Lisburn

Understand

Linen is a textile produced from flax. It was produced at least 30,000 years ago from wild flax, and since 9000 years ago from a domesticated species Linum usitatissimum, which became cultivated throughout the Old World. Linen is strong and absorbent, pleasantly cool to the touch, and can be given a lustrous shine. So it's made into garments and bedding, though it's tricky to work and production is laborious. By the Middle Ages flax was grown and processed in Ireland but the leading centres were along the lower Rhine, in what is now Germany, Netherlands and Belgium. In 1685 the Edict of Fontainebleau revoked religious tolerance of French Protestants, which they had enjoyed since the 1598 Edict of Nantes. This led to the flight of the Protestants (called Huguenots) to Britain and Ireland. They included many skilled weavers and brought with them improved methods of production. Notable among them was Louis Crommelin (1652-1727), who settled in Lisburn and built up the linen industry throughout Ireland; he's buried in the cathedral graveyard. Production scaled up from rural craft through cottage industry to large mills, and Victorian Lisburn was "Linenopolis" much as Manchester was "Cottonopolis" and Dundee was "Juteopolis." (See also Banbridge for early mill automation, which paved the way for computers and robots.) In the 20th century trade withered with cheap foreign imports and the development of artificial fibres. Linen lost its mass market but continued to be used for upmarket tailoring, and Irish linen nowadays uses imported flax.

Getting there

Lisburn is 9 miles southwest of Belfast, follow M1. There's a free Park & Ride at Sprucefield (M1 junction 8) mostly used by commuters into Belfast. Trains run every 15 min from Belfast Grand Central to Lisburn (25 min), and continue to Lurgan and Portadown. The Belfast-Dublin Enterprise trains don't stop here except once on Sunday, change at Portadown. 1 Lisburn railway station is north side of town centre. Both platforms are wheelchair accessible. Hilden and Lambeg are two other halts at the north edge of town. Ulsterbus 551 runs hourly from Belfast Grand Central to Lisburn (40 min), Moira, Lurgan and Craigavon. Bus 538 also runs hourly from Belfast, and from Lisburn continues to Sprucefield, Hillsborough, Dromore, Banbridge, and occasionally to Newry. Bus 23 runs from Belfast every two hours via Dunmurry. Bus 109A runs hourly M-Sa from Antrim via Belfast International Airport (BFS IATA, aka Aldergrove) and Crumlin to Lisburn. Bus 26B runs three times M-F from Newcastle via Dundrum, Ballynahinch and Hillsborough to Lisburn, taking 1 hr 15 min. Goldliner X1 runs every couple of hours from Dublin Busáras and Airport (DUB IATA) via Newry and Banbridge, halting at Sprucefield retail park at the south edge of Lisburn on its way into Belfast. Don't take X2 or the Aircoach, which are non-stop to Belfast. Hannon Coach runs daily from Glasgow to Belfast, Lisburn and Lurgan. 2 Lisburn bus centre is south side of town centre.

Getting around

The town is compact and walkable. You need wheels for outlying places such as the racetrack and various golf courses. See above for buses to Hillsborough. The local taxi firm is fonaCAB (+44 28 9033 3333). National Cycleway 9 runs mostly on-road from Belfast to Lisburn, Craigavon and Portadown then off-road to Scarva and Newry, with other routes branching off across Armagh and Tyrone.

See

1 Irish Linen Centre & Lisburn Museum, Market Square BT28 1AG, ☏ +44 28 9244 7684. M-Sa 9:30AM-5PM. Linen was central to Northern Ireland's early industrial revolution, before the focus changed to metal-bashing. This museum is in the late 17th century market house where wares were traded. Free. (updated Oct 2025) Christ Church Cathedral is at 24 Castle St, 100 yards east of the Linen Centre. It's Church of Ireland (Anglican) and completed in 1719 on the site of earlier churches that burned down. Castle Gardens are a bosky green space on the north river bank. Nothing remains of the castle, a Plantation-era mansion. Wallace Park is the larger, more open green space a couple of blocks north, 200 yards east of the railway station. The ring-fort (the one with the gamblers) was north side of the park, but the only sign of it now is the street name Fort Hill. 2 Maze Long Kesh, 3 miles west of Lisburn, is a bizarre illustration of the best and worst of Northern Ireland. It's a former RAF base, in use 1940-47 mainly as an aircraft assembly plant. Long Kesh along with other wartime bases in this region enabled the RAF to operate out in the Atlantic beyond the range of planes based in Great Britain, to protect Allied convoys and attack U-boats. - Ulster Aviation Society has an aviation museum with some 54 heritage aircraft and vehicles, open daily 10:30AM-5:30PM. Enter via Gate 3, east side off 94 Halftown Road.

- Maze Prison or "H-Blocks" began in 1971 as Long Kesh Detention Centre. In a dawn raid the British arrested 342 suspected paramilitary terrorists, and "interned" them - detained them without trial in Nissen huts on the disused airfield. The arrests were solely of supposed IRA members, with no action against loyalists; they let slip many republicans while incarcerating others with no IRA involvement; they practiced interrogation techniques little different from torture, and systematically abused the detainees. To official surprise, this didn't end terrorism in Ulster

Do

Omniplex Cinema is on the leisure park southwest side of town. Hilden Brewery is now primarily an events venue and doesn't offer tours. It's on Mill St, Hilden. 1 Lagan Valley Island, The Island BT27 4RL, ☏ +44 28 9244 7444. Contains Island Hall Theatre, the smaller Studio Theatre, and Island Arts Centre, plus conference and events facilities. (updated Oct 2025) Lagan towpath starts by the Island, which is created by a short canal cut and lock system off the river. The towpath follows the river downstream for 11 miles to central Belfast. It's a firm path throughout, on the south or east bank as far as Dixon Park at the edge of the city. Watch out for speeding cyclists. Upstream from Lisburn, the Lagan canal formerly connected to Lough Neagh, but that route is derelict. 2 Down Royal Racecourse, Gravelhill Road BT27 5RW, ☏ +44 28 9262 1256. This holds mostly National Hunt (jumps and chases) meetings in November, but the Ulster Derby is a flat-race in June. Horse-racing (like rugby union) in Ulster is governed on an all-Ireland basis. (updated Oct 2025) Golf: Down Royal Golf Club is north of the racecourse on Dunygarten Road. Lisburn Golf Club is on A1 south of Sprucefield Retail Park. Balmoral Agricultural Show is held in May on Balmoral Park, the former Long Kesh.

Buy

Lisburn has lots of shopping to serve its own population, a large army base, and the outlying county. Bow Street Mall is the main mall in town, northwest corner of the centre. Sprucefield is the edge-of-town retail park, south by M1 junctions 7 and 8.

Eat

Cardan Bar & Grill, 41 Railway St BT28 1XP (next to railway station),