Master of the Sea Exhibition (to 31st May 2014)

31 May 2014, 09:30, Linen Hall Library, 17 Donegall Square North, Belfast, BT1 5GB

Runs to 31 May 2014

The Ulster-Scots Agency ‘Masters of the Sea’ exhibition will be on display at the Linen Hall Library from 1st April to 31st May 2014.

Belfast is a maritime city of global trade and emigration to the four corners of the world.  Even in the early 1600s when our city was still just a village, Belfast’s merchants were mostly Scottish and traded with North America (tobacco), the West Indies (sugar) and Spain (wine).

Among the stories of Belfast’s shipbuilding heritage was the Eagle Wing, a ship built in Belfast Lough in 1636, which attempted to cross the Atlantic Ocean and the U.S. Navy who in 1778, won its first victory here in Belfast Lough. Much of the Allied war effort during two World Wars came from our shores and shipyards and the Ulster-Scot link to Titanic have been well documented.

Travel along the coastal routes out of Belfast and on a clear day you will easily see Scotland, just 13 miles away at the closest point. The nautical ‘highway’ of the narrow sea between Scotland and Northern Ireland forged a kinship which still connects our coastlines and made a seafaring people who built a truly world-class shipbuilding industry.

For further information visit www.linenhall.com/news/60, email info@linenhall.com or telephone (028) 9032 1707.