17th Century

In 1622, James Hamilton (Viscount of Clandeboye) leased the townland of Ballymacarret to Richard and Henry Whitehead. Later leases were made to the merchant family Kelso from Ayr, Scotland. In 1672, ‘Balle maccarrett alias Ballincrat’ was sold to Thomas Pottinger, whose merchant family built the large Mountpottinger house in the townland.^[3]

18th century

In 1744, the only two buildings described in Ballymacarrett were Mountpottinger and a mill.^[4] Handloom weavers had built small cottages, forming a village at Ballymacarrett.^[3] In 1776, glass works were opened on land reclaimed from the Lagan, and a pottery factory soon followed.^[5][3] In 1799 the first vitriol works was established.^[4]

In 1791, the village had 257 houses and a population of 1,208.^[3]

19th century

From around 1825, Ballymacarrett transformed rapidly from a rural village into a town. By 1837, the townland had 5168 inhabitants, many factories, and a police station.^[4]

Industry in 1837 included:

• Calico and muslin manufacture, employing several hundred people
• The Lagan foundry, which employed 140 people
• A rope yard and sail cloth factory, which employed 130 people
• Two large linen spinning mills (opened in 1834), which employed more than 300 people
• Two vitriol works, which supplied local bleachers, dyers, and calico printers
• Various starch, meal and flour factories incorporating steam and water mills^[4]

Belfast Poor Law Union was formed on 1 June 1839 and assigned two out of 22 members of its Board of Guardians to Ballymacarrett. Ballymacarrett was greatly impacted by the famine, but had difficulties obtaining government assistance because it was officially treated as separate from Belfast.^[2]

The Troubles

In some ways the ward has been a microcosm of the Northern Ireland troubles. The June 1970 "Battle of Saint Matthew's" occupies an important place in Irish republican history after a gun battle between republicans and loyalists, who were accused of attacking the church. Loyalists counter this with claims that three Orange Order members were killed after returning from a parade. The Historical Enquiries Team (HET) confirmed the loyalist version of events. It is seen as one of the key developments in the rise to prominence of the Provisional IRA. Similarly on the Ballymacarrett side of the peaceline, Protestant residents have claimed that Republicans are engaged in attacks on Protestant homes which amount to 'ethnic cleansing' – claims which Republicans dispute and deny.^[6]

2011 East Belfast riots

Ballymacarrett and the nearby Newtownards Road played a key part in what became known as the 2011 Northern Ireland riots. At first, the riots were only located in the area and were known as the 2011 East Belfast riots but by July, the riots had spread to other parts of the country. During the riots, the Protestants in the area were going against Short Strand Catholics.