Editing Belfast (section)

== Notable people ==
{{See also|List of people from Belfast}}

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=== Georgian Belfast ===
* [[Edward Bunting]] (1773–1843), Irish folklorist, organiser of the 1792 [[Belfast Harp Festival]]
* [[Henry Cooke (minister)|Henry Cooke]] (1788–1868), [[List of Moderators of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland|Presbyterian Moderator]], evangelist, proponent of "Protestant unity" (Cooke Memorial Church, May Street, "Black Man" statue College Square East)
* [[Waddell Cunningham]] (1729–1797), Trans-Atlantic trader, [[West Indies|West-Indian slaveholder]], [[Irish Volunteers (18th century)|Irish Volunteer]], liberal patron
* [[William Drennan]] (1754–1820), [[Society of United Irishmen|United Irishman]], founder of the [[Royal Belfast Academical Institution]] (RBAI)
* [[Mary Ann McCracken]] (1766–1866), [[Society of United Irishmen|United Irishwoman]], social activist, [[abolitionism|abolitionist]], sister of [[Henry Joy McCracken]] hanged 1798. (Statue at City Hall).
* [[James MacDonnell (physician)|James MacDonnell]] (1763–1845), physician, [[polymath]] patron of institutions since developed as the [[Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast|Royal Victoria Hospital]], [[Royal Belfast Academical Institution|RBAI]] and the [[Linen Hall Library]]
* [[Martha McTier]] (1742–1837), [[Society of United Irishmen|United Irishwoman]], advocate for women's health and education
* [[David Manson (schoolmaster)|David Manson]], (1726–1792), schoolmaster, pioneer of play and peer tutoring. Freedom of the Borough 1779
* [[Samuel Neilson]] (1761–1803), woollen merchant, publisher of the [[Northern Star (newspaper of the Society of United Irishmen)|Northern Star]], [[Society of United Irishmen|United Irishman]]
* [[John Templeton (Botanist)|John Templeton]] (1766–1825), "Father of Irish Botany", patron of the town's scientific and literary societies

=== Victorian Belfast ===
* [[Thomas Andrews]] (1873–1912), chief naval architect at Harland & Wolff, went down with [[RMS Titanic|RMS ''Titanic'']]
* [[Joseph Biggar]] (1828–1890),[[obstructionism|"obstructionist"]] [[Irish Parliamentary Party|Irish nationalist]] [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|MP]], women's suffragist
* [[Margaret Byers]] (1832–1912), educator, activist, social reformer, missionary, founder of [[Victoria College, Belfast|Victoria College]]
* [[Hugh Hanna|Hugh "Roaring" Hanna]] (1821–1892), Protestant evangelist associated with sectarian riot (Commemorated, until targeted and destroyed in [[Northern Ireland Troubles|the Troubles]], by his statue and church at Carlisle Circus).
* [[Edward Harland]] (1831–1895) and [[Gustav Wilhelm Wolff|Gustave Wolff]] (1834–1913), partners in the [[Harland & Wolff|world's largest shipyard]]. Statue at City Hall
* [[Bernard Hughes|Bernard "Barney" Hughes]] (1808–1878), Ireland's largest miller and baker (producer of the [[Belfast bap]]), first elected Catholic town councillor
* [[Otto Jaffe]] (1846–1929), business, and Jewish community, leader, twice [[Mayor of Belfast]]
* [[William Johnston (Irish politician)|William Johnston]] (1829–1902), Orangeman celebrated for breaking the [[Party Processions Act 1850|Party Processions Act]], Belfast MP, women's suffragist
* [[Richard Rutledge Kane (senior)|Richard Rutledge Kane]] (1841–1898), [[Orange Order]] Grand Master, patron of the first Belfast branch of the [[Gaelic League]]
* [[Charles Lanyon]] (1813–1889), architect of main ("Lanyon") building of [[Queens University, Belfast|Queens University]], the [[Botanic Gardens (Belfast)|Palm House, Botanic Gardens]], [[Linenhall Library]], [[Belfast Castle]] and [[HM Prison Belfast|Crumlin Road Goal]] and [[Crumlin Road Courthouse|Courthouse]]
* [[Robert Shipboy MacAdam]] (1808–1895), Irish folklorist and linguist, honoured with [[Tomás Ó Fiaich|Cardinal Ó Fiaich]] in [[Cultúrlann McAdam Ó Fiaich]]
* [[John Mulholland, 1st Baron Dunleath|John Mulholland]] (1819–1895), established the world's largest flax-spinning operation, York Street Mill; MP
* [[William Pirrie, 1st Viscount Pirrie|William Pirrie]] (1847–1924), Chairman of [[Harland & Wolff]], Mayor of Belfast; Freedom of the city, 1898. (Statue at City Hall).
* [[William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin|William Thomson, Lord Kelvin]] (1824–1907), physicist renowned for his work on mechanical energy and heat; memorial statue stands before the [[Ulster Museum]]
* [[Isabella Tod]] (1836–1896), suffragist, with [[William Johnston (Irish politician)|William Johnston]] secured the municipal vote for women, 1888

