and loyalists. The Whitewell Road and the surrounding area is a residential co ...

History

Castle was created for the 1985 local elections. All six wards came from the former Area H, with only the Cliftonville ward and northern section of the Waterworks ward omitted from the new district. One of the district's six wards, Castleview, was renamed Innisfayle in 2014.

Amenities

* Albert Memorial Clock *

Belfast Exposed Belfast Exposed is a photography gallery in Belfast, established in 1983. It was Northern Ireland's first dedicated photographic gallery and in 2018 Sean O'Hagan in ''The Guardian'' described it as "the key independent space for contemporary pho ...

photographic gallery *

Belfast Harbour Belfast Harbour is a major maritime hub in Belfast, Northern Ireland, handling 67% of Northern Ireland's seaborne trade and about 25% of the maritime trade of the entire island of Ireland. It is a vital gateway for raw materials, exports and c ...

Belfast Hebrew Congregation The Belfast Jewish Community (previously known as Belfast Hebrew Congregation) is the Jewish community in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Its Rabbi is the Rev David Kale. The community follows the Ashkenazi Orthodox ritual. Membership has fluctuated ...

Belfast Zoo Belfast Zoological Gardens (also known as ''Belfast Zoo'') is a zoo in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is in a relatively secluded location on the northeastern slope of Cavehill, overlooking Belfast's Antrim Road. Opened in 1934, it is the secon ...

Cavehill Cave Hill or Cavehill is a rocky hill overlooking the city of Belfast, Northern Ireland,with a height of . It is marked by basalt cliffs and caves, and its distinguishing feature is 'Napoleon's Nose', a tall cliff resembling the profile of the ...

* Dividers Sculpture * Giant's Park * McHugh's Bar * Merchant Hotel * The Northern Whig Bar * NvTv (Northern Visions Television) *

Obel Tower The Obel Tower is a highrise building in Belfast, Northern Ireland, located on Donegall Quay on the River Lagan beside the Lagan Weir. Measuring in height, the tower is the tallest storeyed building in Ireland, dominating the Belfast skyline. ...

* St Anne’s Cathedral (

Church of Ireland The Church of Ireland (, ; , ) is a Christian church in Ireland, and an autonomy, autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the Christianity in Ireland, second-largest Christian church on the ...

) *

The Big Fish ''The Big Fish'' is a printed ceramic mosaic sculpture by John Kindness. The statue was constructed in 1999 and installed on Donegall Quay in Belfast, Northern Ireland, near the Lagan Lookout and Custom House. Also known as Pat The Fish in r ...

, sculpture Sport * Seaview,

Crusaders F.C. Crusaders Football Club is a semi-professional Northern Irish football club playing in the NIFL Premiership. The club, founded in 1898, is based in north Belfast and plays its home matches at Seaview. Crusaders originally played as a junior ...

home ground *

Skegoneill Avenue Skegoneill Avenue is a football stadium in Belfast, Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously d ...

Brantwood F.C. Brantwood Football Club is an intermediate, Northern Irish football club playing in the Ballymena & Provincial Football League. The club, founded in 1901, hails from Belfast and plays its home matches at Skegoneill Avenue. Club colours are roya ...

home ground Education * Castle High School * Dominican College * Hazelwood College * Seaview Primary School * St Patrick's College * University of Ulster, Belfast Campus

Wards

Councillors

2023 Election

2019: 2 x DUP, 1 x Sinn Féin, 1 x Alliance, 1 x SDLP, 1 x Green 2023: 2 x Sinn Féin, 2 x DUP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x SDLP 2019–2023 Change: Sinn Féin gain from Green

2019 Election

2014: 2 x DUP, 1 x Sinn Féin, 1 x Alliance, 1 x SDLP, 1 x UUP 2019: 2 x DUP, 1 x Sinn Féin, 1 x Alliance, 1 x SDLP, 1 x Green 2014-2019 Change: Green gain from UUP

2014 Election

2011: 2 x DUP, 2 x Sinn Féin, 1 x SDLP, 1 x UUP 2014: 2 x DUP, 1 x Sinn Féin, 1 x SDLP, 1 x UUP, 1 x Alliance 2014-2019 Change: Alliance gain from Sinn Féin

2011 Election

2005: 2 x DUP, 2 x SDLP, 1 x Sinn Féin, 1 x UUP 2011: 2 x DUP, 2 x Sinn Féin, 1 x SDLP, 1 x UUP 2005-2011 Change: Sinn Féin gain from SDLP

2005 Election

2001: 2 x DUP, 2 x SDLP, 1 x Sinn Féin, 1 x UUP 2005: 2 x DUP, 2 x SDLP, 1 x Sinn Féin, 1 x UUP 2001-2005 Change: No change

2001 Election

1997: 2 x UUP, 1 x DUP, 1 x SDLP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x Sinn Féin, 2001: 2 x DUP, 2 x SDLP, 1 x Sinn Féin, 1 x UUP 1997-2001 Change: DUP and SDLP gain from UUP and Alliance

1997 Election

1993: 2 x UUP, 2 SDLP, 1 x DUP, 1 x Independent Unionist 1997: 2 x UUP, 1 x DUP, 1 x SDLP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x Sinn Féin 1993-1997 Change: Alliance and Sinn Féin gain from UUP and SDLP, Independent Unionist joins UUP

1993 Election

1989: 2 x Independent Unionist, 1 x UUP, 1 SDLP, 1 x DUP, 1 x Alliance 1993: 2 x UUP, 2 SDLP, 1 x DUP, 1 x Independent Unionist 1989-1993 Change: UUP and SDLP gain from Independent Unionist and Alliance

1989 Election

1985: 2 x UUP, 1 SDLP, 1 x DUP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x Independent Unionist 1989: 2 x Independent Unionist, 1 x UUP, 1 SDLP, 1 x DUP, 1 x Alliance 1985-1989 Change: Independent Unionist gain from UUP

1985 Election

1985: 2 x UUP, 1 x SDLP, 1 x DUP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x Independent Unionist

References

{{Belfast City Council Electoral wards of Belfast 1985 establishments in Northern Ireland