Parliamentary boundary posts, Beside Calvary Baptist Church, Dee Street, Belfast, County Antrim

Parliamentary Boundary Posts, Dee Street, Belfast

These two cast-iron cylindrical posts were erected around 1918 and originally marked the parliamentary boundaries of the County of the Borough of Belfast prior to the General Election of 14 December 1918. They have since been relocated to their current position on the footpath along the west side of Dee Street, at the south end of the approach to Dee Street Bridge, opposite the junction with Mersey Street, where they now serve as pedestrian safety bollards.

Each post stands approximately 3 feet high with a diameter of 1 foot and is of cylindrical profile. They are embellished with a circular band towards the base and topped with an oversailing flat octagonal cap featuring a circular indent on its top, probably formed originally to insert a fluted circular cap. Both posts bear the shield of the coat-of-arms of Belfast Corporation on their front and back faces, though these are now badly weathered. A plaque naming the ward once appeared below each shield but has been removed. The posts are set into the tarmaced footpath approximately 4 feet apart.

The County of the Borough of Belfast was created under the Local Government Act 1898 and enacted the following year, initially divided into four constituencies for Westminster elections: North, East, West and South. Under the Redistribution of Seats (Ireland) Act 1918, these four constituencies were abolished and increased to nine – Cromac, Duncairn, Falls, Ormeau, Pottinger, St Anne's, Shankill, Victoria and Woodvale. These new parliamentary divisions were first used in the General Election of 14 December 1918, held under the Representation of the People Act 1918. This election was historically significant as the first in which all men over 21 years of age and all women over 30 could vote, and the first election to be completed within a single day. Previously, only male property owners could vote and elections were spread over several weeks.

The removal of the identifying plaques and repositioning as a pair has reduced their architectural and historical interest. However, they remain tangible reminders of this pivotal moment in electoral history and of a short-lived period in the province's political development between the 1918 election and the formation of Northern Ireland and the Stormont administration in 1922. Many such posts have been lost to road widening and removal, making this surviving pair significant for local history.