Location: Tiger’s Bay / Duncairn area, North Belfast
Origin: The exact origin of the name remains uncertain. The surname “Mackey” (also spelled McKay/MacKay) was widespread in Ulster in the 19th century. The street may have been named for a property owner, builder, or local figure active during the period of development in the late 1860s, but no definitive namesake has been identified in surviving records.
History: Mackey Street was first laid out during Belfast’s rapid northward expansion in the 1860s. A report in the Northern Whig (2 June 1869) recorded a plan for ten houses on the street, showing that development was already in progress. The street soon appeared on Ordnance Survey maps of the 1870s and was recorded in the Belfast Street Directories by the 1890s with residents listed.
Mackey Street became part of the dense terraces of Tiger’s Bay, a working-class district closely tied to the nearby shipyards and docks. Locally, “Mackey Street” was sometimes used as a shorthand name for the whole Tiger’s Bay area. By 1959, it was included in Belfast Corporation’s official list of streets. In the later 20th century, much of the district was redeveloped, but the street name remains in use on today’s maps in the Duncairn area.
Timeline:
1869: Ten houses planned on Mackey Street (Northern Whig, 2 June 1869).
1870s: Appears on Ordnance Survey maps of Belfast.
1890s: Listed in Belfast Street Directories with residents.
1959: Included in Belfast Corporation’s official list of Belfast streets.
Late 20th century: Redevelopment of Tiger’s Bay; Mackey Street retained in new housing layouts.
See also: Collyer Street, Lawther Street, Tiger’s Bay, Duncairn Road.
Sources:
Northern Whig, 2 June 1869 (report of town improvement committee approving plan for 10 houses in Mackey Street).
Ordnance Survey of Ireland, historical editions (1870s onwards).
Belfast Street Directories (late 19th century).
Belfast Corporation, List of Streets (1959).
Local histories of Tiger’s Bay, e.g. NI Community Relations Council report on the area.