Ulster Hall
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The Ulster Hall is a
concert hall A concert hall is a cultural building with a stage (theatre), stage that serves as a performance venue and an auditorium filled with seats. This list does not include other venues such as sports stadia, dramatic theatres or convention ...
and grade A
listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...
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. Situated at 34 Bedford Street in Belfast city centre, the hall hosts concerts, classical recitals, craft fairs and political party
conferences A conference is a meeting, often lasting a few days, which is organized on a particular subject, or to bring together people who have a common interest. Conferences can be used as a form of group decision-making, although discussion, not always d ...
.


History

Built in 1859 and opened in 1862, the hall's purpose was to provide the expanding city of Belfast with a multi-purpose venue of sufficient size. It was designed by William J. Barre (also responsible for the Albert Clock) for the Ulster Hall Company. On its opening night on 12 May 1862, the hall was described by the local press as:
stand ngunexcelled, and all but unrivalled, as an edifice for the production of musical works. ... the hall is a great and unmingled success, and the public, no less than the proprietors, may feel the utmost gratification at a result at once so pleasant and so rare.('' The Belfast News Letter'', 1862)
a music hall fit for the production of any composition, and for the reception of any artist, however eminent ('' The Northern Whig'', 14 May 1862)
In 1902 the hall was purchased by
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 ...
(then named the Belfast Corporation) for £13,500 and it has been used as a public hall ever since. During
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
it was used as a dance hall to entertain American troops stationed in Northern Ireland.


Mulholland Grand Organ

The Ulster Hall features one of the oldest examples of a functioning classic English
pipe organ The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurised air (called ''wind'') through the organ pipes selected from a Musical keyboard, keyboard. Because each pipe produces a single tone and pitch, the pipes are provide ...
. The Mulholland Grand Organ is named in honour of former Mayor of Belfast, Andrew Mulholland, who donated £3000 to the hall toward its cost in the 1860s. It was built by William Hill & Son and donated after the hall was officially opened. In the late 1970s, the organ was extensively restored to Hill's own original design. Mullholland's great-great-grandson, Henry Mulholland, 4th Baron Dunleath, oversaw the restoration.


Joseph Carey's Belfast scenes

In 1902, Belfast City Council commissioned the local artist Joseph W. Carey to produce thirteen scenes from Belfast history on canvas, to be mounted within the Ulster Hall. The scenes depict the city and the surrounding area, incorporating historical and mythological influences. The paintings were restored in 1989 and again, by Kiffy Stainer-Hutchins & Co., King's Lynn, in 2009 (see ''2007–2009 refurbishment'', below).


