Streets of Belfast: historian Jason Burke examines connections and coincidences associated with Donegall Street
In the days when touring circuses such as Clara ‘Ma’ Copley’s would pitch their marquees at Chapel Fields, the entertainment, it is said, would include a ‘question time’ segment consisting of conundrums for the audience. One such conundrum was posed, as Cathal O’Byrne tells us: “Why is Donegall Street like a spendthrift? Because it begins with a bank and ends with the Poor House.” It’s true that it was, at one time, bookended by Belfast Commercial Bank at the lower end and by the Belfast Charitable Society’s Poor House at the other. Despite being referred to, perhaps unfair...
Source: belfasttelegraph.co.uk
