Bantry Street (Sráid Bheanntraí), Belfast BT13 (Edenderry)
Key Points:
“On application of the owners, your Committee have named two new streets off Broadway and Falls road Nansen Street and Iveagh Street; new streets off Springfield road, Cupar street and Clonard street, Aboo street, Bantry street, Benares street, Bombay street, Cawnpore street, Dunmore street, Dingle street, Lucknow street, Oranmore street, Tralee street, and they have changed the name of Faloon’s court to Fleet street place.” Minutes, Town Improvement Committee, 23 June 1897.
Historical Background
The name Bantry Street was approved on 23 June 1897, when Belfast Corporation’s Town Improvement Committee approved a batch of new street names for the growing Edenderry district. At the time, this area—formerly rural—was being developed into long rows of terraced housing for working families.
The June 1897 minutes list Bantry Street alongside several other new streets, confirming its creation date and the origin of its name.
Origin of the Name
Bantry Street is named after Bantry, a harbour town in County Cork. The Irish name, Sráid Bheanntraí, reflects the Irish Beanntraí, meaning “people of the horns” or “people of the peaks,” a tribal name from early Irish history.
This naming was not to honour a local person but to reference an already established Irish place-name.
Street-Naming Patterns in Edenderry
The choice of Bantry fits into a deliberate theme in the 1897 development. The same records show other Irish town names—Dingle, Oranmore, Tralee—alongside names from India under British rule—Benares (Varanasi), Bombay (Mumbai), Cawnpore (Kanpur), Lucknow.
This mix of Irish and colonial place-names was common in Belfast at the time. Similar examples can be found elsewhere in the city, such as Madras Street and Kashmir Road.
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