Notable performances

The hall has hosted a massive variety of acts during its history, including readings by
Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English novelist, journalist, short story writer and Social criticism, social critic. He created some of literature's best-known fictional characters, and is regarded by ...
and performances by actors, pop, opera, rock acts and singers. *
The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...
played at the hall in July 1964. They had only managed to play three songs before the gig was called off due to hysterical fans breaking up the show. *The hall was the first venue in which
Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock music, rock band formed in London in 1968. The band comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist-keyboardist John Paul Jones (musician), John Paul Jones and drummer John Bonham. With a he ...
performed their iconic song, "
Stairway to Heaven "Stairway to Heaven" is a song by the English rock band Led Zeppelin, released on 8 November 1971 on the band's untitled fourth studio album (commonly known as ''Led Zeppelin IV''), by Atlantic Records. Composed by the band's guitarist Jimmy ...
" live, on 5 March 1971. *
Rory Gallagher William Rory Gallagher ( ; 2 March 1948 – 14 June 1995) was an Irish musician, singer, and songwriter. Regarded as "Ireland's first rock star", he is known for his virtuosic style of guitar playing and live performances. He has sometim ...
performed in the Ulster Hall numerous times throughout his career. Notably during the height of
The Troubles The Troubles () were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted for about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it began in the late 1960s and is usually deemed t ...
in 1974. *Australian rock band
AC/DC AC/DC are an Australian rock band formed in Sydney in 1973. Their music has been variously described as hard rock, blues rock and Heavy metal music, heavy metal, although the band calls it simply "rock and roll". They are cited as a formativ ...
performed at the Ulster Hall in 1979. *
Gary Moore Robert William Gary Moore (4 April 19526 February 2011) was a Northern Irish musician. Over the course of his career, he played in various groups and performed a range of music including blues, blues rock, hard rock, Heavy metal music, heavy ...
performed at the Ulster Hall in 1984 with
Phil Lynott Philip Parris Lynott (, ; 20 August 1949 – 4 January 1986) was an Irish musician, songwriter, and poet. He was the co-founder, lead vocalist, bassist, and primary songwriter for the hard rock band Thin Lizzy. He was known for his distinctive ...
as a special guest, the event was filmed and included as part of the VHS tape ''Gary Moore - Emerald Aisles Live in Ireland''. *Metallica played there in September 1986 with Anthrax, shortly before the death of bassist Cliff Burton. *Slayer played in September 1988 and returned to kick off their 1994 Divine Intervention European Tour supported by Machine Head with MTV's Headbangers Ball filming the event. *
Simple Minds Simple Minds are a Scottish Rock music, rock band formed in Glasgow in 1977, becoming best known internationally for their song "Don't You (Forget About Me)" (1985), which topped the ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' Billboard Hot 100, Hot 100 ...
performed at the Ulster Hall on 26 September 1989 as part of their
Street Fighting Years ''Street Fighting Years'' is the eighth studio album by Scottish rock band Simple Minds, released in May 1989 by record label Virgin Records worldwide apart from the US, where it was released by A&M. Produced by Trevor Horn and Stephen Lipson ...
Tour. *Whole Lotta Led performed the entire "Led Zeppelin IV" album on 10 February 2002, during their "Led Zeppelin IV 30th Anniversary" tour. *
Snow Patrol Snow Patrol are a Northern Irish–Scottish Rock music, rock band formed in 1994 in Dundee, Scotland, consisting of Gary Lightbody (vocals, guitar), Nathan Connolly (guitar, backing vocals), and Johnny McDaid (piano, guitar, keyboards, backi ...
performed at the Ulster Hall on 22 November, 2004 after the release of their album "Final Straw". *Machine Head returned to headline the Ulster Hall in 2012. Their first gig outside the USA was in the same venue with Slayer in 1994 *
Muse In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, the Muses (, ) were the Artistic inspiration, inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the poetry, lyric p ...
performed the first of a string of intimate gigs billed as the "Psycho UK Tour" at the hall on 15 March 2015. *
Westlife Westlife are an Irish pop group formed in Dublin in 1998. The group consists of members Nicky Byrne, Shane Filan, Kian Egan and Mark Feehily. Brian McFadden was a member before leaving in March 2004. The group disbanded in 2012 and later reun ...
lead vocalist
Shane Filan Shane Steven Filan (born 5 July 1979) is an Irish singer best known as a member of the pop vocal group Westlife, which was formed in 1998, disbanded in 2012, and regrouped in 2018. Westlife has released thirteen albums, embarked on twelve wor ...
performed at the hall for his solo concert tour supporting his 2015 album Right Here in 2016. *
Mastodon A mastodon, from Ancient Greek μαστός (''mastós''), meaning "breast", and ὀδούς (''odoús'') "tooth", is a member of the genus ''Mammut'' (German for 'mammoth'), which was endemic to North America and lived from the late Miocene to ...
performed at the Ulster Hall on 14 January 2019. * Ronald Janeček, the one and only guitarist of JWH, played at the Ulster Hall on 5 September 2022, with Rock the Opera. *
Trivium The trivium is the lower division of the seven liberal arts and comprises grammar, logic, and rhetoric. The trivium is implicit in ("On the Marriage of Philology and Mercury") by Martianus Capella, but the term was not used until the Carolin ...
played 'The Revanchist' live for the first time in Ulster Hall on 9 January 2023 on their Deadmen & Dragons tour. *
Loreen Lorine Zineb Nora Talhaoui (born 16 October 1983), known professionally as Loreen (), is a Swedish singer and songwriter. Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest, Representing Sweden, she won the Eurovision Song Contest in Eurovision Song Conte ...
, the Swedish singer and two time Eurovision winner (Euphoria, 2012 & Tattoo, 2023) performed on the final date of her tour on 28th March 2025.


