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St Mary's Church, Belfast

18th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United KingdomChurches in BelfastGrade B+ listed buildingsGrade B1 listed buildingsReligious organizations established in 1784
Roman Catholic churches completed in 1784Roman Catholic churches in BelfastShrines to the Virgin Mary
St Mary's Church, Belfast, February 2011 (01)
St Mary's Church, Belfast, February 2011 (01)

St. Mary's Church (Irish: Naoimh Eaglais Mhuire) is a Grade B-1 listed Catholic church located in Chapel Lane/Smithfield area of Belfast, Northern Ireland. A church was opened on this site in May 1784 and thus it is the mother church for the city of Belfast. At the time, it was the only Catholic church in the then town of Belfast after the relaxation of some of the Penal Laws. The church grounds contain an undistinguished grotto dedicated to Our Lady of Lourdes. Until 2022 St. Mary's was a mensal parish of the Diocese of Down and Connor.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article St Mary's Church, Belfast (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

St Mary's Church, Belfast
Chapel Lane, Belfast Carrick Hill

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Wikipedia: St Mary's Church, BelfastContinue reading on Wikipedia

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N 54.599715 ° E -5.93302 °
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St Mary's Church

Chapel Lane
BT1 6ED Belfast, Carrick Hill
Northern Ireland, United Kingdom
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St Mary's Church, Belfast, February 2011 (01)
St Mary's Church, Belfast, February 2011 (01)
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Northern Bank robbery
Northern Bank robbery

On 20 December 2004, a total of £26.5 million in cash was stolen from the headquarters of Northern Bank on Donegall Square West in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Having taken family members of two bank officials hostage, an armed gang forced the workers to help them steal used and unused pound sterling banknotes. The money was loaded into a van and driven away in two trips. This was one of the largest bank robberies in the history of the United Kingdom. The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI), the Independent Monitoring Commission, the British government and the Taoiseach (prime minister of the Republic of Ireland) all claimed the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) was responsible. This was denied by the IRA and by Sinn Féin. Throughout 2005, the police forces in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland made arrests and carried out house searches. A sum of £2.3 million was impounded at the house of a financial adviser, Ted Cunningham, in County Cork and Phil Flynn was forced to resign as chairman of the Bank of Scotland (Ireland), because he was a director of one of Cunningham's companies. Cunningham was convicted in 2009 of money laundering, had his conviction quashed in 2012 and was convicted at retrial in 2014. Chris Ward, one of the bank officials threatened by the gang, was himself arrested in November 2005 and charged with robbery. The prosecution then offered no evidence at trial and he was released. Northern Bank announced soon after the heist that it would replace its £10, £20, £50 and £100 notes. Alongside the murder of Robert McCartney, the robbery adversely affected the Northern Ireland peace process. It caused a hardening in the relationship between the Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and the Sinn Féin representatives Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness. Although Cunningham and several others were eventually convicted of crimes uncovered during the investigation, nobody has ever been held directly responsible for the robbery.