Friar’s Bush is Belfast’s oldest Christian Site. The quality of ancient mystery surrounding this old walled graveyard at Stranmillis has long fascinated historians. There is a tradition of a link with St. Patrick and strong evidence of a medieval friary on the site; it also served as a ‘penal refuge’ for the local Catholic community up to 1769. Indeed, in its manifold historical associations and monuments, Friar’s Bush reflects the landmarks in local, Ulster and Irish history throughout the ages – frm the ‘Penal Era’ to the Irish Volunteers, from the Catholic Emancipation to the Great Famine and fromt he growth of Belfast to the First World War. This book has been designed specifically to meet the requirements of the ‘Local Study’ component of the Northern Ireland History Curriculum at Key Stage 3. It traces the exciting story of Friar’s Bush and Belfast from the rich store of evidence available—artifacts, maps, letters, newspaper reports, ballads, and even paintings. A major focus is the transition from ‘Penal Era’ to ‘Golden Age’ in Belfast as symbolised by the opening of Old St Mary’s in 1784.