Notable political rallies

Since its opening, the Ulster Hall has staged political rallies for many different causes, most notably: * 1886 and early 20th century –
Lord Randolph Churchill Lord Randolph Henry Spencer-Churchill (13 February 1849 – 24 January 1895) was a British aristocrat and politician. Churchill was a Tory radical who coined the term "One-nation conservatism, Tory democracy". He participated in the creation ...
and
Sir Edward Carson Edward Henry Carson, Baron Carson, PC, PC (Ire), KC (9 February 1854 – 22 October 1935), from 1900 to 1921 known as Sir Edward Carson, was an Irish unionist politician, barrister and judge, who was the Attorney General and Solicitor Gen ...
called for opposition to
Home Rule Home rule is the government of a colony, dependent country, or region by its own citizens. It is thus the power of a part (administrative division) of a state or an external dependent country to exercise such of the state's powers of governan ...
* 1986 – the Ulster Resistance was launched at the hall, to oppose the
Anglo-Irish Agreement The Anglo-Irish Agreement was a 1985 treaty between the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland which aimed to help bring an end to the Troubles in Northern Ireland. The treaty gave the Irish government an advisory role in Northern Irelan ...
* 1995 – dissident loyalists called for an Orange economy for Northern Ireland, as well as the resignation of the then
Orange Order The Loyal Orange Institution, commonly known as the Orange Order, is an international Protestant fraternal order based in Northern Ireland and primarily associated with Ulster Protestants. It also has lodges in England, Grand Orange Lodge of ...
Grand Master, the Rev. Martin Smyth * 2002 –
Sinn Féin Sinn Féin ( ; ; ) is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The History of Sinn Féin, original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffit ...
staged a rally in the hall, at which 2,000 people joined to sing the Irish national anthem, " Amhrán na bhFiann"


Unionism

Ulster Hall has a longstanding historical association with
Ulster unionism Unionism in Ireland is a political tradition that professes loyalty to the Monarchy of the United Kingdom, crown of the United Kingdom and to the union it represents with England, Scotland and Wales. The overwhelming sentiment of Ireland's Pro ...
and from the late 19th century became the traditional venue for high-profile unionist rallies. Ulster Hall has been described as an "iconic venue for unionism", "synonymous with unionism", a "bastion of Ulster unionism", and the "birthplace of Ulster unionism".''Irish Independent''. 9 November 1995. The Ulster Unionist Council (UUC) held its first public meeting in the Ulster Hall in 1905. In early 1912
First Lord of the Admiralty First Lord of the Admiralty, or formally the Office of the First Lord of the Admiralty, was the title of the political head of the English and later British Royal Navy. He was the government's senior adviser on all naval affairs, responsible f ...
Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, military officer, and writer who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 (Winston Churchill in the Second World War, ...
was invited to a rally on the subject of
Irish Home Rule The Home Rule movement was a movement that campaigned for self-government (or "home rule") for Ireland within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It was the dominant political movement of Irish nationalism from 1870 to the end of ...
in Belfast at the behest of the Ulster Liberal Association. The Ulster Unionist Council passed a resolution declaring the Liberals intent to hold the demonstration a "deliberate challenge" and resolved to "take steps to prevent it being held". Churchill published a letter in the press reluctantly conceding the Ulster Hall venue and after difficulties the meeting took place at
Celtic Park Celtic Park is a Soccer-specific stadium, football stadium and the home of Scottish Premiership team Celtic F.C., Celtic, in the Parkhead area of Glasgow, Scotland. With a capacity of 60,832, it is the largest List of football stadiums in Sco ...
. In November 1995
Sinn Féin Sinn Féin ( ; ; ) is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The History of Sinn Féin, original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffit ...
during the
Northern Ireland peace process The Northern Ireland peace process includes the events leading up to the 1994 Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) ceasefire, the end of most of the violence of the Troubles, the Good Friday Agreement of 1998, and subsequent political develop ...
organised a rally in Ulster Hall; it was the first time
nationalists Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation, Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Theory, Id ...
had used the venue. Unionists on Belfast city council were outraged and threatened to try to have the booking cancelled. Leader of the
Democratic Unionist Party The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) is a Unionism in Ireland, unionist, Ulster loyalism, loyalist, British nationalist and national conservative political party in Northern Ireland. It was founded in 1971 during the Troubles by Ian Paisley, who ...
(DUP) group in the council, Sammy Wilson described the Sinn Fein event at Ulster Hall as a "deliberate attempt to rub unionists noses in the dirt".


