Beech Park

Beech Park
BT6
Lisnasharragh

Beech Park

Beech Park (BT6) is a residential street in East Belfast (Lisnasharragh/Castlereagh) first laid out in the post‑war era. It appears in street directories by the late 1950s, placing its naming in the mid-1950s . The name was almost certainly chosen for its arboreal appeal – evoking the beech tree and a pleasant, leafy character – fitting the era’s trend of “parks and gardens” names rather than reflecting any earlier estate . By 1959 Beech Park was fully occupied, suggesting Castlereagh planners approved the name simply to complement the green theme and appeal to new residents .

  • Hillburn Park – An invented name combining “hill” and “burn” (stream). Hillburn Park sits just above the Merok Burn valley, and the name likely evokes the idea of the stream’s upper reach (“hill stream”). It was established by the late 1950s (in use by 1959) and was coined to match the Glenburn theme .

  • Glenburn Park – Named from the Scots “glen” (valley) and “burn” (stream) after the nearby Merok Burn. This cul‑de‑sac (built mid-1950s) takes its name from the small wooded glen through which the Merok Burn flows . The name highlights the scenic valley setting of the houses.

  • Glenburn Road – The main road along the same valley. It was aptly named “Glenburn Road” to reflect the glen/stream terrain (running by the Merok Burn) , and dates to the 1950s development of the area.

  • Glenview Gardens – A short street off Glenburn Road, its name alludes to the “glen view” over the Merok Burn valley. It was chosen during the same late-1950s building phase to emphasize the attractive view towards the little glen .

  • Merok Park – Named for the Merok Burn, a small stream that winds through this estate. All the Merok‑named streets (Park, Drive, Gardens) were laid out in the mid-1950s and deliberately recall the historic stream (a townland boundary line) . The name “Merok” itself may derive from a local dialect word (Ulster-Scots mairk or Irish méaróg) related to boundary markers .

  • Merok Drive – Shares the same origin as Merok Park. It was named in the 1950s after the Merok Burn running alongside the housing development , linking to the same natural feature.

  • Merok Gardens – Likewise named for the Merok Burn, the name was applied by the late 1950s to another street in this estate. All three “Merok” streets commemorate the stream’s place in the local topography .

  • Carnamena Avenue – A Gaelic‑style invented name (often misread as “Camarena”). It appears to combine carn (Irish for “cairn” or heap of stones) and meán (“middle”), roughly “middle cairn.” Introduced in the 1950s (in directories by 1959), it was coined to fit with other nearby “Carn–” names (e.g. Carncaver) and give a Celtic flavor, rather than referring to any actual cairn .

  • Clonduff Drive – One of the oldest streets here, part of a 1940s public‑housing estate. It was named after Clonduff in County Down (from Irish Cluain Daimh, “ox meadow”) . The estate (and name) date to WWII (a 1941 reference notes the “Clonduff Estate”), making it a wartime-era naming. The Gaelic name was chosen for its pleasant sound and historic resonance .

  • Rochester Road – An aerospace-themed name from the early 1950s. It honors Rochester in Kent, England, the original base of Short Brothers aircraft before they moved to Belfast in 1948 . As a result, Rochester Road (and nearby Sunderland Road, Stirling Avenue, etc.) were laid out after WWII with this aviation motif. The street was in place by 1959, marking Belfast’s new aerospace heritage .

Each of these names reflects a 1950s Belfast planning theme – from the natural landscape (burns and glens) to a nod toward Irish history or industry – and was adopted when this part of East Belfast was developed.

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