Poleglass

Poleglass (derive|Irish|an Pholl Glas|the green hollow) is a mainly nationalist/republican housing estate on the outskirts of West Belfast, Northern Ireland. The name Poleglass is a "Townland" name that was used as the name for the collection of estates that exist now. It has a population of around 10,000. Due to its close proximity to both Belfast and Lisburn, it has become popular with commuters, this has led to rapid expansion of housing developments close to the area, and a dramatic increase in house prices equal to many other areas in Northern Ireland. Poleglass is also an electoral ward of Lisburn.

Addresses in Poleglass are classed as being in Belfast, and the telephone numbers in the area generally start with '90' as with the rest of Belfast. It currently lies within Lisburn City Council area, but due to proposed boundary changes it may become part of Belfast City Council.

Until the development took place, Poleglass was rural land on the outskirts of the city. This is where the name comes from - "an Pholl Glas" means "the green hollow". Despite lying beyond Belfast's development "stop line" population pressures eventually led to the land being allocated for housing. Unionist politicians from Lisburn mounted a campaign in the mid 1970s to pressurise the government to stop the plans, as they believed that the proposed estate's proximity to West Belfast would lead to it becoming a nationalist ghetto. The campaign eventually failed, and building began in the area in 1977, with the first areas, Old Colin and Colinmill opening in 1980. The first residents moved in on the morning of 28th November 1980.

It is made up of small estates, such as Glenwood, Glenkeen, Laurelbank, Old Colin, Colinmill, Colinbrook, Colinvale, Ardcaoin and Brianswell. Each of these vary in their size and age, some being fairly recent developments, others being original housing from when Poleglass first emerged.

Poleglass, like many other mainly working-class housing estates, has tended to suffer from anti-social activity, particularly car theft. This tends to be greater in the areas in the south of the estate (Laurelbank to Glenkeen) which have been given the collective name 'The Dark Side' by residents as a tongue-in-cheek reference to this.

Notable landmarks include the Dairy Farm Shopping Centre, the Church of the Nativity and Colin Glen Forest Park.

Since its inception, the estate was part of the Lagan Valley parliamentary constituency. However following a Boundary Commission recommendation in 1996, the area was moved into the West Belfast constituency along with Twinbrook in time for the 1997 Westminster general election. Political analysts have contributed this factor to Sinn Féin's success at regaining the West Belfast seat from the Social Democratic and Labour Party's (SDLP) Joe Hendron that year and retaining it at each election thereafter.

As the area's population has increased, the distance between Poleglass and the similarly expanding estates of Twinbrook and Lagmore has shrunk - and more commonly they are discussed as one in terms of "Colin Neighbourhood", particularly in relation to community development and improvement.

Notable residents

The inventor of the portable cardiac defibrillator, Dr Frank Pantridge of Belfast's Royal Victoria Hospital used to have residence in Poleglass, there also a road named after him, Pantridge Road.