Mary Ann’s Belfast

Mary Ann lived and worked on the cusp of North Belfast, and her influence can be seen and felt throughout Donegall Street: from the Assembly Rooms all the way to Clifton House. She is, however, only one of this area’s many remarkable residents. A place which is steeped in history, it can be considered ‘the neighbourhood which built the world’: Chaim Herzog, the former President of Israel; William Mulholland, the builder of the Los Angeles Aqueduct; and Maxim Litvinov, the People’s Commissar of Foreign Affairs in the Soviet Union have all called this part of Belfast ‘home’. More recent residents include the poet John Hewitt, the writer Anna Burns and the director/actor Kenneth Branagh.

These individuals’ stories, and many others like them, can be told throughout the area’s historical buildings. To preserve these buildings, the Mary Ann McCracken Foundation – under the aegis of the Belfast Charitable Society and Clifton House — is part of the North Belfast Heritage Cluster (NBHC). The NHBC seeks to preserve North Belfast’s buildings, capture the stories of its residents, and to engage in heritage-led regeneration.

While exploring Mary Ann’s legacy, please consider visiting some of this area’s many great places and stories. For those particularly interested in North Belfast’s Jewish history, please refer to the Belfast Jewish Heritage’s map.