The minutes of the Town Improvement Committee of Belfast Corporation of 28 March 1894 indicate approval for a street off Falls road for Mr M. Shiels
Location: Off the Falls Road, West Belfast
Irish Name: Sráid Uí Shiail
Origins and Development
Shiels Street appears in Belfast Corporation records from the 1870s, when houses were already being built there. In 1876, the Works Committee noted “six houses in Shiels Street for Michael Shiels” (Northern Whig, 4 Feb 1876). By the 1880s, further houses were approved both on Falls Road and in Shiels Street under his name (Belfast News-Letter, 3 Aug 1885).
In 1894, the Corporation’s Town Improvement Committee approved a new street “for Mr M. Shiels.” It is not clear if this refers to the street already known by that name or to another development associated with him.
The Shiels Connection
The street carries the Shiels family name. The best-known member, Michael Shiels (c.1830s–1918), combined business, property, and politics. He was a spirit-grocer on Falls Road and proprietor of the well-known licensed premises called the Beehive. He developed rows of houses in the district, including in Shiels Street itself. He served as chairman of the Licensed Vintners’ Association, was elected as a Nationalist councillor in 1907, and later became a Justice of the Peace, with roles on the Belfast Water Commissioners and the Bangor Hospital Committee.
Born in County Down, Shiels moved into commercial life in Belfast and eventually retired to Bangor, where he died in 1918. His obituary described him as a respected businessman, politician, and benefactor.
Legacy
The history of Shiels Street illustrates how the names of families involved in local business and housing development became embedded in the fabric of nineteenth-century Belfast.
Sources
Northern Whig, 4 Feb 1876 – Works Committee, six houses in Shiels Street for Michael Shiels
Belfast News-Letter, 3 Aug 1885 – further houses approved on Falls Road and Shiels Street for Michael Shiels
Belfast Corporation, Town Improvement Committee minutes, March 1894 – approval of new street “for Mr M. Shiels”
Belfast Telegraph, 16 June 1880 – Michael Shiels as chairman of the Licensed Vintners’ Association
Irish News, 28 Feb 1907; Belfast Telegraph, 13 Mar 1907 – elected as Nationalist councillor for the Falls
Belfast Weekly Telegraph, 17 Apr 1909 – appointment as Justice of the Peace
Irish News & Belfast Morning News, 25 Dec 1918 – obituary of Michael Shiels