1994 Shankill Road killings

The Shankill Road (from Irish Seanchill, meaning 'old church') is one of the main roads leading through West Belfast, in Northern Ireland. It runs through the working-class, predominantly loyalist, area known as the Shankill. The road stretches westwards for about 1.5 mi (2.4 km) from central Belfast and is lined, to an extent, by shops. The residents live in the many streets which branch off the main road. The area along the Shankill Road forms part of the Court district electoral area. In Ulster-Scots it is known as either Auld Kirk Gate ("Old Church Way"), or as Auld Kirk Raa ("Old Church Road"). In Irish, it is known as "Bóthar na Seanchille" ("the road of the old church").

The Shankill Road bombing was carried out by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) on 23 October 1993 and is one of the most well-known incidents of the Troubles in Northern Ireland. The IRA aimed to assassinate the leadership of the loyalist Ulster Defence Association (UDA), supposedly attending a meeting above Frizzell's fish shop on the Shankill Road, Belfast. Two IRA members disguised as deliverymen entered the shop carrying a bomb, which detonated prematurely. Ten people were killed: one of the IRA bombers, a UDA member and eight Protestant civilians, two of whom were children. More than fifty people were wounded. The targeted office was empty at the time of the bombing, but the IRA had allegedly realised that the tightly packed area below would inevitably cause "collateral damage" of civilian casualties and continued regardless. However, the IRA have denied this saying that they intended to evacuate the civilians before the explosion. It is alleged, and unearthed MI5 documents appear to prove, that British intelligence failed to act on a tip off about the bombing.The loyalist Shankill Road had been the location of other bomb and gun attacks, including the Balmoral Furniture Company bombing in 1971 and the Mountainview Tavern attack and Bayardo Bar attack both in 1975, but the 1993 bombing had the most casualties. It resulted in a wave of revenge attacks by loyalists, who killed 14 civilians in the week that followed, almost all of them Catholics. The deadliest attack was the Greysteel massacre.

Belfast Shankill was a constituency of the Parliament of Northern Ireland.

The Bayardo Bar attack took place on 13 August 1975 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. A unit of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA), led by Brendan McFarlane, launched a bombing and shooting attack on a pub on Aberdeen Street, in the loyalist Shankill area. IRA members stated the pub was targeted because it was frequented by members of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF). Four Protestant civilians and one UVF member were killed, while more than fifty were injured. According to journalists Alan Murray and Peter Taylor, it was a retaliation for the Miami Showband massacre almost a fortnight earlier when members of the popular Dublin-based band were shot dead by the UVF at a fake military checkpoint. McFarlane and two other IRA volunteers, Peter "Skeet" Hamilton and Seamus Clarke, were sentenced to life imprisonment for perpetrating the Bayardo attack.

On 5 April 1975 Irish republican paramilitary members killed a UDA volunteer and four Protestant civilians in a gun and bomb attack at the Mountainview Tavern on the Shankill Road, Belfast. The attack was claimed by the Republican Action Force believed to be a covername used by Provisional IRA (IRA) volunteers.

The Eileen Hickey Irish Republican History Museum (Irish: Iarsmalann na Staire Poblachtach Éireannach), is a museum in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It was established in 2007 after years of campaigning by Eileen Hickey, who collected the exhibits.The museum is based in Conway Mill in the Falls Road area of West Belfast. The site is a former linen mill built in 1842 which has been in community use for the last thirty years. The museum opened in February 2007 on the first anniversary of the death of Eileen Hickey, one of the major driving forces behind the initiative. The museum is administrated by a committee made up of volunteers. Hickey was the former Officer Commanding of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) prisoners in Armagh Women's prison and she dedicated her life to preserving artifacts and relics from the period in Irish history known as The Troubles.The museum was officially opened by Fr. Des Wilson and Noelle Ryan. Exhibits have been donated by hundreds of individuals and families. These include prisoners handicrafts made by republicans imprisoned around the world, weapons used by republicans and pictures and artwork relating to the conflict. Some exhibits date back as far as the United Irishmen's rebellion of 1798. Key exhibits include: A jacket worn by IRA volunteer Mairéad Farrell while in prison. A cell door and bed removed from Armagh women's prison. A large array of posters and paintings related to the conflict. Articles of interest on deceased members of the National Graves Association, Belfast and other republicans in Belfast and beyond. A library and interpretive centre to help with education projects and those conducting historical research.

The Shankill Graveyard is one of the oldest cemeteries in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It was used for active burials for more than 1,000 years. Since 1958 it has no longer been an active burial site. The oldest standing headstone was erected to the memory of George McAuley who died in 1685. The gateways and railings are listed as being of historic and architectural interest.In 1872, at the corner of Shankill and Woodvale Road, St Matthew’s Church of Ireland was reconstructed. St Matthews Church takes its name from the very first church that was built in the Shankill Graveyard.

St Finian's Primary School (1901 - 1989) (Irish: Bunscoil Naomh Fionán) was a Roman Catholic primary school located in the Falls Road area of West Belfast near Dunville Park. It was named after Saint Finnian of Clonard and was run by the De La Salle Christian Brothers.Due to falling student numbers the school closed in the 1980s. Since 2004 the building has been occupied by the Irish-language primary school Gaelscoil an Lonnáin. There is also a Naíscoil an Lonnáin located in the facility for pre-school children. In 2016, the Board of Governors proposed that it relocate to the former site of St Comgall's School in Divis Street but this was not approved.

The Royal Victoria Hospital commonly known as "the Royal", the "RVH" or "the Royal Belfast", is a hospital in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is managed by the Belfast Health and Social Care Trust. The hospital has a Regional Virus Centre, which is one of the four laboratories in the United Kingdom on the WHO list of laboratories able to perform PCR for rapid diagnosis of influenza A (H1N1) virus infection in humans.

St Gemma's High School was a secondary school located on Ardilea Street in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It was within the Belfast Education and Library Board area. Its name originated from the Catholic saint of the Passionist order, Gemma Galgani (1878–1903).In October 2011, it was announced that the school would face permanent closure in September 2012, due to falling numbers. However, the school stayed open for another year and closed in August 2013.

St. Patrick's Church, Belfast (Irish: Eaglais Naomh Padraig) is a Catholic church located in Donegall Street area of Belfast, Northern Ireland. The first church was opened on the site in 1815 while the current building dates from 1877.

Saint Peter's Cathedral, Belfast (Irish: Ard Eaglais Naomh Peadar, IPA: [ˈaːɾˠd̪ˠ ˌaɡlˠəʃ n̪ˠiːw ˈpʲad̪ˠəɾˠ]), is the Catholic cathedral church for the Diocese of Down and Connor, and is therefore the episcopal seat of the Catholic Bishop of Down and Connor. It is located in the Divis Street area of the Falls Road in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and construction began in the 1860s. There are two choirs: the Cathedral Choir sings at the Vigil Mass and the Down & Connor Schola Cantorum (Boys’ Choir) sings at the 11 am Mass.