Castle (District Electoral Area)
Castle is one of the ten district electoral areas in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Located in the north of the city, the district elects six members to Belfast City Council and contains the wards of Bellevue, Cavehill, Chichester Park, Duncairn, Fortwilliam and Innisfayle. Castle, along with Oldpark district and parts of the Court district and Newtownabbey Borough Council, forms the Belfast North constituency for the Northern Ireland Assembly and UK Parliament. The district is bounded to the east by the Victoria Channel, to the north by Newtownabbey Borough Council and Belfast Lough, to the south by North Street and to the west by the Cavehill Road.
The district takes its name from the current Belfast Castle, which is located on Cave Hill in the north of the district, while the southern section of the district is part of the city centre and forms one of Belfast's main cultural areas, known as the Cathedral Quarter. The east of the area also contains the Port of Belfast. Castle is served by the M2 and M5 motorways and the Yorkgate railway station.
Castle is one of the most mixed areas in the city, with just over half of the district's population being Protestant at the 2001 Census, a figure which had dropped to 35% by the 2021 Census. There are a number of peace lines in the district, for example along the Whitewell Road.
History
Castle was created for the 1985 local elections. All six wards came from the former Area H, with only the Cliftonville ward and northern section of the Waterworks ward omitted from the new district. One of the district's six wards, Castleview, was renamed Innisfayle in 2014.Amenities
- Albert Memorial Clock
- Belfast Castle
- Belfast Exposed photographic gallery
- Belfast Harbour
- Belfast Hebrew Congregation
- Belfast Zoo
- Cavehill
- Dividers Sculpture
- Giant's Park
- McHugh's Bar
- Merchant Hotel
- The Northern Whig Bar
- NvTv (Northern Visions Television)
- Obel Tower
- St Anne’s Cathedral
- The Big Fish, sculpture
- Seaview, Crusaders F.C. home ground
- Skegoneill Avenue, Brantwood F.C. home ground
- Castle High School
- Dominican College
- Hazelwood College
- Seaview Primary School
- St Patrick's College
- University of Ulster, Belfast Campus
Councillors
| Election | Councillor | Councillor | Councillor | Councillor | Councillor | Councillor | Councillor | Councillor | Councillor | Councillor | Councillor | Councillor |
| September 2025 Co-Option | Fred Cobain | Dean McCullough | Brónach Anglin | Sam Nelson | Carl Whyte | Luke Meenehan | ||||||
| 2023 | Fred Cobain | Dean McCullough | Brónach Anglin | Sam Nelson | Carl Whyte | Conor Maskey | ||||||
| May 2022 Co-Option | Fred Cobain | Dean McCullough | Mal O'Hara | Sam Nelson | Carl Whyte | Conor Maskey | ||||||
| April 2020 Co-Option | Fred Cobain | Dean McCullough | Mal O'Hara | Nuala McAllister | Carl Whyte | Conor Maskey | ||||||
| January 2020 Co-Option | Fred Cobain | Guy Spence | Mal O'Hara | Nuala McAllister | Carl Whyte | Conor Maskey | ||||||
| 2019 | Fred Cobain | Guy Spence | Mal O'Hara | Nuala McAllister | Carl Whyte | John Finucane | ||||||
| July 2017 Defection | Lydia Patterson | Guy Spence | David Browne | Nuala McAllister | Pat Convery / | Mary Ellen Campbell | ||||||
| 2014 | Lydia Patterson | Guy Spence | David Browne | Nuala McAllister | Pat Convery / | Mary Ellen Campbell | ||||||
| 2011 | Lydia Patterson | Guy Spence | David Browne | Tierna Cunningham | Pat Convery / | - | Mary Ellen Campbell | |||||
| 2005 | Nigel Dodds | Ian Crozier | David Browne | Tierna Cunningham | Pat Convery / | Cathal Mallaghan | ||||||
| 2001 | Nigel Dodds | Ian Crozier | David Browne | Danny Lavery | Pat Convery / | Alban Maginness | ||||||
| 1997 | Nigel Dodds | Nelson McCausland / | David Browne | Danny Lavery | Tom Campbell | Alban Maginness | ||||||
| 1993 | Nigel Dodds | Nelson McCausland / | David Browne | Jonathan Stevenson | John Carson | Alban Maginness | ||||||
| 1989 | Nigel Dodds | Nelson McCausland / | Frank Millar | Tom Campbell | John Carson | Alban Maginness | ||||||
| 1985 | Nigel Dodds | Alfred Redpath | Frank Millar | Tom Campbell | John Carson | Alban Maginness |
2023 Election
2019: 2 x DUP, 1 x Sinn Féin, 1 x Alliance, 1 x SDLP, 1 x Green2023: 2 x Sinn Féin, 2 x DUP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x SDLP
2019–2023 Change: Sinn Féin gain from Green
2019 Election
2014: 2 x DUP, 1 x Sinn Féin, 1 x Alliance, 1 x SDLP, 1 x UUP2019: 2 x DUP, 1 x Sinn Féin, 1 x Alliance, 1 x SDLP, 1 x Green
2014-2019 Change: Green gain from UUP
2014 Election
2011: 2 x DUP, 2 x Sinn Féin, 1 x SDLP, 1 x UUP2014: 2 x DUP, 1 x Sinn Féin, 1 x SDLP, 1 x UUP, 1 x Alliance
2014-2019 Change: Alliance gain from Sinn Féin
2011 Election
2005: 2 x DUP, 2 x SDLP, 1 x Sinn Féin, 1 x UUP2011: 2 x DUP, 2 x Sinn Féin, 1 x SDLP, 1 x UUP
2005-2011 Change: Sinn Féin gain from SDLP
2005 Election
2001: 2 x DUP, 2 x SDLP, 1 x Sinn Féin, 1 x UUP2005: 2 x DUP, 2 x SDLP, 1 x Sinn Féin, 1 x UUP
2001-2005 Change: No change
2001 Election
1997: 2 x UUP, 1 x DUP, 1 x SDLP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x Sinn Féin,2001: 2 x DUP, 2 x SDLP, 1 x Sinn Féin, 1 x UUP
1997-2001 Change: DUP and SDLP gain from UUP and Alliance
1997 Election
1993: 2 x UUP, 2 SDLP, 1 x DUP, 1 x Independent Unionist1997: 2 x UUP, 1 x DUP, 1 x SDLP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x Sinn Féin
1993-1997 Change: Alliance and Sinn Féin gain from UUP and SDLP, Independent Unionist joins UUP
1993 Election
1989: 2 x Independent Unionist, 1 x UUP, 1 SDLP, 1 x DUP, 1 x Alliance1993: 2 x UUP, 2 SDLP, 1 x DUP, 1 x Independent Unionist
1989-1993 Change: UUP and SDLP gain from Independent Unionist and Alliance
1989 Election
1985: 2 x UUP, 1 SDLP, 1 x DUP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x Independent Unionist1989: 2 x Independent Unionist, 1 x UUP, 1 SDLP, 1 x DUP, 1 x Alliance
1985-1989 Change: Independent Unionist gain from UUP