Location: Off Somerton Road, North Belfast
Origin of Name:
From Lisbreen, the name of a house and demesne on the Somerton Road.
Irish form: Lios Braoin
Meaning: “Braon’s fort”
Background:
Lisbreen Park takes its name from Lisbreen, a house and associated demesne on the Somerton Road, which still survive.
By at least 1856 Lisbreen was in the occupation of Charles Lanyon, Esq., the Belfast architect and civil engineer. A notice in the Belfast News-Letter (16 January 1856) records a donation by Lanyon to the library of the “Lisbreen Sabbath-school,” indicating the presence of a local Sunday school associated with the residence and supported by the Lanyon family. The name appears subsequently in everyday use as a residential address, for example in 1869 as “Lisbreen, Fortwilliam Park,” and in 1873 as the residence of “Mrs. Lanyon, Lisbreen, Fortwilliam.” These references establish Lisbreen as a Lanyon family residence from the mid-19th century.
It is not clear whether the house was designed and built by Lanyon himself or acquired as an existing property.
The name ultimately derives from the townland of Lisbreen in County Antrim (parish of Skerry, barony of Antrim Lower). The Irish lios denotes a ringfort or enclosed dwelling, while Braon is a personal name, giving the meaning “Braon’s fort.” Although the townland name is not recorded before the Ordnance Survey Name Books of c.1832, the lios element suggests an earlier settlement landscape.
The naming of the modern street is recorded in the proceedings of Belfast City Council. The initial approval is recorded as follows:
Health and Environmental Services Committee
Monday, 9th October, 2000
Street Naming
The Committee approved the undernoted applications for the naming of streets in the City which did not conflict with existing approved street names and to which the Royal Mail had no objections:
| Proposed Name | Location | Applicant |
|---|---|---|
| Lisbreen | Off Somerton Road, BT15 | John Williamson Architects |
Following this approval, the name was reconsidered after an objection, as recorded in the subsequent minute:
Health and Environmental Services Committee
Monday, 5th March, 2001
Naming of Streets and Numbering of Properties: “Lisbreen”
The Committee was reminded that, at its meeting on 9th October, it had approved an application to name as “Lisbreen” a small housing development situated directly off the Somerton Road in the Fortwilliam/Castleview area of North Belfast. This decision had been adopted by the Council at its meeting on 1st November.
Following that decision, an objection to the name had been received from the Diocesan Secretary to the Bishop of Down and Connor. The Secretary had pointed out that the street name “Lisbreen” was the same as that of the Bishop’s residence and was causing confusion, as both sites were located on the Somerton Road and were within close proximity to each other, albeit on opposite sides of the road. The objector had stated that mail for the housing development was being delivered in error to the Diocesan Office. Accordingly, the Committee, at its meeting on 11th December, had granted authority to the Head of Building Control to notify the residents of the “Lisbreen” housing development of the confusion caused by both titles and to gauge the reaction to the Council considering the change of street name.
The Head of Building Control reported that the residents of the nine properties in the development had been written to and, of that total, four properties had appeared to be unoccupied, two residents had not replied and the residents of the remaining three properties had replied. The three replies were not in favour of a name change, preferring the title “Lisbreen” to remain. One resident, however, had also proposed alternative names, that is, “Lisbreen Park” and “Lisieux”.
He pointed out that the power for the Council to name streets was contained in Article 11 of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) (Northern Ireland) Order 1995 and, as the Council had the power to name streets, it was also entitled to rename them. He stated that, since the notification issued to two-thirds of the properties had generated no reply, the Members might wish to consider the undernoted options:
1. retain the name “Lisbreen”; or
2. recommend that the street name be changed, by adding a suffix to the current name, such as “Lisbreen Park”, “Lisbreen Mews”, or be changed to another name, for example, “Lisieux”; or
3. recommend the change to a name which had no similarity to “Lisbreen”, but had a connection with the area, for example, “Somerton Green”. The Somerton suffixes of Close, Court, Gardens, Grange, Mews, Park and Road already existed.After discussion, the Committee agreed that the street name be changed to Lisbreen Park.