Key points
• Name originates from a milling settlement on the Falls Road
• Recorded on the Ordnance Survey first edition map (1832–1846) as Mill Town
• Early 19th-century property associated with Robert Hamilton
• Referenced in an 1815 Belfast News-Letter notice as Mill-Town House and Farm
• Became the site of Milltown Cemetery in 1869 for Catholic burials
Milltown developed as a small rural settlement on the Falls Road, centred on milling and bleaching activity along the River Blackstaff. The name, derived from the Irish Baile an Mhuilinn, appears on the Ordnance Survey first edition map and reflects a working agricultural and industrial landscape west of Belfast. The placename is firmly attested by an 1815 notice in the Belfast News-Letter advertising the sale of “Mill-Town House and Farm” on the Falls Road. In the early nineteenth century the property was associated with Robert Hamilton, and mid-century directories continued to list Milltown House and Milltown Lodge, showing the consistency and longevity of the name before urban expansion.
In 1869 land at Milltown was opened as a Catholic cemetery to serve the growing population of the city. Milltown Cemetery rapidly became one of Belfast’s most significant burial grounds and ensured the continued prominence of the name. The street and district therefore derive their title from the older settlement, with the cemetery preserving rather than originating the placename.
Sources
Ordnance Survey of Ireland, First Edition Map (1832–1846)
J. A. K. Dean, The Gate Lodges of Ulster
Belfast News-Letter, 9 June 1815 (sale notice for Mill-Town House and Farm)
Belfast street directories, 1840s–1850s