=== Early 20th century ===
* [[Winifred Carney]] (1887–1943), [[Women's suffrage|suffragist]], [[Easter Rising|rebel 1916]], labour activist. (Statue at City Hall).
* [[Thomas Carnduff]] (1886–1956), shipyard poet, playwright, trade unionist, [[Independent Orange Order|Independent Orangeman]].
* [[Edward Carson]] (1854–1935), leader of [[Unionism in Ireland|Ulster Unionism]] in the [[Home Rule Crisis]]. (Statue before the [[Parliament Buildings (Northern Ireland)|Parliament Buildings at Stormont]])
* [[William Conor]] (1881–1968), painter renowned for his sympathetic portrayals of working-class life
* [[William Conway (cardinal)|William Conway]] (1913–1977), [[Cardinal (Catholic Church)|Cardinal]] and [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Armagh|All--Ireland Primate]], co-founder of [[Trócaire]]
* [[James Craig, 1st Viscount Craigavon|James Craig]] (1871–1940), [[Ulster Unionist Party|Ulster Unionist]], first [[Prime Minister of Northern Ireland]]
* [[Joseph Devlin]] (1871–1934), journalist, [[Irish Parliamentary Party|Irish nationalist]]  [[Parliament of the United Kingdom|Westminster]] and [[Parliament of Northern Ireland|Stormont]] MP, President of the [[Ancient Order of Hibernians]]
* [[Harry Ferguson]] (1884–1960), developer of the modern agricultural tractor, first person in Ireland to build and fly an aeroplane
* [[John Hewitt (poet)|John Hewitt]] (1907–1987), poet ("The Bloody Brae"). Freedom of the City 1983
* [[C. S. Lewis]] (1898–1963), writer and [[Anglicanism|Anglican]] [[lay theologian]]. (Honoured as author of [[The Chronicles of Narnia]] in C. S. Lewis Square, East Belfast).
* [[Margaret McCoubrey]] (1880–1955), militant [[Women's Social and Political Union|WPSU]] suffragette, peace campaigner, [[Belfast Labour Party|Labour]] City Councillor
* [[Harry Midgley]] (1893–1957), labour union and [[Northern Ireland Labour Party|party]] organiser, post-war [[Ulster Unionist Party|Unionist]] Minister for Education
* [[Cathal O'Byrne]] (1876–1957), writer, actor, journalist.
* [[Alexander Robinson|Alexander "Buck Alec" Robinson]] (1901–1995), docklands streetfighter and loyalist gunman. Kept lions in his [[Sailortown (Belfast)|Sailortown]] home
* [[Betty Sinclair]] (1910–1981), [[Communist Party of Ireland|Communist party]] activist, 1932 Outdoor Relief protest, [[Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association]] chair
* [[Joseph Tomelty]] (1911–1995), stage and screen ([[Odd Man Out]]) actor, writer and broadcaster
* [[William Walker (trade unionist)|William Walker]] (1871–1918), unionist labour organiser and vice-chair of the [[Labour Party (UK)|British Labour Party]]
* [[Ernest Walton]] (1903–95), with [[John Cockcroft]] Nobel Prize for splitting the atom

