Arrol Way
Location: Arrol Way is a short road on Queen’s Island in the Titanic Quarter of Belfast (postal code BT3 9EQ). It branches off Queen’s Road near the Titanic Belfast visitor centre and Titanic Boulevard, formerly the site of Harland & Wolff’s North Yard.
Established: The name Arrol Way was formally approved in April 2012 as part of the Titanic Quarter redevelopment. At a Belfast City Council naming committee meeting on 16 April 2012, Titanic Quarter Ltd proposed “Arrol Way – Off Queen’s Road, BT3,” which was accepted along with another thematic name (Olympic Way). Thus the street name dates from around the time Titanic Belfast opened in 2012.
Overview: Arrol Way is a modern street built during the regeneration of the former Harland & Wolff shipyard lands into the mixed-use Titanic Quarter. It is a short cul-de-sac or access road leading to contemporary offices and amenities adjacent to Titanic Belfast. Its modern usage is primarily as part of the Titanic Quarter business and heritage district. Aside from serving current commercial and heritage sites, Arrol Way itself has no earlier history as a roadway – it did not exist during the shipyard era.
Name Origin: Arrol Way is almost certainly a commemorative name referencing Sir William Arrol and the famous Arrol Gantry of Harland & Wolff. Sir William Arrol & Co. (Glasgow) built the gigantic Arrol Gantry in 1907–1908 over the Titanic-class slipways on Queen’s Island. The Arrol Gantry was a 6,000‑ton, 840‑ft long steel frame that served as an overhead crane structure for building RMS Olympic, Titanic and Britannic. It remained in use through the 1960s before being demolished around 1970. The naming of Arrol Way is not due to a continuous historic street, but rather honors that legacy. Titanic Belfast’s exhibits even include a 20‑m steel scaffold “alluding to the Arrol Gantry” used in Titanic’s construction. In short, Arrol Way’s name evokes the giant Arrol Gantry and its builder.
Historical Significance: The name recalls Belfast’s golden age of shipbuilding. The Arrol Gantry was one of the most important structures on Queen’s Island, enabling the simultaneous construction and launch of the Olympic-class liners. By choosing Arrol, the developers linked the new street to the Titanic-era heritage that the Titanic Quarter celebrates. While Arrol Way itself did not exist in the early 20th century, its name is a tribute to that past. (The Arrol Gantry once overshadowed the area, and today only the two giant Samson & Goliath cranes from the 1960s–1970s remain.)
Other nearby street names in Titanic Quarter use a similar motif. For example, Olympic Way (named for RMS Olympic, Titanic’s sister ship) reflects the shipyard slipways. These names form a thematic set: Titanic Boulevard, Olympic Way, and Arrol Way all commemorate the construction of the Olympic-class liners on Queen’s Island. Thus Arrol Way fits into a pattern of naming roads after shipbuilders, vessels, and infrastructure from Belfast’s maritime history.
Conclusion: Arrol Way is a modern street born of the Titanic Quarter redevelopment, named in 2012 by Titanic Quarter Ltd. Its name pays homage to Sir William Arrol and the historic Arrol Gantry that once spanned the Titanic slipways. Although the gantry was demolished by 1970, Arrol Way’s naming helps to keep the memory of Belfast’s shipbuilding heritage alive amid the new urban waterfront. The nearby street Olympic Way similarly evokes the shipyard past, underscoring the area’s origins.
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