"Well, the shopping is good." Lisburn by planxty

I remember visiting Lisburn as a child (many years ago!) when it was a market town in it's own right although recent development has made it effectively a suburb of Belfast with quick transport links into the capital. It has always been a fairly lively place for shopping and this seems to still be the case in spite of the fact that so many other towns in Northern Ireland seem to be dying on their feet, as I have mentioned in other pages.

Apart from the shopping, there is not really a great lot to do in the town itself. Wait, I mistake myself, I can no longer call Lisburn a town as it was granted city status in 2002 as part of the Queen Elizabeth II's Golden Jubilee celebrations making it the second largest City in Northern Ireland with a population of about 110,000. As I was saying, there is not a great deal to do in the CITY itself, depite the presence of a Tourist Information Office (see tip), but I will provide tips on the few things there are.

As is my way, I will give you a quick potted history of the city, should you be interested.

Until the mid 17th century the town, as it then was, was named Lisnagarvey from the Gaelic Lios na gCearrbhach meaning "fort of the gamblers". I have no idea who these ancient wagering men were or indeed where the fort was. One of the local schools is still called Lisnagarvey to this day. It is said that the name LisBURN comes from the fact that the town was destroyed by fire during an uprising in 1641, but this is disputed by some experts.

During the Plantation in the early 17th century, Sir Fulke Conway began to set out the forerunner of the modern city on land granted him by King James I. Naturally, he also built himself a fine house, destroyed in a catastrophic fire of 1707.

In 1698 one Louis Crommelin, a French Hugenot who, like many of his co-religionists had fled France due to religious persecution, established a linen industry in Lisburn. The Delacherois family were similarly involved.

Linen was absolutely crucial to the development of what is now Northern Ireland, and the City was known as the "capital" of that industry. In 1789,one Mr. Wallace brought the first steam engine ever seen in Ireland to his mill off Castle Street. Linen, damask and other cloths were exported round the world and were prized in many a European Royal household.

Like the rest of the Province, the linen industry is long gone, fallen victim to cheap foreign imports, although there is still a Linen Museum in the old Market House (see tip).

A cholera epidemic in 1830 wreaked havoc, although it did lead to the establishment of a hospital on the Dublin Road.

After that, frankly, very little happened in Lisburn until relatively recently. Lisburn continued to thrive, grow and generally mind it's own business. However, came the late 1960's and the beginning of the period euphemistically referred to as "The Troubles". Like everywhere else in Northern Ireland, Lisburn was not spared. I odn't intend to go into this in great detail, it is not really necessary and hopefully things are getting better in the land of my birth.

In truth, Lisburn is not the kind of place people are going to go out of their way to visit, but if you do, I hope these pages are of use.

• Pros:Good shopping.
• Cons:Not much else to do.
• In a nutshell:Not a place to go out of your way to visit.