housing estate
A housing estate (or sometimes housing complex or housing development) is a group of homes and other buildings built together as a single development. The exact form may vary from country to country.
Popular throughout the United States a ...
in south west
Belfast
Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingd ...
,
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label=Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. North ...
, within the civil parishes of Drumbeg and Shankill, and barony of
Belfast Upper
Belfast Upper is a barony in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. To its east lies the barony of Belfast and Belfast Lough, and it is bordered by five other baronies: Belfast Lower to the north-east; Antrim Upper to the north-west; Massereene Lower ...
. When the area was first built, the houses consisted of very basic, small, prefabricated aluminium
bungalow
A bungalow is a small house or cottage that is either single- story or has a second story built into a sloping roof (usually with dormer windows), and may be surrounded by wide verandas.
The first house in England that was classified as ...
s, with the estate nicknamed "Tin Town". The area was regenerated and there are now about 600 houses. These houses were historically owned by the
Northern Ireland Housing Executive
The Northern Ireland Housing Executive is the public housing authority for Northern Ireland. It is Northern Ireland's largest social housing landlord, and the enforcing authority for those parts of housing orders that involve houses with multiple ...
, but within recent years many of the residents have bought their houses from the executive, increasing the proportion of private ownership.
Taughmonagh is a staunch loyalist estate. It's based in South-West Belfast.
Local amenities
Taughmonagh is situated between the Upper Malone Road and Lisburn Road. On the Upper Malone Road, the residents can make use of various shops and amenities at the Dubs Stores. Towards the Lisburn Road, the many amenities include a petrol station, Chinese take-aways and further shops and restaurants in the neighbouring Finaghy area. Within Taughmonagh, there is a small convenience store and a Presbyterian church which was completed in 2007.
The main community group is Taughmonagh Community Forum formed in 1996 which supports a Family Learning Centre, a Community Resource Centre and operates a day nursery called "Scribbles". The Community Forum also operates a number of inter-community and cross-community projects including links with neighbouring Benmore and Annadale through the Live and Learn Open Doors Project, and cross-border links with Manorhamilton in County Leitrim in the Republic of Ireland.
The Taughmonagh Youth Club is used by people aged seven to twenty-five. Here, children and adults can interact with each other and with members of other youth clubs. The area also contains a small children's park, which has recently been renovated with a football/basketball area enclosed by a cage for the safety of surrounding roads and houses. The estate has its own social club which is used by the community and also serves meals. The club's premises can be booked for events such as birthdays, weddings etc.
There is a new small local chippy called Nellie’s Nibbles it’s located in the club car park, it is open every Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday (morning and night) and Sunday morning. The chippy first opened on December 2nd th 2020
There is a new small Community Gym finished construction in 2019 it has a weights room (down the stairs), cardio sweet (up the stairs), a nail bar upstairs, a hall (up the stairs), changing rooms (up the stairs) and beside it there is a extension to scribbles.
Education
A small school, Taughmonagh Primary School, is currently under construction in the Findon Gardens area of Taughmonagh. Approximately over 100 pupils attend the school.Mostly Protestants. Classes are held in temporary classrooms on the site; the campus also features a nursery.
Nearby on Upper Malone Road is the Fleming Fulton School for children with physical disabilities.
Transport
The area is serviced by the 9B/9C
Metro
Metro, short for metropolitan, may refer to:
Geography
* Metro (city), a city in Indonesia
* A metropolitan area, the populated region including and surrounding an urban center
Public transport
* Rapid transit, a passenger railway in an urban ...
bus, which travels to and from Belfast city centre via Finnis Drive and Lisburn Road, and by the 8A/8B/8C, which stops at nearby Dub Lane on Upper Malone Road. The nearest train stations are at
Finaghy
Finaghy (
or ; ) is an electoral ward in the Balmoral district of Belfast City Council, Northern Ireland. It is based on the townland of Ballyfinaghy ().Balmoral opposite the King's Hall. Both of these stations lie on
NI Railways
NI Railways, also known as Northern Ireland Railways (NIR) ( ga, Iarnród Thuaisceart Éireann); and for a brief period Ulster Transport Railways (UTR), is the railway operator in Northern Ireland. NIR is a subsidiary of Translink, whose paren ...
Route 1, Newry–Portadown–Lisburn–Belfast–Bangor.
Fold Housing Trust
The Fold Housing Trust, a non-profit organisation dedicated to helping elderly and disabled people within the community, manages some properties in Taughmonagh. The trust offers practical assistance and support to repair, adapt or improve homes across Northern Ireland.
Paramilitary activity
A predominantly
loyalist
Loyalism, in the United Kingdom, its overseas territories and its former colonies, refers to the allegiance to the British crown or the United Kingdom. In North America, the most common usage of the term refers to loyalty to the British Cro ...
area, Taughmonagh has for a number of years been a stronghold of the
Ulster Defence Association
The Ulster Defence Association (UDA) is an Ulster loyalist paramilitary group in Northern Ireland. It was formed in September 1971 as an umbrella group for various loyalist groups and undertook an armed campaign of almost 24 years as one of ...
(UDA) with two of the organisation's South Belfast Brigadiers, Alex Kerr and incumbent
Jackie McDonald
John "Jackie" McDonald (born 2 August 1947) is a Northern Irish loyalist and the incumbent Ulster Defence Association (UDA) brigadier for South Belfast, having been promoted to the rank by former UDA commander Andy Tyrie in 1988, following ...
, based on the estate. In 1991 the group was responsible for shooting dead Catholic taxi driver Harry Conlon, who was abducted after going to a bogus taxi call at the Devenish bar on Finaghy Road North and forced to drive into Taughmonagh. In 2002 and 2003, during a feud between the UDA's West Belfast Brigade, led by
Johnny Adair
John Adair (born 27 October 1963), better known as Johnny Adair or Mad Dog Adair, is an Ulster loyalist and the former leader of the "C Company", 2nd Battalion Shankill Road, West Belfast Brigade of the Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF). This was a ...
, and the rest of the UDA,
the Taughmonagh UDA deployed an air-raid siren which would be set off if "foreign" cars entered the estate. Activities by the UDA on the estate included an alleged drug dealer being the victim of a
tarring and feathering
Tarring and feathering is a form of public torture and punishment used to enforce unofficial justice or revenge. It was used in feudal Europe and its colonies in the early modern period, as well as the early American frontier, mostly as a t ...