Belfast or in Irish, Béal Feirste "the mouth of the sandbank or ford" was the main centre of the industrial revolution in Ireland and now the major city in Northern Ireland and still part of the United Kingdom. Belfast was founded in 1603 by Sir Arthur Chichester as a plantation town for English and Scots settlers. Always seen as loyal to the crown, the town was a closed borough in 1613 sending two MPs to the Irish parliament in Dublin. The Chichester family, later the Earls of Donegall owned much of the town until 1844 (many street names reflect this) and this restricted its growth until after 1750 when they granted longer leases to their tenants. By the end of the 18th century, the area was the centre of a thriving linen trade, and this lead to the city becoming a centre for engineering, shipbuilding, tobacco and distilling.

By the late 17th century, the population was around 1,000 and grew slowly to around 25,000 by 1808 but exploded to 349,000 by 1901 because of industrial activity, a growth unmatched by Dublin whose underlying ethos was aristocratic rather than commercial. This has resulted in Belfast having many wonderful Victorian commercial premises and fine 20th century buildings but few 18th century buildings.