According to John J Marshall, the architect Thomas Jackson is reported to be have been so impressed by the residential area of Bristol called Clifton, that he decided to introduce the name to Belfast (Belfast Telegraph, 04/01/1941, p. 4). These properties were advertised in newspapers with the slogan rus in urbe, a Latin phrase meaning "countryside in the town" (e.g. Northern Whig, 01/07/1833) . Perhaps this reflected the perception of Clifton as a leafy suburb of Bristol, which Jackson aimed to emulate. This is supported by C.E.B. Brett, who described Cliftonville as "a villa estate modelled on Clifton on the outskirts of Bristol" (Buildings of Belfast, rev. ed. 1985, p. 33).
In the Belfast Street Directory of 1839 there is an entry that says: “William Herdman, Esq residence, Cliftonville”. Besides designing individual buildings, Jackson was responsible for two ambitious suburban developments in Belfast. The Cliftonville development, begun in the 1830s, was only partly carried out as Jackson planned. On the 2nd edition OS 6" map (1838-62) the development is named and marked as a row of six detached houses stretching along the south side of Cliftonville Road, from Antrim Road to the current position of Cliftonpark Avenue. By the time of the 2nd edition it consisted of nine houses. See Buildings of Belfast by C E B Brett, revised edition (1985), p.33. Later, from circa 1861, Jackson created a development of large houses in spacious grounds to the east and west of Old Holywood Road on the north-eastern edge of the city. Thomas Jackson was a Quaker from Waterford who settled in Belfast. Further biographical details are given in Knock, Knock... who was there? by Keith Haines (2014), pp. 98-103.
Development of the area continued during the 19th century and into the 20th century, when Sir Robert McConnell tried to market residential housing in the area as "Cliftonville Garden Village". Garden villages and garden cities were a phenomenon of the Edwardian era. The earliest in England was Letchworth, started in 1903, followed by others such as garden cities as Welwyn Garden City. The idea was also adopted around the world, e.g. in New Delhi, Canberra and Quezon City (Philippines). "Northwards from Carlisle Circus areas such as Mount Vernon, Parkmount and Duncairn and the loughside estates of the Grove, Fortwilliam and Skegoniel [sic] grew from the parcelling out of villa parkland into attractive sites for the aspiring lower middle class of commercial clerks and manufacturers' agents. An imaginative attempt to capture the interest of this growing section of Belfast society was made by Sir Robert McConnell, who promoted a Garden City near Cliftonville Circus, with houses selling at £240. Unfortunately, even the promise of pleasure gardens and a bandstand was not enough to win many converts among clerks earning £120 per year, and the scheme failed" (Brenda Collins in Belfast: The Making of the City, ed. J C Beckett, p. 170).
Cliftonville Road is first recorded in Martin's Directory for 1839. The name Cliftonville was widely adopted and is found in addresses in several different British cities. Perhaps surprisingly, Belfast's Cliftonville and Cliftonville Road were named a couple of decades before Clifton Street and more than a century before Clifton House.
In 1879 Cliftonville Football and Athletic Club was founded. Since 1890 the Reds have played their home games at Solitude. This ground is named after a house marked on the 1st edition of the Ordnance Survey six inch to the mile map in the 1840s. Solitude stood on land that was flooded shortly afterwards for the construction of Belfast Waterworks.