Editing Belfast (section)

=== Name ===
[[File:Ground Plan of Belfast (1685).png|thumb|A 1685 plan of Belfast by the military engineer [[Thomas Phillips (engineer)|Thomas Phillips]], showing the town's ramparts and [[Belfast Castle#Plantation Castle|Lord Chichester's castle]], which was destroyed in a fire in 1708|left|200x200px]]The name Belfast derives from the Irish {{lang|ga|Béal Feirste}} ({{IPA|ga|bʲeːlˠ ˈfʲɛɾˠ(ə)ʃtʲə}}),<ref name="Logainm">{{cite web |title=Placenames Database of Ireland – Belfast: '''view the scanned records''' |url=http://www.logainm.ie/118005.aspx |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130702093937/http://www.logainm.ie/118005.aspx |archive-date=2 July 2013 |access-date=25 May 2014 |publisher=Logainm.ie }}</ref> "Mouth of the [[River Farset|Farset]]",<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hogan |first=Edmund |url=http://publish.ucc.ie/doi/locus/B |title=Onomasticon Goedelicum |year=1910 |location=Dublin |access-date=1 June 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110717183101/http://publish.ucc.ie/doi/locus/B |archive-date=17 July 2011 |url-status=live }}</ref> a river whose name in the Irish, ''Feirste,'' refers to a sandbar or tidal ford.<ref name="Belfast name">{{cite web |title=Placenames/Logainmneacha – Belfast |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/northernireland/irish/blas/education/beginnersblas/1belfast.shtml |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090115045404/http://www.bbc.co.uk/northernireland/irish/blas/education/beginnersblas/1belfast.shtml |archive-date=15 January 2009 |access-date=17 May 2007 |website=BBC Northern Ireland – Education |publisher=BBC }}</ref> This was formed where the river ran—until culverted late in the 18th century, down High Street—<ref name="townbook-1892">{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/stream/townbookofcorpor00belf#page/n5/mode/2up |title=The Town Book of the Corporation of Belfast |publisher=Marcus Ward |year=1892 |editor-last=Young |editor-first=Robert M. |location=Belfast |access-date=16 August 2012 }}</ref> into the Lagan. It was at this crossing, located under or close to the current Queen's Bridge, that the early settlement developed.<ref name=":22">{{Cite book |last=Ó Baoill |first=Ruairí |title=Hidden History Below Our Feet: The Archaeological Story of Belfast |publisher=Tandem Design, Northern Ireland Environment Agency |year=2011 |isbn=978-0-9569671-0-7 |location=Belfast }}</ref>{{rp|74–77}}

The compilers of [[Ulster Scots dialects|Ulster-Scots]] use various transcriptions of local pronunciations of "Belfast" (with which they sometimes are also content)<ref>{{cite web |title=North-South Ministerial Council: 2010 Annual Report in Ulster Scots |url=http://www.northsouthministerialcouncil.org/annual_report_2010_ulster_scots.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130227120523/http://www.northsouthministerialcouncil.org/annual_report_2010_ulster_scots.pdf |archive-date=27 February 2013 |access-date=2 August 2014 }}</ref> including ''Bilfawst'',<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.linenhall.com/pages/irish-and-reference |title=Ulster Scots Language & Dialects of Ulster |publisher=The Linen Hall Library |access-date=3 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130225140201/https://www.linenhall.com/pages/irish-and-reference |archive-date=25 February 2013 }}</ref><ref>[http://www.northsouthministerialcouncil.org/web_2006_ulster_scots_report.pdf 2006 annual report in Ulster-Scots] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130227120556/http://www.northsouthministerialcouncil.org/web_2006_ulster_scots_report.pdf |date= 27 February 2013}} North/South Ministerial Council.</ref> ''Bilfaust''<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/ulsterscots/library/switherin-agen BBC Ulster-Scots Library – Switherin agen] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120724110325/http://www.bbc.co.uk/ulsterscots/library/switherin-agen |date= 24 July 2012}} Ullans Speakers Association. Retrieved 6 October 2011.</ref> or ''Baelfawst.''<ref>{{cite web |title=Equality Impect Assessment o tha Draft Ullans Leid Policy |url=https://www.midulstercouncil.org/getmedia/b944e065-0b67-4eb7-bca7-09c694caf3f2/Final-EQIA-Equality-Impact-Assessment-in-Ulster-Scots_11.pdf?ext=.pdf |publisher=Mid Ulster District Council |access-date=16 May 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180109091019/https://www.midulstercouncil.org/getmedia/b944e065-0b67-4eb7-bca7-09c694caf3f2/Final-EQIA-Equality-Impact-Assessment-in-Ulster-Scots_11.pdf?ext=.pdf |archive-date=9 January 2018 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

As a legacy of emigration, Belfast has lent its name to more than a dozen settlements in the United States, of which the largest is [[Belfast, Maine]], and to one each [[Belfast, Victoria|in Australia]], [[Belfast, Prince Edward Island|Canada]], [[Belfast, New Zealand|New Zealand]] and [[Belfast, Mpumalanga|South Africa]].