entries – Riccarpics

I’ve had a very loose ongoing project about The Entries rattling around in my head for years and wrote briefly about Pottinger’s Entry in an earlier post. The Entries or The Belfast Entries mostly run between High Street and Ann Street and date back to around 1630. In those days they led to the waterfront as what is now High Street was then the Farset river.

The problem I’ve always had with The Entries is that its challenging to make an interesting photograph. Pottinger’s Entry is the most photogenic – there is the Morning Star Victorian pub and arches at each end. The others are not so interesting and some show signs of neglect.

Joy's Entry at Ann Street — The Jailhouse, Joy’s Entry, Belfast. Previously called McCracken’s the bar has been extended

Porringer's Entry - The Morning Star — Porringer’s Entry – The Morning Star

Joy's Entry at High Street — Joy’s Entry at High Street

The Mermaid Inn, Wilson's Court — The Mermaid Inn, Wilson’s Court

Wilson's Court at High Street — Wilson’s Court at High Street

An entry is what people from Belfast call an alley.

“The Belfast Entries” or simply “The Entries” are the alleys that mostly run from Ann Street through to High Street, Belfast. They have been described as, “The close knit passageways where Belfast was born and bred.” They date from a time when the geography of the city was very different from now. It is believed that The Entries led to bridges that crossed the Farset River, now flowing through a culvert underneath High Street.

Pottinger’s Entry is the most accessible of The Entries and hosts the popular Morning Star bar, dating from Victorian times. With a brick arched passageway at the Ann Street end, where you will often find a busker and an ornate metal arch at the High Street end, it is probably the most photogenic.

I’ll try and cover some of the others in the future.