=== Late 20th century ===
* [[Gerry Adams]] (born 1948), reputed republican paramilitary ([[Provisional Irish Republican Army|PIRA]]) leader, president of [[Sinn Féin]]; MP Belfast West. rtd.
* [[Derek Bell (musician)|Derek Bell]] (1935–2002), harpist, musicologist and composer, [[The Chieftains]]
* [[George Best]] (1946–2005), football international, iconic sports figure, [[George Best Belfast City Airport|City Airport]] named in his honour
* [[May Blood, Baroness Blood|May Blood]] (1938–2022), [[Union representative|shop steward]] in one of the city's last linen mills, community worker, co-founder [[Northern Ireland Women's Coalition]]
* [[John Boyd (playwright)|John Boyd]] (1912–2002), playwright, broadcaster
* [[Ciaran Carson]] (1948–2019), writer, poet ([[Belfast Confetti (poem)|Belfast Confetti]])
* [[George Cassidy (jazz musician)|George Cassidy]] (1936–2023), jazz musician and music teacher
* [[Mairead Maguire|Mairéad Corrigan]] (born 1944), with [[Betty Williams]] awarded the 1976 [[Nobel Peace Prize]], as co-founder of Women for Peace / the Peace People, critic of US and UK foreign policy
* [[David Ervine]] (1953–2007), loyalist paramilitary ([[Ulster Volunteer Force|UVF]]) veteran, leader of the pro-[[Good Friday Agreement|Agreement]] [[Progressive Unionist Party]]; MLA
* [[Gerry Fitt]] (1926–2005), [[Republican Labour Party|Republican Labour]]/[[Social Democratic and Labour Party|SDLP]] MP. Deputy Chief of the first NI [[power-sharing]] [[Executive of the 1974 Northern Ireland Assembly|executive, 1974]]
* [[David Hammond (broadcaster)|David Hammond]] (1928–2008), teacher, singer, broadcaster, and film-maker who documented the culture of the city's shipyards and streets
* [[Terri Hooley]] (born 1948), key figure in the Belfast punk scene, celebrated in the 2013 biopic [[Good Vibrations (film)|Good Vibrations]]
* [[Brian Keenan (Irish republican)|Brian Keenan]] (1942–2008), directed [[Provisional Irish Republican Army|PIRA]] bombing in the city, interlocutor for [[Decommissioning in Northern Ireland|arms decommissioning]]
* [[Helen Lewis (choreographer)|Helen Lewis]] (née Katz; 1916–2009), [[Holocaust]] survivor, teacher and choreographer, pioneer in Northern Ireland of modern dance
* [[Brian Moore (novelist)|Brian Moore]] (1921–1999), novelist ([[Judith Hearne|The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne]], [[The Emperor of Ice-Cream (novel)|The Emperor of Ice Cream]])
* [[Van Morrison]] (born 1945), singer-songwriter and musician
* [[Ian Paisley]] (1926–2014), Protestant evangelist ([[Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster|Martyrs Memorial Church, Belfast]]), founder of the [[Democratic Unionist Party|DUP]], [[First Minister of Northern Ireland|NI First Minister]]
* [[Saidie Patterson]] (1906–1985), feminist, trade unionist, peace activist.
* Fr [[Alec Reid]] (1931–2013), Catholic priest, mediator in the [[Hume–Adams dialogue|Hume–Adams talks]], [[Northern Ireland peace process]]
* [[David Trimble, Baron Trimble|David Trimble]] (1944–2022), [[Ulster Unionist Party|Ulster Unionist]] leader, [[Nobel Peace Prize]] laureate, [[First Minister of Northern Ireland|NI First Minister]]
* [[Andy Tyrie]] (born 1940), loyalist paramilitary ([[Ulster Defence Association|UDA]]) leader (rtd), [[Ulster Workers' Council strike]], [[Northern Ireland peace process|NI peace process]] advocate
* Fr. [[Des Wilson (Irish Catholic priest)|Des Wilson]] (1925–2019), [[liberation theology|dissident Catholic priest]], west Belfast community activist, republican-loyalist mediator
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