Did You Know?

• Belfast’s motto is Pro Tanto Quid Retribuamus: ‘What shall we give in return for so much?’

• In 1170, the first Belfast Castle was established in what is now Castle Place. The present castle on Cavehill dates from 1870 and was gifted to the city in 1937.

• The Belfast News Letter was the first paper outside of America to publish the Declaration of Independence.

The Little Book of Belfast is a compendium of obscure, strange and entertaining facts about the city’s fascinating past and present.

Funny, fast-paced and fact-packed, here you will find out about Belfast’s trade and industry, crime and punishment, music, literature and sport, architectural heritage, and its famous (and occasionally infamous) men and women. It covers not only the major elements in Belfast’s history but also those unusual, little-known facts that could so easily have been forgotten.

A reliable reference and a quirky guide, this book can be dipped into time and again to reveal something new about the people, heritage and secrets of this ancient city.

Raymond O'Regan a lecturer at Queens University. He is the author of several history books, including Hidden Belfast and A Short History of Belfast. Arthur Magee has developed the award-winning walking tour, 'There is More to Belfast than its Walls'.