Arnon Street
Location: Carrick Hill, North Belfast
Irish: Sráid Earnáin
Origin of name:
The origin of the name Arnon is uncertain. It may have biblical associations — the River Arnon is mentioned in the Hebrew Scriptures as a boundary between Moab and Israel — but no definitive record explains why this name was chosen. Many streets in Victorian Belfast adopted biblical or classical names, and Arnon Street may follow that pattern, though without clear documentation.
Date of establishment:
Arnon Street was laid out in the early 1850s, appearing in the 1852 Belfast Street Directory as a “new street” off Trinity Street, with no houses yet constructed. The OSNI Second Edition map (c.1838–1862) shows the street fully laid out during this period. House construction followed soon after, and by 1861, the street was fully occupied, with more than 40 residences listed in that year’s directory.
Street context (from historical mapping):
Arnon Street was introduced as part of a coordinated phase of residential development in Carrick Hill, north of Belfast city centre. The OSNI map shows it among a growing network of compact streets, including:
These streets formed a regular, gridded pattern typical of Belfast’s mid-19th-century housing developments, reflecting structured planning in response to urban population growth.
Development and early residents:
By the mid-to-late 1850s, Arnon Street was fully developed with brick-built terraced houses. The 1861 Belfast Street Directory lists early residents working in skilled trades and clerical roles — city officials, upholsterers, insurance agents, and labourers — reflecting the demographic mix of working and lower-middle-class households in the Carrick Hill area at the time.
Summary:
Laid out and developed in the early 1850s, Arnon Street was part of a wider programme of residential expansion in Carrick Hill. Surrounded by similarly scaled streets such as Upton Street, Park Street, and California Street, it formed part of the distinctive urban grid that shaped North Belfast during the Victorian period. While the source of its name remains uncertain, Arnon Street’s form and history are emblematic of Belfast’s structured growth in the post-Famine decades.
Sources:
1852 & 1861 Belfast Street Directories;
OSNI Second Edition Map (c.1838–62);
Griffith’s Valuation (1860–62);
LennonWylie.co.uk.