I lived beside Stillorgan Shopping for the first thirty years of its existence and as it was the first shopping centre [mall] in Ireland and many of my friends were more than envious and kept finding excuses to visit me at home. Even though the centre is old and small compared to most modern shopping centres it is very popular as it is an outdoor centre.
Stillorgan Village is now an outdoor Centre, with wide malls and covered walkways. The Centre’s strong retail offering includes well-known brands such as Tesco, Dunnes, Kilkenny and Donnybrook Fair. However, Stillorgan Village is also home to many boutique brands and Irish owned businesses.
In the 1930s, 60 houses were built at Beaufield Park. The Merville Estate was subsequently built in the 1950s on land belonging to the Jolly family dairy farm. St Laurence’s Park was completed in October 1954.
The first bowling alley in Ireland, the Stillorgan Bowl opened in December 1963 and was demolished in May 2021.
The first shopping centre to be built in Ireland opened in Stillorgan in 1966. It was opened by Dickey Rock. It had three supermarkets, Powers, Liptons and Quinnsworth. The road in front of the shopping centre was completely lined with cottages built during the early 19th century and, to enable the construction of the centre, they were knocked down and the rubble was used to fill in and level the lands that are now Páirc De Burca, the playing field of Kilmacud Crokes.
BLOOMFIELD AREA NEAR THE CONNSWATER SHOPPING CENTRE AND CS LEWIS SQUARE
I am not fully sure how to described the area featured in this series of photographs but, basically, I got a Glider Bus to Connswater and visited the CS Lewis Square. Then I walked along the river as far as the Connswater Shopping Centre and then returned to the Newtownards Road and the on to the Holywood Arches bus stop in order to return to the city centre. To be honest I found the area to be less that attractive but I must admit that I have little interest in shopping centres. CS Lewis Square is well worth a visit.
Bloomfield is contained within the area bounded by the North Road, the Knock River, Connswater River, the top of the Newtownards Road and the Upper Newtownards Road. Modern-day Bloomfield is a ward within Pottinger, one of Belfast City Council’s nine district electoral areas.
The Holywood Arches referred to railway bridges that carried the Belfast & County Down Railway (BCDR) line across the Holywood Road and Upper Newtownards Road to Newtownards via Comber from May 1850. I have been advised that the bridges were not actually located in Holywood and were not arches. The railway line was closed in 1950 after nearly one hundred years in serving the community and the railway bridges were later demolished. However, the stone pillars remained for several years before being demolished in the 1960s.
Connswater Shopping Centre features many discount retailers. The complex was built in east Belfast with work starting in 1983 and being finished by 1994, making it one of Northern Ireland’s oldest shopping centres. It pre-dates CastleCourt in the city centre and the Buttercrane Centre in Newry.
CS Lewis Square is located at the intersection of the Connswater and Comber Greenways, beside the EastSide Visitor Centre, where visitors can access information on the city’s attractions from interactive screens, interpretative panels and a wall map, connecting people to EastSide’s famous faces, places and industries.
CS Lewis Square is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week and are fully illuminated. It features seven bronze sculptures from ‘The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe’, including Aslan, The White Witch, Mr Tumnus, The Beavers, The Robin and The Stone Table, it is a stunning display of public art.
You must be logged in to post a comment.