Banquet Room with Barrel Vault Ceiling 1896-1906. City Hall, Donegall Square, Belfast, Ulster, Northern Ireland. Text and photograph by Philip V. Allingham 2006. This image may be used without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose.

The Banqueting Hall's vault, which measures 11 metres (26 feet), is a truly impressive renovation of Edwardian splendour, with oak-pannelled walls standing nine feet high, stained glass, and plasterwork. The plaque commemorating a decade of painstaking restoration has the following text

This tablet was erected to commemorate the re-building of this Great Hall destroyed by enemy action in May 1941 and officially re-opened by the Right Hon. The Lord Mayor Alderman Sir Percival Bown, C. B. E. on 15th October 1955

Brett characterizes the magnificent interior of the City Hall, splendid even when compared to the halls and rotundas of Canadian legislatures and American state Capitols, as "ornate in a moderately restrained way" (p. 55). The Italian marble glows, the rococo plasterwork is impeccable, the overall effect dazzling, particularly of the great dome about the great circular stair-well and lobby.

Other Views

References

Brett, C. E. B. Buildings of Belfast, 1700-1914. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1967.


Last modified 12 September 2006