Sailortown Cultural & Historical Society

Some of the organising committee of the Sailortown Reunion

The Sailortown Cultural & Historical Society was formed in October 1999 following a successful reunion of former residents from the district which was held in the Dockers Club earlier that month. Prior to the formal establishment of the society a small group met each week in the American Bar primarily to organise the reunion in the Dockers’.

During these meetings people spoke about setting up a ‘Sailortown society’ to rekindle memories of old district.

Following the reunion a public meeting was held in the Stella Maris Seamens Mission and the Sailortown Cultural & Historical Society was formed. Office bearers were duly elected and discussion took place around areas that the society should address.

Three main areas came to the fore:

1. The social aspect

2. The history and culture of Sailortown and its people

3. The preservation of the remaining character of the district,

    in particular any surviving buildings.

After a number of meetings it was agreed that a weekend festival be held in May 2000 around the theme of Sailortown 2000 - a cultural celebration. The centre piece of the festival was a photographic exhibition of Sailortown which  ran over two  days in the Stella Maris, as well as a revival of the traditional May procession from St. Joseph’s Chapel through the docks.

The weekend proved to be a great success for the area.  Even the sun shone on the festival.  Since that first festival a number of  events have been organised We were all very distressed when the doors of St Joseph's Church were closed to us in February 2001. You can link to the St Joseph's page on this site for more information. Over the last few yeas the SCHS has had a number of "homes" from which it has operated. However in January 2005 the Society moved into  premises in Garmoyle Street having secured  a three year lease. In November 2006 a much needed community room and refurbished kitchen area were added with financial assistance from the EU under its Urban 2 Programme.

Increasingly the SCHS has become the catalyst for the formation of a number of groups centred around the Sailortown district.  The following groups operate from the Society offices in Garmoyle Street

•                 Sailortown Regeneration
•                 The Tin Bath Writers

•                 Sailortown Art Group

•                 Sailortown Local History Project
•                 Save St Joseph's Campaign Group
•                 Dockside Senior Men's Group
•                 The Harbour Lights Ladies Group

Each group has its own particular remit and focus of activity which are broadly in line with the overall aims of The Sailortown Cultural and Historical Society. Contact with any of the above groups can be made by means of this website. Eventually it is intended that each group will have it own page on the this website.

Thank you for visiting the Sailortown Cultural & Historical Society's Web site.  We would appreciate your comments.

You can email us at

Sailortown Cultural & Historical Society

or write to

Sailortown Cultural & Historical Society

11-13 Garmoyle Street,

Belfast,

N. Ireland

BT15 1DY

Tel/Fax 028 90751094