Thanks to Sue Moore for an insight into Brown McConnell and Clark. As a historian I didn't realise that this company could be traced back to the mid 19th. century, and now I know how the "Holy Land " got it's name. As Sue pointed out in her article street names reflect events and personalities.

ROSEMARY STREET where Brown, McConnell and Clark have their present day offices, is supposed to be named after the herb Rosemary. When the First Presbyterian Congretation built it's first church in 1715 (they had been in the street since 1795 but had been using an existing house for their services ) it was recorded that the builders could smell the herb Rosemary as they built the new church.

LINENHALL STREET;There have been three streets with this name;  1 DONEGALL STREET was the first to be named as it had a Brown Linenhall situated just below the now extinct North St. Arcade, (Actually the first linen hall was on the site of the present day St. Annes Cathedral and was removed further down the street to allow the building of St. Annes Church in the 1770s)
2 DONEGALL PLACE was the second street to carry the name as it lead up to the White Linen Hall (nowadays City Hall) 3 LINENHALL STREET which runs from the back of the City Hall to Ormeau Avenue is the present holder of this well travelled street name.

MURRAY STREET :This street runs between Jurys hotel and "Inst" . Murray had a lease of land here and built a fine range of Georgian style houses in the street that carries his name . Sir James Murray is the apothocary who invented MILK OF MAGNESIA. He had a shop in High Street near the corner of Bridge Street (there is a plaque to commemerate him just recently put up on the present building ).

FISHERWICK PLACE is named after the 1st. Marquis of Donegall who in 1790 was given the English title Baron Fisherwick.He was elevated fromFifth Earl of Donegall to Marquis in 1791.(The family had been living in England since the early 1700s as Belfast Castle was almost completely destroyed in a fire in 1708 . Three of the Donegall children died in this fire.)

WARING STREET is named after WilliamWaring a tanner from Toomebridge who obtained a lease from Chichester in the 17th century. His daughter Jayne was courted by the famous Jonathan Swift who called her Varina" he was a minister in Kilroot)

NORTH STREET was formerly known as Goose Lane as in 1641 ramparts had been erected around Belfast to protect the citizens during the 1641 uprising. The Geese would be let our into the fields through the North Gate of the ramparts (present day Royal Avenue North Street junction.

MILLFIELD this name goes back to the late 1500s when Elizabethan soldiers built a mill using the water from the nearby Farset to drive the mill. There are many other names in this wonderful city of Belfast that people can investigate for themselves as this is only a flavour of what is out there .