Provincial Bank of Ireland designed by W. J. Barre. 2, Royal Avenue (Castle Place) Belfast, Northern Ireland.1867-9. Text and photograph by Philip V. Allingham 2006. This image may be used without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose.
This building at No. 2, Royal Avenue (Castle Place), now Tesco's, was constructed by Turner and Williamson on the site of the home of Belfast's wealthiest citizen of the late eighheenth century, Waddell Cunningham, who founded the reforming Irish Volunteers, which mustered an honour guard for the opening of St. Mary's Church Crooked Lane, the first Catholic institution built in the area since the Reformation. Next on the site was the Catholic Belfast Institute and associated with it nearby St. Mary's Hall (1875); when the Catholic Institute was demolished, it was replaced by the present building, W. J. Barre's Provincial Bank of Ireland (See F. Heatley, p. 62)
References
Heatley, Fred, and Gillian Boyd (il.). Belfast: Paintings and Stories from the City. Donaghadee, N. Ireland: Cottage Publications, 1998.
Last modified 12 September 2006