2.2 Community as a shared history

Community can be something that exists over generations. Residents who have lived in a neighbourhood for a long period of time may share a sense of belonging, solidarity or togetherness. They may pass on this sense of belonging to future generations. One useful way of getting to know your local community is to ask someone you know from an older generation to show you pictures or even take you on a local walking tour or to share their stories of the places or people or events that are meaningful to them. You may discover things that are very different to what you know or have been told about your local community today.

The Shankill community, as you have heard, is often defined by its history as one of a number of communities segregated by religious, political or historical differences, and deeply affected by violence in Northern Ireland. This history, visible through the murals and memorials and the ‘peacewalls’ you saw in the community film, make this one of the top tourists spots in this city. But this is not all that defines this area. There is more to the Shankill than the violence of the conflict here. The Shankill Area Social History Society (S.A.S.H.) for example, documents the stories of its residents going back 70 years or more when this area was famous for its thriving linen mill industry. Local residents also worked in the nearby Harland & Wolff shipyard where the Titanic was built, as well as Mackies – an engineering and rope works factory. They also held street parties and community celebrations, as they do today.

Below is an optional activity you can do in your own time.