2009 refurbishment

In 2007, a major refurbishment plan was initiated by the Consarc Design Group, under the direction of architect and Everest mountaineer Dawson Stelfox. The main aim of the refurbishment was to restore the venue back to its original condition, while also modernising the building's facilities and providing better disabled access. The £8.5 million project included: * Refit and redecoration of the Grand Hall, including reopening the windows which had been covered since the 1980s * Installation of new removable seating on ground floor * Recreation of the original metal balcony balustrade and chandeliers * Installation of new roof, floors and a moveable stage extension * Installation of new high-specification sound, heating, lighting and air-conditioning systems * Upgrade of toilet facilities * New five-storey extension at the rear of the building, providing modern dressing rooms, education suites, meeting and administration facilities and the offices of the
Ulster Orchestra The Ulster Orchestra is a full-time professional orchestra in Northern Ireland. Based in Belfast, the orchestra plays the majority of its concerts in Belfast's Ulster Hall and Waterfront Hall. It also gives concerts across the United Kingdom ...
* New box office facilities * Restoration of Joseph Carey's paintings of Belfast scenes (see above) and development of new dedicated new gallery space for their display * New interpretative display telling the history of the hall * Conversion of the adjoining minor hall (formerly the Group Theatre) into circulation space, bar and café The refurbishment was performed by Graham Building Contractors and was jointly funded by
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 ...
, the
Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure The Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure (DCAL; ; ) was a devolved government department in the Northern Ireland Executive. The minister with overall responsibility for the department was the Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure. After ...
, the
Heritage Lottery Fund The National Lottery Heritage Fund, formerly the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), distributes a share of National Lottery funding, supporting a wide range of heritage projects across the United Kingdom. History The fund's predecessor bodies were ...
and the
Arts Council of Northern Ireland The Arts Council of Northern Ireland (Irish language, Irish: ''Comhairle Ealaíon Thuaisceart Éireann'', Ulster Scots language, Ulster-Scots: ''Airts Cooncil o Norlin Airlan'') is the lead development agency for the arts in Northern Ireland. It ...
. The hall was reopened with a gala event on 6 March 2009. Previously stated as 1,850, the seated capacity of the refurbished hall is 1,000.


In popular culture

The Ulster Hall served as the eleventh "Pit Stop" during the 22nd season of ''
The Amazing Race ''The Amazing Race'' is an adventure reality competition franchise in which teams of two people race around the world in competition with other teams. ''The Amazing Race'' is split into legs, with teams tasked to deduce clues, navigate themselv ...
''.


References


Further reading

* Lord Henry Dunleath, Dr Donald Davison, "The Ulster Hall Organ", 1978, 1997 * Herbert Westerby, "The Complete Organ Recitalist", 1927


External links

*
"About Ulster Hall" – Belfast City Council
{{Authority control Concert halls in Northern Ireland Music venues in Belfast Buildings and structures in Belfast Music venues completed in 1862 Tourist attractions in Belfast Grade A listed buildings 1862 establishments in Ireland