Sandy Row

This infamous street in south Belfast, not far from the Europa Hotel and Bradbury Place, is an area affiliated with the Ulster Defense Association (UDA) or the Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF). The UDA are a protestant loyalist paramilitary force coordinated to defend loyalist neighborhoods from attack and to combat acts of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) and related forces. The IRA and the UFF have been the two main warring factions of the conflict in Northern Ireland since its creation in the early 1920’s. A ceasefire has since been agreed upon but tension remains in neighborhoods like these. Throughout the neighborhoods of both communities, murals continue to go up on the sides of buildings representing military force, sectarian division and nationalist sentiment.

The word Ulster is contentious in its own right. Historically, Ulster is the name for the northern-most county of the island of Ireland (the other three being Munster, Leinster, and Connaught). This area was subdivided into nine counties, of which only six were retained within the United Kingdom upon the division of the island into Ireland and Northern Ireland. This area has retained the largest protestant population since Norman settlers arrived centuries ago. Unionists would be talking only about these six counties when they say Ulster whereas someone from Ireland or a republican in Northern Ireland would likely be talking about the nine counties within the old territory.

It's also an area mentioned by Van Morrison in his song "Madame George" on the Astral Weeks album. At 3:41 into the song he sings, "Then you know you gotta go, on the train from Dublin up to Sandy Row".